Perhaps it is time to rethink the radio gear choices used within the shack, and
to adopt newer radio technologies that allow for simultaneous multi-modes, and
frequencies of operation at the same time - all of the time. There are readily
available SDR based radios when paired with transverters that will achieve that
handily. And the availability of those kinds of radios off the shelf from
existing amateur gear manufacturers have been around for well over decade at
this point, actually closer two decades already. But I'll let you all in on a
big secret, they are not being made by any of the "Big 3".
It is long past time to move on from clinging to radios for brand loyalty or
other reasons that more or less look and work the exact same way that they have
going back to prior to at least 1970. And as part of that also to learn the new
skills that are required to use radios which allow for simultaneous operation
across multiple modes, and multiple frequencies in a multi-tasking way. With a
bit of upfront re-think, it actually isn't hard at all to learn how to do that.
The one mode, one signal at a time sequentially approach to operating just
isn't going to cut it anymore.
So no amount of contest rules fiddling and tweaking to accommodate mode
Balkanization will ever overcome the inherent limitations of those legacy
concept one mode, one signal at a time radio boxes in today's world where the
bands are now sparsely populated with a mix of audible only, and digital data
type modes all occurring at the same time. You really do need to have an
ability "just do them all at the same time with one radio", the technology does
already exist, and it is only marginally more costly.
The signal make up and content on the bands today just isn't the same as it was
in the years prior to Y2K. The declines in V/UHF analog mode operating actually
pre-dates FT8 et al by at least 2 decades.
Once what was, can now never be.
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