[CQ-Contest] WSJT-X and contesting

[John Geiger]

Why did the ARRL choose to allow PSK31, ASCII, AMTOR and Packet in the RTTY
Roundup, but not allow other digital modes like MFSK16 and Hellschreiber?
I know that CQ magazine only allows RTTY in their RTTY contests.  If you
read further down on the ARRL rules specifically added for FT8 in this
contest, unattended operation is not permitted, and a few other limits are
placed in it as well.

I would be just fine if the RTTY roundup only used RTTY, though.

73 John AF5CC

On Mon, Dec 3, 2018 at 1:39 PM Wayne, W5XD <w5xd at writelog.com> wrote:

> Fellow contesters,
> ARRL has added WSJT-X as an allowable mode for next month's RTTY Round
> Up. I am daring to speak from ignorance (I have yet to make a single FT8
> QSO) but will ask anyway whether this is a "good idea."
>
> There is a place for building robots to do battle with each other. I
> have attended the Robotics competition once since they moved it to
> Houston a couple of years ago. Here a reference:
> https://www.firstinspires.org/robotics/frc It is very exciting to watch,
> and its clear it appeals to young people in a way that ham radio
> contesting has not.
>
> But I ask the question of whether WSJT-X really fits into the current
> definition of radio contesting? And does it fit so well that it ought to
> be directly incorporated as an equivalent to RTTY into an existing
> contest like Round Up? I have to, again, admit up front that the faces
> in that firstinspired URL are all about 50 years younger than the faces
> at my local radio contesting club and maybe that, over the long run, is
> the only argument that counts.
>
> But, even as a geeky, introverted nerd, I have to counter that
> contesting has a social aspect that appears missing when we all build
> our robots to compete with each other and wake up at the end of the
> weekend to see who won (or have I completely misunderstood FT8?) I still
> like hearing the old calls year after year, and sadly missing the ones
> that don't show up anymore.
>
> Wayne, W5XD
>
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