Topband: FT8 - the end of 160m old school DXing? (long)

[Gary Smith]

Steve, 

That was a good read. I see there's a lot 
of replies so I'll send this before 
reeading them...

I too love CW and it is without a doubt my 
favorite mode. You asked a question and I 
have used FT8 and my favorite band is 
Topband, so here's my 2 pence.

I think what might have turned Ham Radio 
upside down was the institution of DXCC (I 
have 329 confirmed, so I participate). 
With that, a pressure began to get the 
current QSO over with and the next one 
started. 

A new subset of the above is the Challenge 
award concept, where one Q was enough for 
DXCC, now the game includes working the 
rare ones on every band and mode. That 
accelerated the rush to get heard and the 
Q over with. The pileups are horrendous 
even for big guns.

I think the next "Upside down" event was 
the advent of the computer which took the 
personality out of logging and made your 
contacts a viewable & printable tally. The 
Apple II+ I had in 81 had a CW/RTTY card. 
I could now send and receive faster than I 
could copy. 

A subset of this above is the dehumanizing 
of the QSO, with my logging program it 
connects to QRZ or Buckmaster and tells 
you the person's name and QTH. Most 
everyone sends 599 when working DX, so you 
don't have to enter it, it's already 
listed by default. Last night I worked a 
TI on SSB, rare for me to be on SSB so 
after he took the time to have my call 
correct and give me a 5X9 report, I gave 
my name, his 5X5 report and my QTH I 
turned it back to him and he said 73, QRZ? 
and that was the QSO. I felt disappointed 
but it is what it has become.

The digital modes are nothing other than a 
logical extension of the computer and 
experimenting; totally inevitable these 
would be. Other than CW & SSB, I have only 
used RTTY and FT8 (maybe 5 JT contacts are 
in there..) but here's my Luddite take on 
FT8:

Last night I did something I have started 
to do, I let FT8 read all night on 160. 
Why? it gives me a good idea of 
propagation that I can read in the 
morning, was there DX, where were the 
signals from and when were they there? For 
last night from CT, only Canada & USA. 
Other nights I've seen some good DX that 
was present. 

How many times have I wondered if there 
might be signals on what seems to be a 
dead band? Sure, low band DX signals are 
not heard during the day, but are there 
any surviving in the most minuscule 
amounts? Logic says almost assuredly not, 
but almost is not 100%. With some of these 
modes, especially WSPR, signals below the 
noise level can be pulled out. That's 
pretty cool and goes against everything I 
believed in this regard. Better Receivers 
can lower the noise floor of course but to 
copy a signal below that new & lower noise 
floor, the mystery still remains. Now you 
can. How much below? that remains to be 
seen by future experimenting.

As to what the future really holds may 
well depend on how much Amateur 
allocations are being used and while for 
most of us, it's a way of life and a 
deeply personal hobby, that's no reason 
for Governments worldwide of offer us 
licenses and permission, these spaces have 
to be earned to be kept. 

I think it's wonderful to see so much 
activity in 2 KHz of space that otherwise 
would be dead air. I love CW, it is a 
challenge and a skill I'm good at, FT8 is 
not a skill, other than getting it to work 
and play nice with other software running 
at the same time (it needs to be willing 
to use virtual ports and WSJT-X software 
is not helpful to this in the least). 

The last I'll offer is how it allows 
people with marginal systems to be able to 
get on the air and have a reasonable 
chance of making contacts that would 
otherwise be impossible. 

I had the pleasure of communicating with 
Carl Smith N4AA (SK) who used to put out 
QRZ-DX. He was in a bad way in Hospice 
care and this is a snip of the last email 
I received from him and it speaks to FT8, 
I don't think he would mind my posting 
that, here:
--Start-------------
I'm sitting here in this VA Hospice room 
now hoping I can get back on the air 
somehow, sometime soon.

I have talked to the folks here and they 
have agreed to let me get a wire out the 
window for an antenna.

I am on the ground floor on the southeast 
side of the building so it should not be 
too bad with some kind of a portable 
antenna.

If I can get that done, and I AM working 
on it, I'll have my son bring my TS-590S 
digital radio up here and see if I can at 
least try to get on using FT-8. I have 
fallen in love with that mode... hi hi Will 
make my life a lot easier while I'm here 
and allow some measure of being on the 
air.
---Finish-----------

It is what it is and it's not the end of 
the world of Ham Radio as we knew it, that 
started long ago.

73,

Gary
KA1J


> G´day
> 
> As a committed (yeah, that´s probably the right word - complete with
> white jacket that laces up at the back) topbander since 1970, I´ve
> never been so intrigued and disturbed by anything on the band as the
> emergence of the Franke-Taylor FT-8 digital mode.

<snip> 

> Now, over to you other topbanders, especially those who have dabbled
> with FT-8 and live in more populous areas. Has the world really turned
> upside down and what do you think the future holds? 
> 
> Vy 73
> 
> Steve, VK6VZ/G3ZZD