If you got rid of the two signal rule you would actually reduce the
activity. If there is a rule change I would support the idea of being able
to work a station twice. Once on digital and once on CW or SSB. That would
help reduce FT8's dominance.
Dave
N2OA
On Wed, Sep 18, 2019 at 9:59 AM RT Clay <rt_clay@bellsouth.net> wrote:
> I think the mode switching problem (and people getting "stuck on FT8")
> has been made worse by the recent change in ARRL VHF contest rules that
> allows single ops to transmit simultaneously on multiple bands. It was easy
> for example for me to set up a single computer with two sound cards and two
> radios running FT8. I think many ops now want to have a radio running 6M
> FT8 all the time to catch weak openings on that band.
> Only allowing a single signal at once on ANY band (like HF contests) would
> discourage single ops from trying to cover multiple bands on FT8.
>
> Technically It is not easy to have a computer+two radios on FT8 and easily
> switch back and forth from SSB (keeping a soundcard for voice messages of
> course). Yes, you can go to multiple computers instead.
>
> Also, allowing internet chat rooms I think has made FT8 use take priority
> over SSB/CW, just because it is much easier to do FT8 + internet compared
> to SSB/CW + internet.
> Tor N4OGW
>
> On Wednesday, September 18, 2019, 7:41:47 AM CDT, N1BUG <
> paul@n1bug.com> wrote:
>
> This is a situation I am going to have to investigate and try to
> deal with as soon as I have some quality free time for radio...
> hopefully in about 5 to 6 weeks.
>
> Call it over thinking things if you want, but of necessity band
> switching tasks are complicated here. I am active from LF to UHF and
> can only afford to have one good transceiver. VHF band switching
> involves switching 28 MHz IF to the appropriate transverter,
> reducing power output from the transceiver, enabling the correct
> amplifier while making sure all others are disabled, and additional
> important tasks. Experience has proven that if done manually, the
> operator can and eventually will forget something and the result is
> sometimes not pretty. I've been around a while and have tried
> multiple approaches to the problem. Until recently all came up
> lacking. I've now solved this very nicely by custom designing
> interface hardware and having DXLab Commander handle all band change
> operations. I click a single band button and all of the appropriate
> tasks are performed instantly and automatically. But this means I
> must have Commander running when operating any band above HF.
>
> Running WSJT-X and DXLab Commander at the same time is easy since
> WSJT-X has an option to control the transceiver by way of Commander.
>
> The difficulty is that right now I am using my regular logging
> software, DXLab DXKeeper, during VHF contests. That is not good, as
> the application is not friendly enough even when put in contest
> mode. It was one of the things that was slowing me down during some
> of the frantic band runs on Saturday. I want to be able to use N1MM+
> for VHF contesting but I will have to sort out whether it is
> possible (and if so, how) to have N1MM+, DXLab Commander and WSJT-X
> all running at once and all able to control the transceiver. I hope
> there is a way to do that. If not I will just have to continue using
> DXKeeper for logging. Of course, if anyone has done this (or tried
> and failed) I would love to hear from you!
>
> 73,
> Paul N1BUG
>
>
>
>
> On 9/18/19 8:07 AM, Stu wrote:
> > Our setup was similar to Ed's, except we used a K3S and used the K3S
> > sound card. That eliminates the need for the LINE IN and LINE OUT
> > cables. It took me a while to figure out LPBridge was the best way to
> > share the radio's COM port. I tried com2com, VSPE, DDUTIL and perhaps
> > another one before finding that LPBridge did the job. We selected the
> > WSJT frequency using the frequency select pull down menu in WSJT.
> >
> > However, I was under the impression we had to close WSJT when we
> > switched back to USB/CW because of the WSJT warning window. N1MM was
> > configured to start WSJT when you type FT8 in the N1MM call sign entry
> > window. If you type FT8 in the call sign entry window with WSJT open,
> > N1MM will launch another instance. So I was unsure about the best way to
> > configure N1MM. There is a check box in N1MM that turns this feature on
> > or off. Sounds like this wasn't necessary. I could have left WSJT and
> > N1MM open the entire contest.
