Topband: K9FD & digital

[m.r.c.]

PLEASE lets NOT go down the digital ruined the world rabbit hole again!

its a discussion for a different venue PLEASE

I am not a moderator, just a list member with a sore delete finger.  I DO want 
to hear what the folks actually on the air are accomplishing. but I do NOT want 
to hear doom and gloom about SSB ruining the AM bands, or Digital is the end of 
the world, its NOT topband material.

Robin, WA6CDR

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jim Brown" <jim at audiosystemsgroup.com>
To: <topband at contesting.com>
Sent: Wednesday, September 28, 2022 14:52
Subject: Re: Topband: K9FD


> On 9/28/2022 1:34 PM, kolson at rcn.com wrote:
>> Seriously, he developed the mode, but it was the general Ham population that 
>> popularized it. They "voted" to operate that mode out of free will, many 
>> because folks with mediocre stations had very little opportunity to work DX 
>> at the sunspot doldrums, some because they just didn't enjoy the other legacy 
>> modes, etc. No one stopped anyone who actually wanted to get on CW (or any 
>> other mode) from doing so. So "they" didn't ruin 160m, 6m or anything else, 
>> for that matter.
>
> Blaming the decline of 160M CW activity on FT8 is barking up the wrong tree. 
> Two factors are far more important. Both here, and on a jazz email reflector 
> I've participated in for at least 25 years, we're getting older, getting less 
> active, far too many QSYing away from the green side of the grass. Note the 
> recent post from one of the guys in VK who noted that as he got older, he was 
> no longer motivated to be on the air at the crack of dawn to work DX.
>
> The second factor is noise. In a San Francisco SBE chapter meeting I just 
> attended online, it was noted that noise levels on the AM broadcast band have 
> risen more than 20 dB. The presenter, from Orban, a long time leader in signal 
> processing, is a ham, and at least half of the attendees listed their ham 
> calls. The primary objective of broadcast signal processing is maximizing 
> loudness; on the FM band, it's about maximizing the excitement level of music; 
> on the AM band, it's about getting through that noise.
>
> I've known that presenter, W9CN, from our days in Chicago more than 40 years 
> ago!
>
> 73, Jim K9YC
>
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