As a newbie to FT-8...10 days and I have some thoughts.
First, I see it not as a fad, but a way of life in ham radio....just like
packet. For better or worse it is here to stay.
Why? Several reasons. The new crop of hams are almost no-code guys....limited
to RTTY, FT-8 and SSB. On HF unless you can get a beam up maybe 40 feet your
chances of working DX on SSB are pretty limited, especially at this part of the
cycle. Like it has been pointed out, it gives the guys a chance to work DX.
Throw in with this it is increasingly difficult to get a tower up due to
zoning, deed restrictions and local government.
For me, I have a different outlook on it...big station in a semi-rare QTH. For
me to work an endless string of W/K stations on HF FT-8 is like watching grass
grow. However I like FT-8 for a couple of reasons. I listen on the FT-8
frequency on a dead band like 12 or 17. If I hear/see no signals there I know
the band is truly dead. However, if I see the DX signals are -10, -15 I know I
can try some FT-8. If signals start getting up to -5 or 0 I know the band is
open enough to make contacts on CW or SSB. I did this on 12 and 17 meters last
night, local time 9 PM..bunches of JAs and EU on SSB and CW
Last Saturday, I was on 15 and EU at this time of the cycle 10 AM local time
there is NO prop to EU or mid-east. It was really cool to knock off some EU
and even a couple of 4X4s. They were all way down in the mid-teens, and there
were only a few W/K stations coming in on SSB or CW.
Granted the level of skill needed to work FT-8 is far below CW. However, it
does take more skill than I originally thought. One thing does burn me up
though. Why the hell is it necessary to spot people on FT-8. You can see the
whole band of FT-8 on your monitor. You have all the spots you ever needed and
can actually hear right there. Totally silly.
By the way I have worked or seen quite a few big-time contesters on FT-8, so
it's not just for newbies with little stations.
Bill K4XS/KH7XS
-----Original Message-----
From: Stephen Bloom <sbloom@acsalaska.net>
To: 'Peter Sundberg' <sm2cew@telia.com>; CQ-Contest <CQ-Contest@Contesting.COM>
Sent: Wed, Jun 13, 2018 8:10 pm
Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] RBN Announcement on FT8 Spotting
FWIW, While I don't think FT8 is just a fad, it is not going to be as dominant
as people think over the long haul. HF ops are enjoying it right now,
becauseIt allows pretty much anyone who can radiate something to work DX (it
was possible with JT65, but not at any decent rate). That's a really big deal
for folks using compromise antennas, low power etc. I don't find it much fun
myself, because I have DX capacity on (what is for me) more satisfying modes,
but Ican see it (and I'll make it available for those who aren't going to be
able to work AK otherwise, say on 160M). The frenzy will die down, at least on
HF, once the novelty wears off. I saw this with PSK31. I remember people
worrying that PSK was going to destroy everything else. People eventually got
tired of the "brag scripts" even though it was popular for awhile because..it
made dx possible with fairly low power and compromise antennas. The JT/FT
modes are a lot more limited in content than PSK was. There *is* going to be a
dominant digital mode at some point, once something that has FT-ish error
correcting characteristics and handles multiple use gracefully (Dxing,
Ragchewing, Contesting, etc.) but we're not there yet, and even when we are,
it's just going to be one of the two or three (depending on how CW does) major
modes.Bring back Olivia!73Steve KL7SB -----Original Message-----From:
CQ-Contest [mailto:cq-contest-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of Peter
SundbergSent: Wednesday, June 13, 2018 9:53 AMTo:
CQ-Contest@Contesting.COMSubject: Re: [CQ-Contest] RBN Announcement on FT8
SpottingLet it rip.Who cares any more as FT8 is about computers talking to
computers while the operator is doing- or has his mind - on other things. Ham
Heaven is here according to the masses and apparently statistics. RBN is all
about computers anyway. And we must make decisions based on statistics -
right?To be able to make use of the FT8 "Deep" functionality the computer needs
the info to decode unknown callsigns that are "22 dB below the noise level".So
why not feed the computers with as much info as possible to speed up the
journey up the DXCC ladder. Then, when the barn is full, some operators might
even return to real ham radio again without concerns over what is fed to the
RBN network.73Peter SM2CEWAt 13:35 2018-06-12, N4ZR wrote:>As some may be
aware, we’ve been debating for some time about whether >the RBN should
handle>FT8 spots. A few weeks, ago, several prolific RBN nodes began
>spotting FT8 signals, using the combination of WSJT-X and an unreleased
>Aggregator, version 5. The purpose of this limited Alpha test was to >get a
feel for the load and other implications of carrying FT8 spots on >the RBN; it
has been very revealing.>The most striking characteristic of FT8 spots is their
sheer quantity. >Here are some weekday statistics from one of the US testers:
*23-May* >CW 4294 14% RTTY 69 0.22% FT8 26318 86% Total>30681 *24-May* CW 4370
13% RTTY 46 0.14% FT8>29298 87% Total 33714 Whether due to the startling
popularity of the >new mode, or to the ability to spot stations at 22 dB below
the noise >level, it seems obvious that adding FT8 spots to our spot flow could
>have a huge impact on the infrastructure of the RBN. These numbers >suggest
that if only 20-30 RBN nodes added FT8 spots, those spots could >outnumber the
total CW and RTTY spots being delivered by the>140-150 nodes currently active
on the network, doubling the total >required throughput. We frankly don’t
know whether the RBN servers >will be up to the task, so we decided we had
better find out before the >fall contest season is upon us. Accordingly, we
are taking the >following steps on a Beta test basis: 1.>Effective immediately,
the RBN’s current spot >feed (telnet,reversebeacon.net port 7000) >will
be repurposed to handle only CW and >RTTY spots. telnet.reversebeacon.net
port 7001 >will be set up for FT8 spots only. 2. >Operators of “retailâ€
DX clusters are >encouraged to offer the option of RBN spots >with and
without FT8 spots, as they now often >give users a choice between spot
streams >with and without “Skimmer†spots, and to >advertise when they
begin to carry FT8 spots 3. >A Beta test version of Aggregator Version 5 that
>can handle FT8 spots received from WSJT-X >will be made available on the
RBN web site, >along with instructions on how RBN node-ops can >configure
their nodes to spot FT8 on one or >multiple bands. Note, please, that
doing >so will not interfere with your ability to >continue spotting CW and
RTTY. We will >closely monitor how the RBN servers handle this new load, as
more and >more nodes begin sending>FT8 spots. We also reserve the right to
take steps as necessary to >protect the core mission of the RBN, including
shutting off the FT8 >stream on major CW and RTTY contest weekends or, in an
extreme case, >discontinuing spotting of>FT8 altogether. Even in a worst case
scenario,>FT8 spots will continue to be carried by PSKReporter. We hope we’re
>not doing this in a vacuum. The RBN team has been collecting the >views of
contesters and DXers on this, and we think that we’re headed >in the right
direction. Feel free to let us know what you think of >this experiment. 73,
The RBN Team (KM3T, N4ZR, PY1NB, SV3SJ, W3OA)
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