There is a huge amount of activity on 6m especially when we have good
openings. Yes if you are not on FT8 or Q65 you are not working much
even when the band is wide open.
Have activity on 160 increased with FT activity? I suspect the answer
is yes.
I get it that people don't like the mode but things change. If you love
the band then suck it up and try FT8 or live in yesteryear.
I agree that the DXpeditions are lazy with FT8 now and unless there is
good communications they tend to miss or not even understand the
opening. The FT8 operators/monitors are not the 160 band gurus that we
used to have.
The thing about FT8 is that you can work 160 DX with lesser antennas.
Sure the bigger the better but many people are happy to work DX period.
FT modes gives people that opportunity and you might get away with no
RCV antennas or much less.
I enjoy FT modes and CW and SSB.
I only got my 160 antenna working this season for a couple of
DXpeditions. I got DXCC and that was the goal. Working new ones is
great too. I hope to have a better antenna and rcv antennas up for this
winter though. 160 is very similar to me to 6m in the challenge.
W0MU
On 6/1/2026 1:03 PM, k1zm--- via Topband wrote:
Monday 01 June
I have been following this thread and YES - FT8 has materially changed 160m.
There is almost NO CW on the band today - except during MAJOR contest weekends.
I can often hear 30-40 countries each winter night on 1840 on FT8 and only a
handful of the SAME stations on CW when I tune down the band such as:
OK1CFF5INON7PQEA5CZS1COZ1BNN
and one or two random others.
And to make matters worse - FT8 Dx'peditioners seem to have failed to operate
at THEIR OWN SUNRISE peaks to make matters worse when they come to 160m. They
operate early evening looking into EU - and then qsy to 80m or 40m when
propagation at THEIR SR periods favors qso's into North America on 160m. This
is maddening to make matters worse...
OR
Pacific Dx'peditoners often fail to understand EAST COAST SR peaks here on the
EAST COAST - and come on the band LONG AFTER SR has occurred here on Cape Cod.
This too is disappointing....
For me - this has been a SEA CHANGE on 160m and I too have often had no other
choice but to HOLD MY NOSE and get on FT8 along with W8LRL and AA1K both of
whom I often see on 1840 these days. I am not IN LOVE with FT8 - far from it
- but it is either that - or not be able to make any DX contacts most nights on
160m at all. I never thought I would live long enough to see this take place
on Topband!
And starting in 2020 the same thing happened on 6m during E season. Now you
just sit on 50.313 or 50.323 all day long now and work what you SEE on FT8 mode
- there is almost ZERO DX'ing on 6m CW or SSB anymore - same thing that
happened a few years thereafter to Topband.
FWIW
The 4 current160m DXCC Single Band honor roll members on Topband each made all
of their contacts on HUMAN modes - eg: CW or SSB - but most future DXCC's
almost assuredly will include entities worked on FT8. I do not think there
will be many more (IF ANY) DXCC single band honor roll members on Topband with
the exception of those that are there today...So IT IS WHAT IT IS - sadly!
I fully understand that you cannot hold back technology - FT8 is here to stay -
but I am very glad I lived (like a DINOSAUR) in the glory days of 160m.
About the only thing that remains today is that YOU STILL HAVE TO UNDERSTAND
PROPAGATION on 160m in order to run up a strong DXCC total.
That's about all that remains - everything else has changed - SO IT IS WHAT IT
IS - HI HI
Thanks for the bandwidth...
73 JEFF [email protected]
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