I understand many of you are frustrated by the FT8 camel with his nose
in the tent. Things change
Now FT8 showed up while I was on sabbatical for 10+ years from the hobby
so I am now just getting into it.
On the negative side I agree
1) It has caused a loss of contacts on CW
2) It is a lot like watching paint dry, I have long contended that for a
large proportion of us died in the wool CW DX Pilup jockeys that having
Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) is a necessary personality trait
3) It is a little TOO STRUCTURED. ( see comment about ADD above) . If
you want to stop and chat a minute about you rig or the WX that option
is largely not available. Thus it takes on the persona of "take a
number, fill out this form and go stand in that line over there till
your number is called".
But every tool has it's good side as well
1) It is a great way to check propagation. There is a free program
called PSKReporter. I try to get on 160 and 80 around sunrise/sunset and
call CQ with FT8. IF I get a reply great but even if I dont, I can go to
PSKReporter and see who hears me, where and how strong . For example
every morning I find that ZL4YL hears me on 160 and I log the relative
signal strength I now know if the band is open to VK/ZL and what the
cndx are likeo the same "monitoring" station day in and day out ( I see
as much as 15 db variation day over day , that so far have NO
CORRELATION to SFI, A or K) . Often if I am getting a really good report
I can call CQ DX on FT8 or CW and many times get a reply. IF the same
monitor signal reports are way down , I move on. I even had luck by
blind calling the "monitoring station" created a small EU opening for
myself on 6M last week using this approach. Sometimes it is a lot like
playing "blink", everyone is waiting for the other guy to make the first
move.
2) For those of us with A.D.D. ... you will like the feel and pace of
FT4 much better... After a couple of months of FT8 , I found the new FT4
release actually a breath of fresh air because of the 7.5 second QSO pace.
3) The Robot station I posted about in an earlier post is also a useful
tool for checking propagation ... So far I have worked my favorite robot
with 5 watts on two bands and he apparently doesn't care how often I
call, I can use him to check my F/B on my beam etc.
4) In spite of an earlier post by a K4, that a friend of mine sent me
about the various noise immunities of the various modes that may have
come from this reflector . I have worked a couple of DX stations on
160/80 that I could not hear ( maybe my ambient noise level is higher
than that K4's?) I was never more surprised to see the screen turn red
as someone answered me on FT8 and I had NO CLUE anyone was there
5) Some of you LIKE the fact that the exchange is short and not messy ,
I don't have to act like I heard (or even care) your name correctly or
that I actually know how how much power your running. If this wasn't
true more of you would have been on SSB than CW in the first place in
the past
6) FT8/FT4 It is probably better for our hearing than sitting there with
a pair of headphones on with the volume turned up too high trying to
sort the beeps from the static crashes
So don't throw the baby out with the bath water just yet...use it where
you can to your advantage
Dave
NR1DX
manuals@artekmanuals.com
www.ArtekManuals.com
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