> >
> > I don't think we were over thinking things. For us, it's important to
> > set up the station to minimize steps and eliminated the need to touch
> > the knobs on the radio. Not all of our operators are savy and several
> > haven't ever used WSTJ or a K3. There is a lot of complexity to sort
> > through and hide. We're not always successful with this goal!
> >
> > On 9/18/19 3:24 AM, Ed Parish wrote:
> >> I used a K3 with complete computer control and logged with N1MM+. I
> shared
> >> the COM port with LPBRIDGE. I had no issues with either program. Each
> >> program had control of the radio when needed. Microphone went in to the
> >> computer, computer speaker out in to K3 LINE IN and K3 LINE OUT went to
> >> computer LINE IN. Two 3.5mm and a serial USB cable converter was all
> that
> >> was necessary. When I went to FT8, I selected MODE from WSJT and it
> >> switched to DATA SPLIT on 50.313. Going to CW or SSB I typed the
> frequency
> >> I wanted in N1MM+ and typed CW or SSB. Pretty quick to switch back and
> >> forth.
> >>
> >> On Tue, Sep 17, 2019, 23:43 Mark Spencer <mark@alignedsolutions.com>
> wrote:
> >>
> >>> Some radios may also require an additional step to mute and un mute the
> >>> microphone when switching between data modes and ssb.
> >>>
> >>> Not a huge issue but one more thing to worry about and it can be easy
> to
> >>> forget to mute the microphone when switching back to data (some older
> >>> radios I use seem a bit better in this regards.)
> >>>
> >>> 73
> >>>
> >>> Mark S
> >>> VE7AFZ
> >>>
> >>> mark@alignedsolutions.com
> >>> 604 762 4099
> >>>
> >>>> On Sep 17, 2019, at 7:58 PM, <barry@k7bwh.com> <barry@k7bwh.com>
> wrote:
> >>>>
> >>>> I suspect the radio is not their source of difficulty. If others have
> a
> >>> setup like mine (radio with built-in USB port) then the trouble comes
> from
> >>> sharing the CAT control. My logger that I use during SSB wants
> exclusive
> >>> use of the port, until I switch to WSJT which then itself wants
> exclusive
> >>> use of the USB port. The changeover can take a little care and
> attention to
> >>> keep the computer happy. It sounds like you've avoided that by going to
> >>> manual frequency control (actually manual radio presets), but as for
> me I
> >>> like to let WSJT and my logger always stay in sync with (and control)
> the
> >>> radio's frequency.
> >>>> 73 Barry K7BWH
> >>>> Seattle, WA CN87us
> >>>>
> >>>> -----Original Message-----
> >>>> From: VHFcontesting <vhfcontesting-bounces@contesting.com> On Behalf
> Of
> >>> Marshall-K5QE
> >>>> Sent: Tuesday, September 17, 2019 7:32 PM
> >>>> To: VHF Contesting <vhfcontesting@contesting.com>
> >>>> Subject: [VHFcontesting] Changing from WSJT to SSB...
> >>>>
> >>>> Hello all...I have seen several folks post that it was difficult to
> >>> switch from WSJT to SSB. I don't understand this at all. On my
> radios, I
> >>> have "presets" for all the common channels that we use. So we have
> >>>> Channel1 to be 50.125MHz, 2 would be 50.133, 3 would be 50.260, 4
> would
> >>> be 50.265, 5 would be 50.313. To change from WSJT to SSB, just push
> the
> >>> down arrow until the VFO says 50.125, step on the footswitch, and talk
> into
> >>> the mike. To go back to FT8, just push the up arrow until the VFO says
> >>> 50.313 and click Enable TX. Seems pretty simple to me.
> >>>> There is no need to over think these things.....
> >>>>
> >>>> 73 Marshall K5QE
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