Topband: FT8 Observations

[Mike DeChristopher]

Hi Dave,

In my [very, very, extremely] limited experiences with any of the JT
modes, it has always seemed to me that many are alligators. I think
the FT8 craze has inspired a lot of people to get on 160 with
compromise tx antennas -- this is a good thing -- but I'm not sure
they realize how much they're missing on RX. I'm currently writing an
article for a local club on simple RX antennas for this very reason
(big ft8 crowd). If you try it on other bands, even 80 for example,
you'll find your mileage *magically* improves. The program hears so
well that even a stoopid rx antenna that only slightly pares down the
noise would be fb for most.

As for your tribulations, I don't know enough about the mode to say
too much, but it should be regularly better than CW, even factoring in
the alligators. A local fellow here in WMA probably has 60+ cty on FT8
with only a compromise inverted-L and no RX. I know he's running >10
or 20W -- not sure if that's considered inordinate or not.

Glad to hear your beverage noise is straightened out.

73
Mike N1TA



On Sun, Apr 22, 2018 at 10:17 AM, David Olean <k1whs at metrocast.net> wrote:
> I have been playing around with FT8 on 160M and am a bit puzzled. I have
> made plenty of contacts, but with many stations, it seems to require an
> inordinate amount of power to get their attention, or they do not respond at
> all. I also have noted that I can hear in a 2.8 kHz passband, signals that
> register from -12 to -17 dB. About the weakest that I see is a bit more than
> -20 dB. Does this mean that FT8 is only a few dB better than CW?  I have my
> time set accurately and I try to place my TX signal away from whomever I am
> calling on a clear spot on my waterfall.
>
> Some stations are easy to work, and I have worked across the country (FN43
> to a CM grid) running just 1 watt. It just seems that there are many
> stations that are not hearing much, but are making plenty of noise.  Am I
> wrong?
>
> I am working on cleaning up my 160 setup and have 8 beverages running and
> they are all pretty quiet now that I installed plenty of ferrite chokes
> around on the RG-6 feed lines.  I am looking forward to next fall and
> winter.
>
> 73
>
> Dave K1WHS
>
> _________________
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