[VHFcontesting] Digital Questions

[Marshall-K5QE]

Hello Ron and others interested in this topic....

I think that all this will sort itself out in a fairly short time.  Some 
believe that ALL VHF contesting will go to FT8. Others say that ALL VHF 
contesting will be digital.  I firmly believe that these folks are lost 
and that the scores will prove me correct.  IF all digital will give you 
more points in the long run, then smart contesters will go that way.

I am a good operator, but certainly not a great one.  I know some great 
ones and they make me look pretty bad.  Still, I can run 150 contacts 
per hour on 6M SSB when the band is open.  The really good ones can run 
over 200 per hour.  Let me know when the digital modes get up to that.  
FT8 takes 1 minute even if everything is perfect.  Then it is hard to 
get to the next station without 15sec or 30sec loss.  I would be very 
interested in the claimed "run rate" for FT8.

In VHF contesting, I believe that the digital modes will be an addition 
to the traditional SSB/CW contesting not the primary mode of 
contesting.  The September 2017 contest proves that every general rule 
has an exception.  We did not work a single SSB contact on 6M via Es.  
We worked locals, up to 300 miles, on SSB but nothing long haul.  So, we 
spent hours on MSK144 working new grids that way.  We did not work 
hardly any FT8, because the guys there were sending the "funny little 
numbers" and you could not complete with them.

I(and I hope everyone else) want more stations participating in VHF and 
VHF activities, such as contesting.  We just have to get on the same 
page.  Somehow, we need the guys coming from the HF world to understand 
the we need GRIDS.  If we can accomplish that, the rest of it will fall 
into place....

GL to all...73 Marshall K5QE


On 9/18/2017 8:04 AM, Ron Klimas WZ1V wrote:
> Instead of creating a separate category, they
> could cut all digital mode QSO points in half,
> ie., 2 digi-Qsos on 6M = 1 real Qso.
> Maybe that's being too generous ?
> Just kidding.
> -73 Ron WZ1V
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Sean Waite <waisean at gmail.com>
> To: "Steve (K1IIG)" <stephen.tripp at snet.net>,        VHF Contesting
> <vhfcontesting at contesting.com>,        Marshall-K5QE <k5qe at k5qe.com>
> Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2017 12:14:46 +0000
> Subject: Re: [VHFcontesting] Digital Questions
>
>> Hi Steve,
>>
>> I am of the opinion that splitting the VHF and up contests into mode
>> specific contests will be at the detriment of all. There just simply is not enough activity.
>>
>> If activity continues to grow, it might make sense to make mode contacts
>> worth different amounts of points,or maybe mode mults. I'm not sure where
>> that break point is, and certainly thus might end up handicapping people
>> that we really want to get more involved.
>>
>> It's a fair point about automation. It would be pretty trivial to automate
>> the entire process. Click go and kick up your heels with a beer. If it's
>> found that this is happening, a rules rewrite might be in order.
>>
>> Sean WA1TE
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Sep 18, 2017, 07:52 Steve (K1IIG) <stephen.tripp at snet.net> wrote:
>>
>>> Marshall,
>>> Thank you for a very informative article detailing the different digital
>>> mode pros and cons. I have not ventured into this and not sure I will as
>>> most of my operating is on the upper UHF bands. I see a lot of confusion
>>> with the various setups including major QRM packet collisions with only
> one
>>> calling frequency. Three questions come to mind.
>>> 1.    If the digital modes continue to get popular, do you think having
> a
>>> separate Digital Contest makes sense?
>>> 2.    If not, should the rules be re-written to equalize the playing
> field.
>>> 3.    If the automated computer program completes the contact and not
> the
>>> ham operator, does this truly constitute a ham op making the contact or
> his
>>> station making it. I wish to compete against other hams not just their
>>> station computers. Hams copying vs computer decoding.
>>>
>>> I do enjoy using a PC to assist making a contact with a SDR e/w a
>>> panadapter waterfall but in the end I have to copy the weak signal to
>>> complete a legit contact.
>>>
>>> 73's and Tnx for posting the article
>>> Steve K1IIG
>>> HF-3.4+10ghz
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
> https://www.dropbox.com/s/9l5oeiir4inn4x6/Contesting%20and%20Digital%20Modes.doc?dl=0
>>>
>>> 73 Marshall K5QE
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