Steve,
That was a good read. I see there's a lot
of replies so I'll send this before
reeading them...
I too love CW and it is without a doubt my
favorite mode. You asked a question and I
have used FT8 and my favorite band is
Topband, so here's my 2 pence.
I think what might have turned Ham Radio
upside down was the institution of DXCC (I
have 329 confirmed, so I participate).
With that, a pressure began to get the
current QSO over with and the next one
started.
A new subset of the above is the Challenge
award concept, where one Q was enough for
DXCC, now the game includes working the
rare ones on every band and mode. That
accelerated the rush to get heard and the
Q over with. The pileups are horrendous
even for big guns.
I think the next "Upside down" event was
the advent of the computer which took the
personality out of logging and made your
contacts a viewable & printable tally. The
Apple II+ I had in 81 had a CW/RTTY card.
I could now send and receive faster than I
could copy.
A subset of this above is the dehumanizing
of the QSO, with my logging program it
connects to QRZ or Buckmaster and tells
you the person's name and QTH. Most
everyone sends 599 when working DX, so you
don't have to enter it, it's already
listed by default. Last night I worked a
TI on SSB, rare for me to be on SSB so
after he took the time to have my call
correct and give me a 5X9 report, I gave
my name, his 5X5 report and my QTH I
turned it back to him and he said 73, QRZ?
and that was the QSO. I felt disappointed
but it is what it has become.
The digital modes are nothing other than a
logical extension of the computer and
experimenting; totally inevitable these
would be. Other than CW & SSB, I have only
used RTTY and FT8 (maybe 5 JT contacts are
in there..) but here's my Luddite take on
FT8:
Last night I did something I have started
to do, I let FT8 read all night on 160.
Why? it gives me a good idea of
propagation that I can read in the
morning, was there DX, where were the
signals from and when were they there? For
last night from CT, only Canada & USA.
Other nights I've seen some good DX that
was present.
How many times have I wondered if there
might be signals on what seems to be a
dead band? Sure, low band DX signals are
not heard during the day, but are there
any surviving in the most minuscule
amounts? Logic says almost assuredly not,
but almost is not 100%. With some of these
modes, especially WSPR, signals below the
noise level can be pulled out. That's
pretty cool and goes against everything I
believed in this regard. Better Receivers
can lower the noise floor of course but to
copy a signal below that new & lower noise
floor, the mystery still remains. Now you
can. How much below? that remains to be
seen by future experimenting.
As to what the future really holds may
well depend on how much Amateur
allocations are being used and while for
most of us, it's a way of life and a
deeply personal hobby, that's no reason
for Governments worldwide of offer us
licenses and permission, these spaces have
to be earned to be kept.
I think it's wonderful to see so much
activity in 2 KHz of space that otherwise
would be dead air. I love CW, it is a
challenge and a skill I'm good at, FT8 is
not a skill, other than getting it to work
and play nice with other software running
at the same time (it needs to be willing
to use virtual ports and WSJT-X software
is not helpful to this in the least).
The last I'll offer is how it allows
people with marginal systems to be able to
get on the air and have a reasonable
chance of making contacts that would
otherwise be impossible.
I had the pleasure of communicating with
Carl Smith N4AA (SK) who used to put out
QRZ-DX. He was in a bad way in Hospice
care and this is a snip of the last email
I received from him and it speaks to FT8,
I don't think he would mind my posting
that, here:
--Start-------------
I'm sitting here in this VA Hospice room
now hoping I can get back on the air
somehow, sometime soon.
I have talked to the folks here and they
have agreed to let me get a wire out the
window for an antenna.
I am on the ground floor on the southeast
side of the building so it should not be
too bad with some kind of a portable
antenna.
If I can get that done, and I AM working
on it, I'll have my son bring my TS-590S
digital radio up here and see if I can at
least try to get on using FT-8. I have
fallen in love with that mode... hi hi Will
make my life a lot easier while I'm here
and allow some measure of being on the
air.
---Finish-----------
It is what it is and it's not the end of
the world of Ham Radio as we knew it, that
started long ago.
73,
Gary
KA1J
> G´day
>
> As a committed (yeah, that´s probably the right word - complete with
> white jacket that laces up at the back) topbander since 1970, I´ve
> never been so intrigued and disturbed by anything on the band as the
> emergence of the Franke-Taylor FT-8 digital mode.
<snip>
> Now, over to you other topbanders, especially those who have dabbled
> with FT-8 and live in more populous areas. Has the world really turned
> upside down and what do you think the future holds?
>
> Vy 73
>
> Steve, VK6VZ/G3ZZD
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