[CQ-Contest] RM11708 and the Future

[Ward Silver]

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 at 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 at gmail.com writes:
>
>     First, I do agree with N9NB that there needs to be a bandwidth
>     limit in
>     the amateur bands -
>