[CQ-Contest] FT4 - Robotic Contesting

[Barry]

CW decoders are strictly prohibited in the majors.

Barry W2UP

On 5/3/2019 1:05 PM, rjairam at gmail.com wrote:
> There are Cw contesters who use cw decoders and many CW contesters use
> computer generated CW. It’s simply not as good as a human ear yet but it’s
> there already.
>
> Ria
> N2RJ
>
> On Fri, May 3, 2019 at 9:07 AM Jim via CQ-Contest <cq-contest at contesting.com>
> wrote:
>
>> These digital modes, with appropriate tweaks to allow non-trivial
>> information, can be very useful for communicating. But for sport? Not
>> unless your sport is robotics.
>>
>> Imagine a similar takeover by machines of a well known sport: tennis. It’s
>> not hard to imagine a robot that would eject a tennis ball into the air and
>> use a mechanical arm with a tennis racquet attached to hit a ball at a
>> similar robot on the other side of a tennis net, and with appropriate
>> vision software then get to that ball when it is returned to again hit it
>> over a net, and so on. What would that prove, and what about it would be
>> interesting to observe?
>>
>> And I find that mentally decoding a call out of a pileup or out of noise
>> comprises a lot more than 1% of contact management.
>>
>>
>> 73  -   Jim  K8MR
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>> On May 2, 2019, at 9:01 PM, Sterling Mann <kawfey at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> In the beginning, there were people. And people raced on foot. And then
>> man
>>> domesticated the animal, and raced that. And then man got creative,
>> making
>>> cars, planes, boats, trains, rockets, and so on and so forth...and raced
>>> them all.
>>>
>>> Ham radio is the same. In the beginning there was CW. And then phone. And
>>> then RTTY. And then BPSK. And so on and so forth, until now with FT4.
>>>
>>> What I'm getting at is that FT4 contesting will still be just as much fun
>>> as CW, SSB, and RTTY, and just as competitive. But, I think now after
>>> reading a negative opinion or two on CQ-contest, QRZ, eHam, reddit, and
>>> elsewhere, is that the contesters ingrained in CW, phone, or RTTY
>>> radiosport will be hard pressed to believe me. Meanwhile contesters of
>>> modern-day modes will have as much fun with FT4 as those who have been
>>> contesting with CW for their lifetimes and it makes me sad that they'll
>> be
>>> unlikely to share that experience. So, I challenge the naysayers to give
>> it
>>> a try. I promise you that the "robot" you QSOing with will be no
>> different
>>> than the N1MM automation that manage 99% of a contact already.
>>>
>>> -Sterling N0SSC
>>>
>>> On Thu, May 2, 2019 at 7:08 PM Mike Smith VE9AA <ve9aa at nbnet.nb.ca>
>> wrote:
>>>> Hey guys n' gals,
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I am not against FT# contesting, but I certainly won't pretend to
>>>> understand
>>>> it. (nor am I a Luddite)
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> IMO, if you remove too much of the human element from the picture, the
>>>> 'rush', the 'reward', the 'competition' (if you want to call it that) is
>>>> lessened.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> IE: I derive the greatest pleasure from CW, then SSB, and much much less
>>>> for
>>>> RTTY. (I don't do very much RTTY - and that is one reason) Watch my
>>>> computer
>>>> work someone elses computer with a few mouse clicks and some guessing
>> as to
>>>> the callsign and exchange depending on QSB/QRM etc.?  Some editing of
>>>> function key files to tweak my exchange "better" than maybe Joe-Blow
>> down
>>>> the road who sends everything except his hat size. Being quick with the
>>>> mouse.(timing)  Much less than SSB or CW, but at least there's some
>> human
>>>> interaction.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> When the JT modes hit 6m, it created a situation for the CW/SSB ops,
>> that
>>>> lessened the overall appeal of 6m as "everyone was up the band on the JT
>>>> modes".
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Again, not against it, but don't "get it".  Maybe it's that
>>>> generational/instant gratification for very little outlay of energy
>>>> mentality. Maybe it's just the soup de jour.  I dunno.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Even though I am admittedly not a huge proponent of RTTY (as explained
>>>> above), I don't think RTTY contests and awards should be watered down by
>>>> including FT#, PSK31 or whatever.  There is still some human element in
>>>> RTTY, however small that might be.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Respectfully,
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> VE9AA Mike...CW and SSB forever !
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Keswick Ridge, NB
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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