A very telling analysis would look at how 6m QSO numbers have changed AND how
6m multi numbers have changed for the top 5 stations in the fixed site
categories since the advent of FT8.
Total score variation, or lack thereof, may mask the impact, which could well
be swap of 6m qso rate (sure feels way down) in exchange for more 6m multis
which FT8 is good at doing. That's the sense I get working with W4IY Multi Op.
If the trend is more multis in 6m with a lower 6m QSO rate and a lack of QSOs
on other bands but no big drop in above 6m multis (the big dogs are always out
there) then a new strategy would be to simply get more QSOs to offset the loss
of 1pt & 2pt QSO's above 6m. You know where I think those operators are so I
wont beat that horse again.
Should be a fun little study after Jan scores come out.
73
John
KM4KMU
On Wednesday, March 17, 2021 James Duffey <jamesduffey@comcast.net> wrote:
Marshall - You wrote "However, the total scores of everyone in the contest has
gone DOWN due to the fact that FT8 takes so long to make a contact.”
I suppose you used “everyone” for effect, but the facts don’t bear it out, at
least for the January contest. Consider the K5QE Limited Multioperator scores
since they switched from the Unlimited Multioperator category in 2014,
separated into before the introduction of the WSJT-X modes and the three years
after the introduction of WSJT-X:
January VHF Contest scores
Year Total Score
—Pre WSJT-x—
2014 75969
2015 94724
2016 69344
2017 61,766
—With WSJT-X—
2018 79205
2019 76212
2020 94941
September VHF Contest scores
Year Total Score
—Pre WSJT-x—
2013 78740
2014 NA
2015 48320
2016 NA
2017 63570
—With WSJT-X—
2018 43420
2019 60606
2020 47142
June VHF Results
Year Total Score
—Pre WSJT-x—
2013 383691
2014 483448
2015 273000
2016 629241
2017 409260
—With WSJT-X—
2018 394272
2019 252170
2020 220640
It doesn’t look like your total scores have gone down much since the
introduction of WSJT-X. Now, I realize that there are a lot of factors that
enter into your scores,
> On Jan 31, 2021, at 3:04 PM, vhfcontesting-request@contesting.com wrote:
>
> ello everyone....Switching to FT4 sounds great, except that the "casual
> contesters" are not there.? They seem to be welded to FT8 and will not
> move.? I have often listened on 50.318 during the contests and I hear
> nothing there.? That forces me back to .313 after a few minutes of lost
> contest time.
>
> In June of 2010, the QE contest station made 1836 contacts on 6M using
> SSB/CW.? Jay-W9RM was a major part of that.? I think that he sat in the
> chair for hours and he is a very good operator. All that, and we came in
> SECOND(!!!) on 6M in terms of contacts made.? Can anyone really imagine
> that happening today?
>
> FT8 is very popular, especially among the casual operators. They are
> making contacts that they know they could not make otherwise.? That is
> why they are addicted to FT8 and will not use anything else.? However,
> the total scores of everyone in the contest has gone DOWN due to the
> fact that FT8 takes so long to make a contact.? Yes, FT4 would cut that
> time in half, but even if everything was perfect, FT4 can make a contact
> in 30 sec.? A really good operator can make 4-5 contacts in the same
> time on SSB.
>
> So to summarize, participation is apparently up and scores are down.?
> That seems contradictory, but it also seems to be true.
>
> How can we improve participation AND scores??? I don't know.? I really
> don't like the idea of allowing two different contacts, one on FTx and
> one on SSB/CW, with the same station.? I like the idea of checking for
> SSB on the hour and the half hour.? It is easy to program a button on
> your rig that goes to 50.125MHz. Push the button for a quick check on
> SSB and if nothing is there, go back to FTx.? Announcing an SSB opening
> on the reflectors would help too.
>
> OH WELL, June is approaching and we will get another chance. Hopefully,
> we will get some killer Es and we can make contacts like crazy.
>
> 73 Marshall K5QE
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