I know I'm a just a blip on the radar for VHF contests but since you asked....
I had the best 2m sprint I've ever had, here in EN82 - sorry to say but it was
mostly due to FT8. Reached the usual handful of locals on CW/SSB, and then
figured "what the heck, I'll see who's on digital" and there were probably
10-15 people constantly going at it there all sprint long. So kudos to them
for being on.
Mostly I figure the advantage is not as much about FT8 itself (as I could
clearly hear most of the traffic by ear) but more that FT8 basically forces you
into using one particular frequency. I learned that the CW calling frequency
was 144.100 back in the day but have never once heard anyone calling there
during a contest... so instead I have to manually scan 250kHz of bandwidth,
over 360 degrees... so what is that, 90 million bandwidth-degrees? :) Okay, I
guess only 8 beam positions when I'm looking for randoms or calling CQ, but
still you get the point. Yeah, there are spotting sites, but again there's
multiple sites, and they are national so the s:n ratio is not always optimal
for us small guys.
My home QTH is notoriously poor for VHF (antenna is about 30ft below average
terrain) but nevertheless I was able to get someone 350+ miles to my southeast,
and another ~350 miles to my north... which for me is really good! Proof that
it comes down to participation more than anything else.
Thanks to everyone who was on!
Patrick
KB8DGC
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