[Fourlanders] FW: [VHF] Gene's QST Column - Part 1

Tue Apr 19 06:52:01 PDT 2011

I agree.  Maybe the un-named commentary was a descendant of the Spark-Gap
crowd that opposed AM.

I went to Joe Taylor's lecture at GT - he represents the ascendancy of ham
radio.

I'm a lot newer to the hobby than most.  So pardon my excitement when I tell
you that my first Joe Taylor series of WSPR "QSO's" were to ham in Italy
using 0.5 watts on 40 meters.

Tom
W4SDR

On Tue, Apr 19, 2011 at 5:10 AM, Sherman Banks <w4atl at shermanbanks.net>wrote:

>
> W3ZZ is writing about the controversy of using digital modes during
> contests. He quotes a east coast VHFer who doesn't like the fact that it is
> easier to make QSOs on digital modes and that they count towards QSOs on the
> VHF bands. Apparently if some VHF contesters see others doing something fun
> an effort must be made to stop it.
>
> "What has taken me 45 years to scratch out with tropo openings and scatter
> contacts can be wiped away in a single weekend using computer to computer
> communications"
>
>
>
> On Apr 18, 2011, at 6:46 PM, Kos <skos at bellsouth.net> wrote:
>
> > <:avglsdata id=avglsdata>
> > I agree, Marshall's recap of the issues are on target....
> >
> > Kos, N4NIA
> >
> >
> > ________________________________
> > From: "Rogers, Ron" <RR124640 at ncr.com>
> > To: "wa4kxy at bellsouth.net" <wa4kxy at bellsouth.net>; Fourlanders
> > <fourlanders at contesting.com>
> > Sent: Mon, April 18, 2011 5:21:25 PM
> > Subject: Re: [Fourlanders] FW: [VHF] Gene's QST Column - Part 1
> >
> > OH YES !!
> >
> > Certainly does provide a lot of upcoming SVHFS Conference courtesy Suite
> and
> > cocktail hours conversation material.
> >
> > What Marshall says is a fairly good summation of the content.
> >
> > Ron
> > WW8RR
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: fourlanders-bounces at contesting.com
> > [mailto:fourlanders-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Jim Worsham
> > Sent: Monday, April 18, 2011 5:12 PM
> > To: 'Fourlanders'
> > Subject: [Fourlanders] FW: [VHF] Gene's QST Column - Part 1
> >
> > I haven't seen my May QST yet but apparently Gene, W3ZZ has written
> something
> > very controversial about WSJT and other digital modes.  Anyone gotten
> their May
> > QST yet and seen it?  I am just curious what he said.  It looks like I
> quit the
> > VUAC just in time.
> >
> > 73
> > Jim, W4KXY
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: owner-vhf at w6yx.stanford.edu [mailto:owner-vhf at w6yx.stanford.edu]
> On Behalf
> > Of Marshall Williams
> > Sent: Monday, April 18, 2011 12:48 PM
> > Cc: reflector
> > Subject: [VHF] Gene's QST Column - Part 1
> >
> > Hello everyone....Gene's column this month in QST has taken me quite
> aback.  It
> > is filled with statements and ideas that I completely reject.
> >
> > Gene and I have "cussed and discussed" these topics quite extensively in
> the
> > past few years.  I thought I had "learned" the boy a thing or two, but I
> guess
> > not.
> >
> > The statement made by Ron-W3RJW, "What has taken me 45 years to scratch
> out with
> > tropo openings and scatter contacts can be wiped away in a single weekend
> using
> > computer to computer communications" is just plain FALSE(unless you only
> had a
> > handful of contacts to start with).  It is a "red herring" introduced by
> the
> > anti-digital folks to try to denigrate contacts made via WSJT.
> >
> > In the early days of WSJT, I made the argument that the EME awards should
> be
> > segregated.  This view was completely rejected by the various ARRL
> luminaries.
> > They decided that for ARRL and its awards, mode was not important....I
> think
> > that they were trying to protect DXCC, but in any case, that became the
> > "Official" stance.  I was duped into my "wrong" beliefs concerning WSJT
> by an
> > old time CW only op.  After operating WSJT EMEextensively, Ifound out how
> great
> > it was and I became a proponent not a detractor.
> >
> > WSJT is an addition to the "toolkit" that every VHF op should have.  It
> will
> > make contacts that cannot be made by the old SSB meteor scatter
> techniques.  It
> > will make EME contacts that cannot be made by the old CW techniques.  SO
> > WHAT???  You just add the WSJT contacts to the totals that you have
> gotten by
> > other means.  From here on 2M, I worked 41 states via "traditional" means
> and
> > the other 9 were worked via EME.  SO WHAT??  You have to have EME to work
> HI and
> > AK anyway.  Most important, you still have to get on and operate anyway.
> >
> > So, it is true that if you started from scratch and used WSJT, you would
> take
> > less than 45 years to work WAS, DXCC, or whatever.  But you certainly
> cannot do
> > it in one weekend.  The Anti-digital folks always fail to mention that it
> takes
> > a minimum of 5 minutes to complete an EME contact via WSJT.  I have had
> contacts
> > that took 45 minutes, just because signals were so poor.  WSJT meteor
> scatter
> > contacts often take 20-30 minutes to complete, depending on how many
> little
> > meteors are flying.  How many SSB contacts could you make in 5 minutes???
>  or 45
> > minutes???  The Antis never mention that WSJT is a VERY SLOW mode.  No
> one would
> > use WSJT if CW or SSB was working.
> >
> > What is true about WSJT is that it has generated a level of activity that
> has
> > never been seen in the past.  In the "old days", it took forever to work
> the
> > various awards, because there were so few stations on the
> air....especially big
> > stations with high power and big antennas.
> >
> > You spent a lot more time trying to find someone in West Virginia that
> you could
> > run with than in actually working him.  It is the activity level that is
> > important, not the mode used.  Activity is more important than anything
> else.
> > Activity is KING!  WSJT allows small and medium stations to get in on the
> > activity.
> >
> > Currently, I am sitting on DXCC #99 on 2M.  This has taken me over 3
> years to
> > accomplish and I am still not done.  I have to work one more AND get all
> the
> > cards in.  I should mention that I have one of the larger EME station in
> the
> > US.  Clearly, no one can accomplish DXCC(or any other major award) in one
> > weekend.  I should complete DXCC in a couple of weeks due to another FB
> > DXpedition to a rare country.  These DXpeditions exist because of the
> activity
> > created by WSJT.  Activity breeds more activity.
> >
> > This same argument was brought forth when SSB came along.  SSB was "too
> easy",
> > so it should be banned.  This was the wonderful forward thinking ARRL
> that came
> > up with that one.  Think of what SSB is today.  New modes come
> along....old ones
> > fade away.  Spark is gone...AM is essentially gone.  Such is life.
> >
> > The views of Ron and Gene on contesting are equally far from the mark.
> > I will address those topics in Part 2....
> >
> > 73 Marshall K5QE
> > ------
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