[CQ-Contest] World Wide Digi DX Contest Results

[David Gilbert]

Not sure which RU you mean.  The winners for the FT Roundup in December 
had some decently high rates for FT4, but the rates could have been 
higher except for two reasons:

1.  The activity overall was not as high as for a RTTY contest because 
there is still a lot of headwind in the ham community to FTx in general 
for contesting.  Activity drives rates.

2.  The activity was split between FT8 and FT4, which severely splits 
the activity.  Even if you try to operate both modes you can easily miss 
the guys who ALSO operate both bodes since  the odds are decent that you 
won't be on the same mode at the same time.  It's not like everybody 
moving to the same new band as propagation changes.  In my opinion, it's 
a really dumb idea to use both modes in the same contest.

If you're talking about the recent RTTY Roundup, I think the answer to 
your question is obvious as well.  RTTY had far more activity, and even 
the guys who operated some FTx spent more of their time on RTTY than 
they did FTx.   I've occasionally made four FT4 contacts per minute 
(only for a couple of minutes, though) in a non-contest situation simply 
because I had a deep pileup, so I know it is possible.  Again .. 
activity drives rate.

I'm not even sure why you had to ask the question.

73,
Dave   AB7E



On 1/13/2020 7:09 AM, john at kk9a.com wrote:
> If Ft4 is faster than RTTY why did all of the RU winners make so few 
> FTx(so called digital) QSOs?
>
> BTW I thought RTTY was a digital mode.
>
> John KK9A  (W4AAA in 2020 Roundup - 100% RTTY QSOs)
>
>
>
> Stanley Zawrotny k4sbz wrote:
>
> Ed,
>
> I am both a RTTY contester and a digital contester. I operated in the 
> ARRL RTTY Contest using FT4. I found that FT4 was faster than RTTY 
> using S&P because I didn’t have to wait as long at the pileups. I did 
> try RTTY S&P and got bored watching the screen while the station gave 
> his report to a contact, the contact replied and finally the station 
> sent a TU QRZ. Then I had a chance to.....wait for it....MOUSE CLICK 
> on the macro that sends my callsign. If he replied to someone else, I 
> had to.....yep......WATCH THE SCREEN while he finished that QSO. Then 
> I would jump up and press F4 again to send my call.
>
> Oh, you don’t do S&P, you run. That means that you MOUSE CLICK (or 
> press a function key) to send CQ, MOUSE CLICK on a call, MOUSE CLICK 
> on the Exchange macro, watch the screen, execute the TU QRZ macro and 
> watch the screen to see who is next. Or do you use call stacking to 
> make that step more automatic?  Since you are running, the calls all 
> come to you. You don’t have to SEARCH for them or time your call to 
> them to try to beat out the other guys. Tell me, Ed, how much fun it 
> that?
>
> When I use FT8/FT4, I use a combination of running and S&P. I 
> constantly watch the decoding panel, looking for someone who is saying 
> 73 so I can call him before he needs to send a CQ. That beats out the 
> guys who only call someone who is calling CQ. I watch for others who 
> are giving their exchange to see if I need their multiplier and call 
> them when they send their 73.
>
> WSJT-X has a check box so that you can only see stations calling CQ. 
> Anyone that uses it is a fool. Whether you are contesting or DXing, 
> there is much more to be gained by watching exchanges being made and 
> taking advantage of the information revealed.
>
> No, I don’t sit blankly watching the screen. I actively go after my 
> Qs, running only when there are no new gems for me to work.
>
> Anyone who makes comments about how boring digital is has not learned 
> how to skillfully operate in that mode.
>
> BTW, FT8/FT4 were designed using RTTY contesting as a template. 
> Hearing such comments for a RTTY contester amazes me.
>
> Stan, K4SBZ
>
> _______________________________________________
> CQ-Contest mailing list
> CQ-Contest at contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/cq-contest