[CQ-Contest] sunspot cycle

[Joe]

Thing is about FT-8,,

As someone who has played with it a LOT. 1000's of contacts. And have 
tried in a few contests too. And I can see only two ways it will ever be 
a "Contest Mode"

1- When the conditions are sooo extremely bad that CW & SSB are just not 
cutting it.

2- When you have it set up to run 100% automatically on it's own. (not 
really legal if left un attended)
The 100% automated is easy to do. And I have actually done it just to 
see how hard it would be and if it would handle the task. I sat and 
watched it run the freq. I never left it alone so would be legal. It ran 
flawlessly and made over a hundred contacts all by itself.

BUT.... if the band is open then it is incredibly SLOW!!!!!!! I can make 
ten times the contacts in CW or SSB in the time FT-8 takes to make one 
and thats if all exchanges were copied with one try. And staying with 
digital RTTY would be similar effect probably close to ten times the 
contacts.

FT-8 is far from a Contest mode. Just toooo slow.

Joe WB9SBD
Sig
The Original Rolling Ball Clock
Idle Tyme
Idle-Tyme.com
http://www.idle-tyme.com
On 3/24/2019 8:53 PM, robert wrote:
>
> GE Jeff
>
>         I hate to say it but your remark about "dumb down contest to 
> the point
>
>         where no skills are required "   is on the horizon when it 
> comes to FT8.
>
>         This from someone who spends 20% of his time on FT8 ! I 
> believe it is also
>
>         making some of us a bit more of a lazy operator.
>
>             73 BoB WA1FCN
>
>
> On 3/24/2019 4:36 PM, Jeff Clarke wrote:
>> If you're into FT8 there seems to be plenty of DX spotted on a daily 
>> basis to keep your typical DXer happy despite the bad radio conditions.
>>
>> Can you see the scenario in the future that those casual contesters 
>> are going to call for the sponsors to all add FT8 as a valid mode for 
>> their contest? Hope it doesn't happen and dumb down contests to the 
>> point where no skills are required.
>>
>> Jeff
>>
>> On 3/24/2019 03:24 PM, Bill kollenbaum via CQ-Contest wrote:
>>> The post was not about the demise of contesting, it was about 
>>> sunspots numbers and propagation.  If you look at the numbers, they 
>>> predict a flux consistently in the 50s.  I can't remember ever 
>>> seeing a number that low. We have been banging around 70  or so for 
>>> most of this year, with a few exception like those right now (around 
>>> 80).  Almost everyone seems to agree, that at that number conditions 
>>> are not very good
>>> Of course we will always have some bands open,  but if the null in 
>>> the sunspots continue through 2022 it is generally thought that this 
>>> cycle will be extremely low at the peak since there is a direct 
>>> correlation between the length of the minimum and the strength of 
>>> the next cycle.
>>> This may or may not have an effect on contesting.  However, it is 
>>> pretty easy to see that it has had an effect on daily operating.
>>> KH7XS,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 
>>>
>>> Bill,
>>>
>>> You have made other statements about the demise of contesting. It's 
>>> not happening.
>>>
>>> For example, 2900 QSO's from New Mexico in ARRL DX CW a few weekends 
>>> ago. No
>>> sunspots. Great fun.
>>>
>>> 73,
>>> Steve, N2IC
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> CQ-Contest mailing list
>>> CQ-Contest at contesting.com
>>> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/cq-contest
> _______________________________________________
> CQ-Contest mailing list
> CQ-Contest at contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/cq-contest