I hope everyone in the US (except for me) switches to FT-8 on 160 meters which will give me a much better chance to work the dx-peditions and other rare ones on 160 meters CW:-)
I downloaded the software to check out what FT-8 was all about, and after 30 minutes I had seen enough and decided it was boring (cool from a technological standpoint, but otherwise boring and certainly not challenging). We need to keep our bands active, and FT-8 is another mode to help with that objective. CW is certainly not dead, but we must figure out how to get the youth of tomorrow interested in CW and I have witnessed a decline in available CW operators at events such as Field Day, etc. 73, Don (wd8dsb) On Wed, Oct 25, 2017 at 4:25 AM, Steve Ireland <vk...@arach.net.au> wrote: > G’day > > As a committed (yeah, that’s probably the right word - complete with white > jacket that laces up at the back) topbander since 1970, I’ve never been so > intrigued and disturbed by anything on the band as the emergence of the > Franke-Taylor FT-8 digital mode. > > For me, radio has always been all about what I audibly hear. I love all > the sounds that radio signals make - and even miss the comforting sound of > Loran that I grew up with around 1930kHz as a teenager in south-east > England. Yeah, I am one sick puppy. > > With the emergence of high resolution bandscopes through SDR technology > over the last decade, I embraced that as it meant that I could find what DX > stations I wanted to hear and contact quicker and more easily (and, in > particular, before those stations who didn’t have the same technology). > > It was really exciting and enhanced the sensual experience of radio by > being able to see what I could hear (and no dinosaur me, I was an SDR fan > boy!). > > During this period, there has also been an extraordinary development in > digital radio modes, in particular by Joe Taylor K1JT. > > As a topbander I could see that these modes in which you ‘saw’ signals > through the medium of computer screen or window as being a remarkable > technical achievement, but had relatively little to do what I and the vast > majority of active radio amateurs practiced as radio on 160m, as it had > nothing to do with the audible. > > The good thing was that I could see that good old CW and Silly Slop Bucket > (you can see where my prejudices lie) that I like to use were still the > modes of choice for weak signal DX topband radio contact as these fancy > digital modes were either very slow or, if they weren’t, were not good at > dealing with signals that faded up and down or were covered in varying > amounts of noise. > > While some amateurs seemed to have lost the pleasure of actually hearing > signals in favour of viewing them on their computer screens, I felt secure > that these digital modes were just a minor annoyance and any serious DXer > or DXpedition was never going to seriously going to use them, particularly > on my first and all-time love topband, for other than experimentation. > > Then, out of the blue, along comes FT-8. Joe and Steve Franke K9AN have > quietly created the holy grail of digital operation with a mode that can > have QSOs almost as fast as CW and SSB and over the last eight weeks 160m > DXing has changed, perhaps for ever. > > Where once there were a few weak CW and SSB signals (I am in VK6, which is > a looong way from anywhere with a population so we only ever hear a few), I > can see that the busiest part of the band is 1840 kHz – FT-8 central. On > some nights I can see FT-8 signals on the band but no CW or SSB. > > There are countries I’ve dreamed for 20 years of hearing on 160m SSB/CW > (for example, KG4) regularly appearing on DX clusters and I can see the > heap of FT-8 activity on my band scope. > > Frustration sets in and I even downloaded the FT-8 software but, when it > comes down to it, I just can’t use it. My heart isn’t in it. > > My computer will be talking to someone else’s computer and there will be > no sense of either a particular person’s way of sending CW or the tone of > their voice (even the way some my SSB mates overdrive their transceivers is > actually creating nostalgia in me). The human in radio has somehow been > lost. > > I think back to my best-ever 160m SSB contact with Pedro NP4A and I can > still hear the sound of his voice, his accent, when he came up out of the > noise and to my amazement answered me on my second call, with real > excitement in his voice. Pure radio magic! > > So I am sitting here, feeling depressed and wondering if overnight I have > become a dinosaur and this is the beginning of the end of topband radio as > I’ve always enjoyed it. > > Now, over to you other topbanders, especially those who have dabbled with > FT-8 and live in more populous areas. Has the world really turned upside > down and what do you think the future holds? > > Vy 73 > > Steve, VK6VZ/G3ZZD > > > --- > This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. > https://www.avast.com/antivirus > _________________ > Topband Reflector Archives - http://www.contesting.com/_topband _________________ Topband Reflector Archives - http://www.contesting.com/_topband
