Topband: The use of digital modes on 160 metres

[Tom W8JI]

>> The simple fact is that digimodes, thanks especially to K1JT and his
>> excellent software, are a game changer. DX is now workable on 6m via EME
>> (I'm not suggesting topband via the moon, in case anyone was wondering!)
>> but also via terrestrial paths when conditions are marginal - JT65 (and 
>> its
>> HF variant) can integrate and pull out signals that are well below 
>> ambient
>> noise levels.

So can a good CW operator.

>> I can see the same happening on 160. How would you feel if you have built
>> and 4-square and got 200+ countries, only to find someone with a bit of
>> bent wire doing the same thing?

A bit of bent wire can easily work 200+ countries on 160 on CW. Probably 
more so than on "digital" modes at the present time.

But, on the flip side, how excited will
>> the
>> latter operator be when he finds he can work DX on a band which 
>> previously
>> he had found impossible because he doesn't have room for that 4-square?

....or doesn't have patience or CW skill.

>> It's early days yet, but as the digimodes software improves further (and
>> it's really down to the processing power of PCs at the end of the day) 
>> and
>> other matters like bandplanning get resolved, these are the dilemmas we
>> will increasingly be facing. Maybe we will need two versions of 160m 
>> DXCC -
>> one of which specifically states "SSB and CW only" or somesuch!

That's a good suggestion. It really should be one award for the case where a 
human operator copies the signal, a man and his radio, and another 
certificate where a machine actually copies the signal, a man reading the 
text decoded and printed on a machine.

This fits with the trend to make rewards in life increasingly less dependent 
on human effort, patience, and skill, and those who prefer to do it with 
human involvement. There should be two clear classes.

But that isn't the primary issue for me. The issue for me is technical, and 
surrounds how we plan growth when some groups simply go off on their own and 
ignore bandplans and the IARU.

73 Tom