James you bring up some good points about the utility of using the digital
modes to make contacts when band conditions are flat.
I will say for the last several years I have been focusing more on the digital
modes on 50 MHz (especially MSK144) as they give me a much higher certainty of
at least making some contacts from remote areas in the absence of a band
opening. I have been told that this is at times frustrating for other
operators who don't want to use the digital modes and I have made a number of
efforts to accommodate those operators, but from a perspective of making QSO's
from remote places during flat band conditions the digital modes have a lot of
advantages in my view.
I do try and keep an eye on the analog calling frequencies when running digital
modes with a band scope but it is not the same as continually listening to the
calling analog calling frequency hoping for a band opening. Even if I detect a
band I may or may not want to stop running digital and jump on the analog
frequencies (especially if I am part of the way thru a digital QSO.)
I don't think there is a single right answer to this issue and at this point
I remind myself this is only a hobby (:
73
Mark S
VE7AFZ
mark@alignedsolutions.com
604 762 4099
> On Mar 21, 2021, at 9:34 AM, JamesDuffey <jamesduffey@comcast.net> wrote:
>
> Kim - Your point on conditions is pertinent. I think the discussion of the
> impact that conditions have on contest scores is implicitly included in the
> discussion of digital modes. FT8 and FT4 in particular are designed to make
> contest QSOs under marginal sporadic Es conditions, and are a good equalizer
> under flat to poor conditions. And, if one uses these modes, it is fairly
> common to see short Es or tropo openings of a minute or two, long enough to
> make a QSO, and then they are gone. Similarly, the use of MSK has made meteor
> scatter QSOs available when meteor conditions are flat. So, I think when it
> comes to the digital mode QSOs, conditions are a variable that is well
> accounted for.
>
> Where conditions come into play and drive scores is when propagation is
> favoring the analog modes and ops tend to stick on the digital modes. Casual
> contest operators on the digital modes do not adapt to changing conditions,
> which is what these discussions are all about.
>
> Now, heading into Es season, is the time of year to volunteer a talk at your
> local radio club to promote VHF/UHF operating in general and the importance
> of moving off of the digital modes when signal strengths are high. - Duffey
> KK6MC
>
> James Duffey KK6MC
> Cedar Crest NM
>
>> On Mar 21, 2021, at 10:00, vhfcontesting-request@contesting.com wrote:
>> How can we truly assess impacts, decreases, and/or increases?
>>
>> Are conditions the same for every contest? For every station?
>>
>> It's like banging your head against a concrete wall.
>>
>> Let's have this discussion, and ignore the elephant in the room.
>>
>> Conditions, conditions, conditions.
>>
>> End of my rant.
>>
>> 73, Kim - WG8S
>
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