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

[rjairam at gmail.com]

I really wish it was that easy!

Sometimes you think you log a QSO only to have the caller come back with a
signal report because they didn’t get your 73 or RR73.

Meanwhile in CW I can clearly tell when I’ve made it to the log.

I always like working DX on CW. I dread when DX is on FT8 only because it
becomes harder.

Ria
N2RJ

On Wed, Feb 12, 2020 at 8:33 AM Dave Barr <hdbarr at comcast.net> wrote:

> I suppose it is a matter of how long we've had our licenses. Digital
> preferences may be correlated by lower duration of license to the
> dumbing down of digital operating modes.  Yes, FT8 is quite efficient in
> completing large numbers of digital qsos by dxpeditions.  However, it
> might be a bit fairer to compare FT8 F&H operation to a rtty dxpedition
> using 4 or 5 transmitters on the same band, which will never happen.
> But in the real world, working a rare dxpedition by pressing a button
> every five minutes and probably getting a qso within ten of fifteen
> minutes, with absolutely no finesse other than shift-clicking on a
> possibly unoccupied qrg, seems unrewarding to me.  You don't even have
> to watch; just look every once in a while for a pair of red lines.
>
> Considering contesting, I have found that rtty contesting is absolutely
> more productive, even at 5 watts, than is FT8 or 4 running as much as
> 100 watts.  I think there is a strong possibility that the close
> proximity and resulting qrm of the narrow FT band segments may
> contribute considerably to my dificulties, but I find it quite frustrating.
>
> The simplicity of FT# one-push qsos has attracted many new and some not
> so new hams to digital operation, a good thing, but I am afraid that it
> also reflects the reluctance of many of us to have a conversation, to
> have communication of more than just a couple of letters and numbers.
> My local club (New Providence ARC) holds a psk or rtty net on Monday
> evenings alternating with club meetings on ten meters (surprisingly
> efficient for a 30 mile or so diameter circle) where we actually have
> digital conversations. Helps improving typing skills and solving various
> station problems members might experience, as well as "talking" about
> interesting subjects.  You might want to try it.  Used to be that a good
> number of us had real rtty roundtables  on the hf bands.  Not so much
> now, if any.  The internet was a party to that demise, and perhaps the
> FTs are carrying on the trend.  Bottom line is that most of us are not
> communicating much through the electro-magnetosphere.
>
> Excuse my rant!
>
> 73, Dave, K2YG
>
>
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