Topband: 160 FT8

[Cecil acuff]

FT8 is here to stay….and there will be others!

Go back and research the transition from AM to SSB.  It’s much the same.  Complain as you will….if you cling to CW as the only valid mode of communications on Top Band, you will fail.  You are willing to sacrifice RTTY to FT8 just recently… in an effort to justify your position….to no avail.  Technology moves forward….you stay behind.  All modes are valid and there is nothing you can do to halt it.

AM, SSB, CW, RTTY, Digital modes including FT8….all valid. Doesn’t matter if you used a bug or a laptop…all valid. 

Fight about remote ops…a much more productive fight!…..that’s if you must fight!

This discussion is getting old….

Cecil
K5DL






Sent from my iPad

> On Feb 19, 2024, at 5:46 PM, Bob Kile <midnight18 at cox.net> wrote:
> The discussion goes on. In case one hasn't noticed we are in a solar maximum. I work what I can when I can and get sleep unlike "Charlie Fox".
> 
> FT8 for me is a tool. If I call CQ for a few minutes on FT8 in 15 minutes I can see world wide with it's  thousands of stations using PSK Reporter the current state of propagation.
> 
> Last evening after the contest I ran JTDX in SWL mode over night. The so called dead band yielded 41 unique call signs in EU. About half would have been workable on CW. This was with my antenna stuck beaming 90 degrees which normally would be pointing at 25 degrees.
> 
> In these crap conditions to work new ones you need to pull out all the tools such as low noise RX antennas, spectrum and waterfall displays, spotting and even FT8. While I'm not an advocate of FT8 it certainly has it's place and to work DX it takes some savvy by not just calling CQ and having the program auto answer the strongest of the group calling.
> 
> Dxpeditions these days cost piles of money. Very few can fork out $25K of personal funds to go  or attempt to go to some remote piece of dirt in the middle of nowhere. They run on donations from clubs, manufacturers, retailers and  individuals. The more contacts they make the better chance of recouping some of the real costs.
> 
> I saw in one post a negative comment about Rig in a Box. With all the hot air from "Save the World" fanatics it has become extremely difficult to permission to operate from many  places  that 20 years ago was possible.
> 
> As a Ham operator for 58 years now and I go with the flow. I see many new faces and at some point they will mature into what what we perceive is ham radio if we give them a chance. I prefer not to be the last guy calling CQ with a sign posted  "when done please turn off the lights".
> 
> 73
> 
> Bob W7RH
> 
> --
> W7RH DM35OJ
> 
> 
> If it's true that our species is alone in the universe, then I'd have to say the universe aimed rather low and settled for very little. George Carlin
> 
> 
> _________________
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