Topband: Good Conditions, Little Activity

[Jim Brown]

On 10/9/2020 2:04 PM, Roger Kennedy wrote:
> But this topic was aimed at people (like me) who have no desire to use such
> computer-based modes, to point out that there ARE quite a few stations
> regularly on CW looking for DX contacts on 160m.

Hi Roger,

I can't speak for others, but I fail to see posts getting "aimed" at 
anyone. I'm an OT, licensed since 1955, and have formed my share of 
opinions and learned things as I grow older. I also have always tried to 
keep my mind open to accept new things. WSJT modes are one of those new 
things I accepted when Nobel Laureate K1JT first introduced them more 
than ten years ago. As a teenager, I "accepted" SSB as a mode superior 
to AM, but it was a more than a decade later before I could afford a 
used SSB rig.

Each of us can enjoy ham radio in many different ways as we choose, 
depending on the resources available to us and the limitations of our 
QTH for antennas. Mostly I do CW contesting on HF and 160, with 
occasional forays into RTTY and SSB. During the summer, I mostly chase 
6M grids using FT8 (E-skip), ISCAT (ionspheric scatter) and MSK144 
(meteor scatter). During the winter, I chase new countries on 160M, 
mostly using FT8 for its signal to noise advantage. I'd love to see 
Topbanders using JT9, which provides another 4 dB of noise rejection. 
JT9 dominates on 630M for that reason.

73, Jim K9YC