Hello to all the VHF contesters who ran the June contest.
Due to all the hype concerning FT8, we decided this year to add a
completely independent 6M station just to monitor FT8. The station has
a 6M5X for the antenna and a small SSPA. The new station was
interlocked with the main 6M run station to keep one station from
blowing out the other.
When the contest began, there was no Es on 6M, so naturally we went to
50.313 looking for FT8 contacts. There were 6-8 traces visible. Some
were weak and some were really strong. So, we started trying to work them.
The results were terribly frustrating. We tried running S&P by keeping
our TX fixed on 1500 or 1200(or whatever) and calling stations that were
calling CQ. Many would not come back to us unless we got right on their
frequency. Apparently, these ops did not realize that it is possible to
work just fine with our audio on 1500 and theirs on 1244. It is sort of
a "split operation", but it works very well and you can hold your CQ
frequency.
A goodly number were still not using the "NA Contest Mode", so you could
not complete with them in any normal way. The best we could do was to
stop using the contest mode(CM) long enough to complete with them.
Sometimes, this was successful, sometimes not. Remember that if one
station is in the CM and the other one is not, the messages do not
proceed properly. Using the CM is critical.
We could tell that this was not a recipe for success, so we started
calling CQ ourselves, keeping our TX audio fixed at 1500. We worked
stations from all over the waterfall, but it was slow going. We often
were called by a station with a decent signal, but when we went right
back to them, they disappeared and were never seen again. This wasted a
lot of time. Many of those folks that answered our CQ were not in the
CM, so, it was very hard to get their grid as many of them called using
Tx2(K5QE K2XXX -02) rather than Tx1 which has the grid.
Whenever our op could see that FT8 signals were really strong, he would
jump to SSB and work whatever he could. On Sat, about half of our 6M
contacts(about 225) and half of our grids(about 60) were made on SSB.
If the Es died out, he would go back to FT8.
At the end of Sat night, we had more contacts on 2M than we had on 6M.
This is pretty ridiculous in June. Our score was about 28K. It was
terribly frustrating and my stress level was a bit high.
On Sunday, we found the Es opening at about 8AM, maybe a bit earlier.
Signals were strong and we began running hard. Several of the top ops
had to go home, because they had to work on Monday. So, I had to man
the 6M station from about Noon to 9PM. I was running 100-120 per hour
for several hours, which later fell back to about 60 per hour later in
the evening. At the end, we had 202 grids and 980+ contacts on 6M. Our
score was now 400K+ and less stress on me....HI.
The bottom line is that FT8 performed about as I feared it would. The
large number of newbies and / or HFers that insist on running without
the contest mode hurt the number of contacts that we were able to make
and really hurt the rate. Ditto the folks that think you have to be
right on their frequency. All this can be fixed with some education and
some (gentle?) persuasion. We somehow have to get these folks to
understand that in the VHF world, we need GRIDS, most especially in a
contest, where the grid is the exchange. I DON'T CARE HOW THEY DO IT ON
HF!! As VHFers, I believe that we should use the CM at all times.
Maybe folks would see how much better it is.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
1. Use SSB or CW whenever signals are up. It is MUCH faster and you
will work more contacts with more grids. I had several hours with a
rate above 100 per hour. You just cannot do this with FT8 as the
absolute maximum number of contacts is 60 per hour...and in practice,
you cannot do that. It did not happen in this contest, but I have seen
one of our top ops run over 200 contacts in an hour.
2. Use the "NA Contest Mode" in contests. I believe we should use it
at all times, just so the newbies and HFers will see that rather than
the "funny little numbers".
3. Stations calling CQ should pick an audio frequency and stay there.
Work S&P stations anywhere in the waterfall. This alone will help a lot.
4. Don't make one call and then disappear. Obviously, some contacts
will fail for whatever reason(band drops, amp blows up, or something
like that), but you will work a lot more if you stick with it.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
I think that with some education and some practice, FT8 can work a lot
of stuff whenever Es is NOT happening. It is a useful tool to be added
to the contesting toolbox. We just need to eliminate the bad operating
practices so that everyone can maximize their contacts....big stations
and small ones alike.
I am most interested in how others found FT8 in this contest. Was it
better or worse than what I have described above? If you like my
recommendations, then promote them. If not, please let me know how we
can all do better. I always appreciate intelligent ideas and
discussion. Flames go directly to the bit bucket--they will not pass GO
and will not collect $200.
73 Marshall K5QE
k5qe@k5qe.com
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