[VHFcontesting] Digital Questions

[Keith Morehouse]

After the 2017 CQWW VHF contest (the last VHF contest with any Es on 6), I
recall guys quoting maybe 30-45/hr run rate on FT8.  They said they were
working hard at it.  This was close to when the mode first 'hit the
street', so maybe it would be a little more now that people are used to it.

I can't really remember, but I think I had at least one hour at 150 on SSB
and several partial hours with the "last 10" rate meter way over 200 and I
didn't think the band was all that 'open' (lots of CQ's).

September WAS a different contest to June (or July) and is supposed to be.
No Es means a lot of action on meteor scatter (MSK144 mode) and, if you're
serious, lot's of beating the bushes for local 6M Q's if they exist for
you.  Local Qs happen on whatever mode they happen on, but I wouldn't spend
all my time on 50.313 if there is no sporadic E.  A local Q on 50.125 SSB
(or wherever) can happen a lot faster then on FT8 and you can get back to
the real task of a September contest - working guys on 2M and above.

We'll all know more about where this is going after the first few weeks of
June 2018.

-W9RM

Keith J Morehouse
Managing Partner
Calmesa Partners G.P.
Olathe, CO

On Mon, Sep 18, 2017 at 3:10 PM, Marshall-K5QE <k5qe at k5qe.com> wrote:

>
>
>   I would be very interested in the claimed "run rate" for FT8.
>
>