Well, it's an important conversation - this is a transitional period in
ham radio (just like at several points in the past) and we need to
consider the issues in moving forward.
I don't see any of the human-copy modes going completely away. Like
Charly said, they're fun, and like a lot of other sports, music, and
recreations, they will likely remain popular despite there being more
effective means of communication. And I think they can hold their own
in the face of competition - IF their practitioners are willing to be
flexible and adapt to the changing circumstances. We've already come
quite a long way, truth be told, but getting along requires accepting
the validity of someone else's use of the ham bands. There's that
behavior thing again :-)
Anyway, from a separate conversation about RTTY, there is a need for a
reasonable-speed, session-less (what the Handbook's chapter 16 refers to
as "unstructured"), keyboard-to-keyboard mode. Like RTTY but with a
fuller character set (like 7-bit ASCII), more robust encoding, and less
susceptibility to selective fading. Maybe a variant or derivative of
DominoEX or Olivia? A higher-speed phase-locked version of PSK31? We
use RTTY out of inertia because it was the only game in town for a long
time and could be decoded by simple circuits and microprocessors back in
the day. Maybe RTTY is "good enough" for DXing and contesting but I'm
sure we can do better. With software like FLDIGI supporting dozens of
modes over a common audio interface, changing modes would only involve a
menu selection. Protocol development is a hotbed of innovation and a
real feather in the amateur's technical cap.
Whatever. I understand why people are concerned.
73, Ward N0AX
On 8/24/2016 7:15 PM, Ktfrog007@aol.com wrote:
Ward, I'm in general agreement with you but have some comments. Many
of the most committed and enthusiastic hams (and most vociferous) are
DXers and contesters who use CW, RTTY and SSB. These may be archaic
modes, but nothing better has come along for DXing and contesting so
these modes will stick around for a long time and may need protection
from indicriminate wide modes.
The future of CW is in doubt and it will likely fade away except for
DXing and contesting. Most recently licensed hams are not proficient
in CW. This is obscured somewhat because skimmers, the RBN, clusters
and pretty good code readers make CW usable for DX and contests even
if you don't know it well.
Your post was courageous but don't get wrapped up in
endless defenses. You'll just get dragged down into the muck.
73,
Ken, AB1J
In a message dated 2016-08-23 9:05:13 P.M. Coordinated Universal Tim,
hwardsil@gmail.com writes:
First, I do agree with N9NB that there needs to be a bandwidth
limit in
the amateur bands -
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