On Tue, Sep 13, 2022 at 03:33:24 -0400, Doug Bates wrote:
...
> Yes phone VHF contesting may have been more fun before FT8 came along
I think another way to put it, is that correlation does not imply causation.
Anyway, I thought I'd chime in with a new ham perspective. I got my license
two years ago which means that I got to build a "shack" from scratch
relatively recently. When I started surveying the market to figure out what
transceivers existed that'd get me on air, it became painfully clear that
there is essentially no "cheap" way to get SSB 2m and up with double-digit
watts.
I definitely wanted 100W HF, and while I liked the idea of VHF/UHF SSB, I
wasn't sure if I'd use it enough. Aside from some diehard VHF/UHF hams,
nobody seemed to care about VHF/UHF other than for FM.
At the time, the two obvious transceiver options were the FT-991A and the
IC-7300. Translating that into practical terms:
1. IC-7300: HF+6 only, very popular choice, transverters get expensive
quickly, IC-9700 is even more expensive
2. FT-991A: $100 more than IC-7300 for 2m and 70cm all-mode capability of
"ok" quality (the 2m/70cm frontend is somewhat "bolted on")
So, I had to decide between a very popular radio that seemed to get just
about everything right but had no VHF/UHF and a radio that few talked about
but had a reasonable VHF/UHF capability for $100 more - without having no
idea what I was going to like. (After agonizing over the decision for a
while, I ended up going with the Yaesu and it has served me well during both
HF and VHF contests - both at home and as /R - as well as POTA/SOTA/WWFF.)
I'd argue that the vast majority of new hams will either (1) stick to FM
repeaters and never venture beyond, or (2) not consider *any of this* and
get the very popular IC-7300 unknowingly cutting themselves off from other
modes on VHF/UHF (without additional investment).
So, I think I primarily blame the lack of readily available hardware for the
underutilization of VHF/UHF. I don't know what things were like before, but
I get the impression that there were more choices when it came to VHF/UHF
SSB.
Just my 2 cents,
Jeff (AC1JR)
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