Guys,
I have been following this thread for the last few weeks and I did want to
respond to the following question from W9SZ, which I don't think anyone has
actually answered yet.
Zack Widup wrote:
> Part of the reason given for dumping the Assisted category was the use
> of the assisting method to actually assist with the QSO. This would be
> wrong, obviously; once you start to make the QSO you shouldn't use any
> other means of trying to enhance it.
>
> Not being an EME op, I wonder just how prevalent this practice is,
> though? How many people have done it?
>
> 73, Zack W9SZ
I can only speak for my experience on 2 meter EME over a 3 1/2 month
period in late 2007, which included two contest weekends. Over that period of
time I made 219 EME contacts. 211 were on WSJT and 8 were on CW. Using 1100
watts output and 4 ea. 2M9 antennas. As as a side note, you can see from the
above statistics where all the action is on EME. Using both CW and WSJT, it
is invaluable to have access to the spotting/chat system (assisted). While
it is certainly possible to work stations on random, they will be few and
far between. That is a fact. With a normal receiver, JT65 only looks at a
very narrow portion of the band, and with birdies and other trash on the
band, it is difficult to tune around and see folks. There are systems/radios
available that will let you see the whole band at once, and all the signals.
If you have a nice quiet location that will be a big help.
To answer Zack's question, over the period of time I was active, I never
saw anyone use the spotting/chat/assisted network to help complete a
contact. The JT65 program either decodes the signal and gives you useful
contact
information or it doesn't. If it doesn't, you keeping trying or give up. Yes,
you can fake it, but that is another issue not limited to EME or Assisted
operating. The spotting network is mostly used to see the frequency someone
is operating on, and after the contact, saying thank you. Overall I
consider JT65 to be a very slow and frustrating contest mode. A good CW
contest
contact is much faster. But it is a great way to get on EME and make
contacts. BTW, I would say that a good 20%, maybe more, of my JT65 contacts
could
have been made on CW as I did actually hear the signals.
I don't feel that there is justification to eliminate the assisted
category. It will impact contest participation and scores. Not a recipe for
growth.
Terry/N6CW
_______________________________________________
VHFcontesting mailing list
VHFcontesting@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/vhfcontesting
|