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Re: Topband: FT-8 Contest would be great for Topband

To: topband@contesting.com
Subject: Re: Topband: FT-8 Contest would be great for Topband
From: Wes <wes_n7ws@triconet.org>
Date: Fri, 10 Jan 2020 14:41:09 -0700
List-post: <mailto:topband@contesting.com>
Michael publishes a Club Log Summary of DX Activity each week.

If you look at the Most Active Modes, you will take away that FT8 is the predominate mode.  That said, if you drill down and look at the statistics for DXpeditions, you can see many where CW still prevails.by a significant margin.    Even this doesn't tell the whole story as some DXpeditions don't even have any CW ops anymore; TK1KJ for example.  Does this prove the superiority of FT8?  I don't think so.

I have a friend, a superb op and fellow member of a very active DX club, who has been on many many major DXpeditions.  He has now bought into using FT8 on expeditions.  As he told me, "I don't have to listen to it, I can do other things."  Ham radio?  Not to my way of thinking.

Wes  N7WS

  On 1/10/2020 12:15 PM, Michael Walker wrote:
Yes, the success is staggering.

There are graphs that show the FT8 usage and I would paste it into the body
of the email, but I can't.  Clublog published it somewhere.   It shows a
deep decline on CW and a minor decline on SSB and this was 2 years ago.
https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/2019/03/club-log-stats-show-rise-of-ft8-mode-in.html

Geral K5SDR summed it up well here:
https://www.flexradio.com/ft8-tipping-point-for-ham-radio/

Mike va3mw


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