[CQ-Contest] WSJT-X and contesting

[Radio K0HB]

My short answer would be —

I tune up an audio signal on RTTY, click a button or two, and my computer
makes a Q.

I tune up an audio signal on FT-8, click a button or two, and my computer
makes a Q.

Same-oh, same-oh.

73, de Hans, K0HB
Fifty-five years of contests and still learning new stuff


On Mon, Dec 3, 2018 at 12:39 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
>
> _______________________________________________
> CQ-Contest mailing list
> CQ-Contest at contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/cq-contest
>
-- 
73, de Hans, K0HB
--
"Just a boy and his radio"™