On 4/28/2024 6:13 AM, John Webster NN1SS wrote:
WSJTx and its derivatives have created a growing world-wide market for
small, simple and software-driven. One no longer needs a backyard, a
tribander and all the "accoutrements" that MFJ sells for global HF
communications.
Last week I worked BH7HQT on 20m FT8. You can see his apartment "station"
on QRZ - small, simple, software driven. The HF bands are now accessible
to apartment dwellers living in the largest of the world's population
centers.
Really??
Did he tell you his name?
His QTH, that he lived in an apartment, and on what floor??
What was the weather like there?
What rig was he using, and his antenna? How long has he been a ham? How
many in his family, and is he the breadwinner or a younger guy still
living with his parents?
For that matter, how did you even know whether he was a he, and not a
she, until you looked him up on the internet??
If you know any of that information, did you get any of it over the air,
or did you merely copy it from his qrz.com page?
If the latter, you didn't really have a QSO with him: you merely
exchanged signal reports, and even that very precariously.
Folks who claim they had a "QSO" on FT8 or any other such digital mode
are just fooling themselves... like the emperor without clothes. All you
really do is exchange signal reports, the same as those of us who chase
and work DXpeditions on CW or voice (except we can actually stop for a
moment and say "HI!!"). 8-D
Steve, K0XP
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