[CQ-Contest] Is RTTY Only a Contest Mode?

[Bill Mader]

Good question Pete.  Perhaps it is now.

While not a scientifically accurate representation of all QSO's, Michael's,
G7GVR, ClubLog has weekly summaries that give an excellent (IMHO) view of
modes' percentages.  Since Dec 2017, FT8 had remained at 55% +/- 5% of all
QSO's uploaded to ClubLog each week EXCEPT during contest weekends.

You can find the latest report at:   https://clublog.org/dxreport.html .
This edition includes uploads through 10 Feb as I write this.   FT8 dropped
to 45.12% and RTTY rose to 21.92% (close to the "usual" percentage for
CW).  I'll bet the RTTY percentage will rise over this week as contest
participants upload their logs to ClubLog.

I reiterate that these data are for ClubLog uploads, NOT ALL QSO's.  The
correlation between the two is up for discussion.  However, as Pete pointed
out, finding RTTY activity during non-RTTY contest times is a challenge,
except for some DXpeditions.

For example, the week from 31 Jan through 7 Feb showed 53.24% for FT8 and
4.43% for RTTY QSO's uploaded.  The preceding week had RTTY at 2.30%,
probably because fewer ops were preparing for last weekend's contest.

I operated almost all CW for FD (not a contest) last year.  There were
times I quickly worked the few CW stations heard while the FT8 segment on
the same band was full of strong signals.  An old contesting buddy quit
operating CW and SSB shortly after FT8 hit the market.  This is the new
reality on HF bands, except during, and sometimes during, contest weekends.

This is not a criticism of FT8 or those who operate it.  I've read enough
of that.  If you think there is a dearth of RTTY signals most days, PSK
uploads typically run about 0.25%!

Good luck in the contest!

73, Bill Mader, K8TE
ARRL New Mexico Section Manager
*ARRL - The national association for Amateur Radio**™*
Duke City Hamfest BoD Vice-Chairman www.dukecityhamfest.org 18-20 Sep 2020
Secretary and Past President, Albuquerque DX Association
W6H NM Coordinator, Route 66 On-the-Air 4-13 Sep 2020