[VHFcontesting] FT8 and the ARRL June VHF Contest

[Bob K0NR - email list]

I used FT8 on 6m during the contest. Yes, there were issues and we can 
work on them but I thought it actually worked pretty well considering 
that its new technology. FT8 was introduced, what, about a year ago? I 
don't recall when Contest Mode was added.

Saturday conditions were probably the most frustrating factor for me 
because it seemed like the propagation was designed for maximum FT8 
frustration. A signal would break through for about 10 seconds (at 
FT8-compatible SNR) and then fade out, often not reappearing again. I 
think this was more about propagation, not operator impatience.  So it 
was slow going at times but without FT8 on Saturday afternoon, my 6m log 
would have been largely empty, so I see it as a net plus.

The Contest Mode vs. regular mode caused a lot of confusion. Once I 
understood what was going on, I just flipped modes when I saw someone 
giving me a signal report. I also babysat the autosequence to make sure 
it wasn't stuck. This will get better as people get used to the 
technology. Marshall makes a good point though...for VHF why isn't it 
"all grids all the time"?

The issue I was concerned about before the contest was that everyone 
would hang out on FT8 regardless of how good the propagation was. My 
impression is that did not happen...when the band was in I was able to 
make a good rate on SSB. What did you guys experience?  For single ops 
(one radio), it is always going to be an interesting tradeoff when to 
switch between FT8 and SSB (or CW).  SO2R may be an attractive but 
complicated solution.

Marshall, I think your recommendations are good.

73, Bob K0NR


On 11-Jun-18 8:45 PM, Marshall-K5QE wrote:
> Hello to all the VHF contesters who ran the June contest.
>
> Due to all the hype concerning FT8, we decided this year to add a 
> completely independent 6M station just to monitor FT8.  The station 
> has a 6M5X for the antenna and a small SSPA.  The new station was 
> interlocked with the main 6M run station to keep one station from 
> blowing out the other.
>
> When the contest began, there was no Es on 6M, so naturally we went to 
> 50.313 looking for FT8 contacts.  There were 6-8 traces visible.  Some 
> were weak and some were really strong.  So, we started trying to work 
> them.
>
> The results were terribly frustrating.  We tried running S&P by 
> keeping our TX fixed on 1500 or 1200(or whatever) and calling stations 
> that were calling CQ.  Many would not come back to us unless we got 
> right on their frequency.  Apparently, these ops did not realize that 
> it is possible to work just fine with our audio on 1500 and theirs on 
> 1244.  It is sort of a "split operation", but it works very well and 
> you can hold your CQ frequency.
>
> A goodly number were still not using the "NA Contest Mode", so you 
> could not complete with them in any normal way.  The best we could do 
> was to stop using the contest mode(CM) long enough to complete with 
> them.  Sometimes, this was successful, sometimes not. Remember that if 
> one station is in the CM and the other one is not, the messages do not 
> proceed properly.  Using the CM is critical.
>
> We could tell that this was not a recipe for success, so we started 
> calling CQ ourselves, keeping our TX audio fixed at 1500. We worked 
> stations from all over the waterfall, but it was slow going.  We often 
> were called by a station with a decent signal, but when we went right 
> back to them, they disappeared and were never seen again.  This wasted 
> a lot of time.  Many of those folks that answered our CQ were not in 
> the CM, so, it was very hard to get their grid as many of them called 
> using Tx2(K5QE K2XXX -02) rather than Tx1 which has the grid.
>
> Whenever our op could see that FT8 signals were really strong, he 
> would jump to SSB and work whatever he could.  On Sat, about half of 
> our 6M contacts(about 225) and half of our grids(about 60) were made 
> on SSB.  If the Es died out, he would go back to FT8.
>
> At the end of Sat night, we had more contacts on 2M than we had on 
> 6M.  This is pretty ridiculous in June.  Our score was about 28K. It 
> was terribly frustrating and my stress level was a bit high.
>
> On Sunday, we found the Es opening at about 8AM, maybe a bit earlier.  
> Signals were strong and we began running hard. Several of the top ops 
> had to go home, because they had to work on Monday.  So, I had to man 
> the 6M station from about Noon to 9PM. I was running 100-120 per hour 
> for several hours, which later fell back to about 60 per hour later in 
> the evening.  At the end, we had 202 grids and 980+ contacts on 6M.  
> Our score was now 400K+ and less stress on me....HI.
>
> The bottom line is that FT8 performed about as I feared it would. The 
> large number of newbies and / or HFers that insist on running without 
> the contest mode hurt the number of contacts that we were able to make 
> and really hurt the rate.  Ditto the folks that think you have to be 
> right on their frequency.  All this can be fixed with some education 
> and some (gentle?) persuasion.  We somehow have to get these folks to 
> understand that in the VHF world, we need GRIDS, most especially in a 
> contest, where the grid is the exchange.  I DON'T CARE HOW THEY DO IT 
> ON HF!!  As VHFers, I believe that we should use the CM at all times.  
> Maybe folks would see how much better it is.
>
> RECOMMENDATIONS:
>
> 1.  Use SSB or CW whenever signals are up.  It is MUCH faster and you 
> will work more contacts with more grids.  I had several hours with a 
> rate above 100 per hour.  You just cannot do this with FT8 as the 
> absolute maximum number of contacts is 60 per hour...and in practice, 
> you cannot do that.  It did not happen in this contest, but I have 
> seen one of our top ops run over 200 contacts in an hour.
>
> 2.  Use the "NA Contest Mode" in contests.  I believe we should use it 
> at all times, just so the newbies and HFers will see that rather than 
> the "funny little numbers".
>
> 3.  Stations calling CQ should pick an audio frequency and stay 
> there.  Work S&P stations anywhere in the waterfall.  This alone will 
> help a lot.
>
> 4.  Don't make one call and then disappear.  Obviously, some contacts 
> will fail for whatever reason(band drops, amp blows up, or something 
> like that), but you will work a lot more if you stick with it.
>
> FINAL THOUGHTS:
>
> I think that with some education and some practice, FT8 can work a lot 
> of stuff whenever Es is NOT happening.  It is a useful tool to be 
> added to the contesting toolbox.  We just need to eliminate the bad 
> operating practices so that everyone can maximize their 
> contacts....big stations and small ones alike.
>
> I am most interested in how others found FT8 in this contest. Was it 
> better or worse than what I have described above?  If you like my 
> recommendations, then promote them.  If not, please let me know how we 
> can all do better.  I always appreciate intelligent ideas and 
> discussion.  Flames go directly to the bit bucket--they will not pass 
> GO and will not collect $200.
>
> 73 Marshall K5QE
> k5qe at k5qe.com
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Bob Witte K0NR
bob at k0nr.com