On 9/28/2022 1:34 PM, kolson@rcn.com wrote:
Seriously, he developed the mode, but it was the general Ham population that popularized it. They
"voted" to operate that mode out of free will, many because folks with mediocre stations
had very little opportunity to work DX at the sunspot doldrums, some because they just didn't enjoy
the other legacy modes, etc. No one stopped anyone who actually wanted to get on CW (or any other
mode) from doing so. So "they" didn't ruin 160m, 6m or anything else, for that matter.
Blaming the decline of 160M CW activity on FT8 is barking up the wrong
tree. Two factors are far more important. Both here, and on a jazz email
reflector I've participated in for at least 25 years, we're getting
older, getting less active, far too many QSYing away from the green side
of the grass. Note the recent post from one of the guys in VK who noted
that as he got older, he was no longer motivated to be on the air at the
crack of dawn to work DX.
The second factor is noise. In a San Francisco SBE chapter meeting I
just attended online, it was noted that noise levels on the AM broadcast
band have risen more than 20 dB. The presenter, from Orban, a long time
leader in signal processing, is a ham, and at least half of the
attendees listed their ham calls. The primary objective of broadcast
signal processing is maximizing loudness; on the FM band, it's about
maximizing the excitement level of music; on the AM band, it's about
getting through that noise.
I've known that presenter, W9CN, from our days in Chicago more than 40
years ago!
73, Jim K9YC
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