[VHFcontesting] FT4 mode

Thu May 2 16:45:19 EDT 2019

During a halfway decent 6M contest Es opening, 100/hr on SSB is not a very
high rate, even averaged over a entire hour.  On HF, 100/hr is even less
impressive.  The secret is, the Q's need to BE there.  High rate is both
operator skill and the capability of the band to SUPPORT the operators
skill level.  That's why some guys lament the flood of operators leaving
SSB for other modes.  They (we...) like to run rate - that's what we do.
If the band isn't capable of supporting the rate they (we,,,) can run, it
lessens the contest 'experience'.

For what it's worth (not much, really), in a June VHF test, in a year with
Es openings that last for over an hour to areas with good population
density, I ALWAYS have at least one run approaching (if not exceeding)
200/hr, for the entire hour - very occasionally, more then that if I have a
multiple direction opening.  You will find that this is nothing special
amongst the top-10 scorers in SOLP, SOHP and multi categories.

How high can SSB rate get ?  In a contest with a short exchange and with
SUPPORTIVE BAND CONDITIONS, it appears the top end to SSB rate is in the
mid-400's - at least, that appears to be the maximum which has been
recorded (going by memory from data probably 10 years old - maybe higher
now ? ).  My personal record hour was set in a ARRL Phone DX Contest, from
the DX side in either 1981 or 1982 on 20M.  That number was 423 - the first
hour of the contest.  What's funny is that the team had decided to switch
ops every hour for the first 4.  I went first by lottery.  The 2nd hour op,
K9MK, did a 425, beating me by 2 Q's :)  Bummer :)

I have spent my ham radio life contesting.  Both on HF and VHF.  Most often
it was as a 'hired gun' at a multi-op station.  So, I have had access to
some of the best hardware available.  But, in the last 6-7 years, all my
contesting on VHF has been done from my home station with modest (compared
to my multi-op days) hardware.

W9RM

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

On Thu, May 2, 2019 at 2:03 PM John Kludt <johnnykludt at gmail.com> wrote:

> Folks,
>
> Someone please enlighten me.  I would like to see your *best *rate (q/hr)
> by band and your region of the country.  I would also like to see your
> *average * (q/hr) by band and your region of the country.   I am not so
> interested in your *burst* rate: those three or four or five Q's you ripped
> off in really quick succession that calculated out to a rate of "100 q/hr."
>
> John
>
>
>
> On Mon, Apr 29, 2019 at 3:07 PM ww8rr at charter.net <ww8rr at charter.net>
> wrote:
>
> >
> >
> > And....after Joe finished his presentation at this past weekend's VHF-UHF
> > Super Conference in Stearling, VA a lively discussion ensued during the
> Q&A
> > session ( imagine that!) First functioning release of FT4 won't take
> place
> > until sometime after CQWW VHF contest now.RonWW8RRSent from my Samsung S4
> >
> > -------- Original message --------
> > From: Sean Waite <waisean at gmail.com>
> > Date: 04/29/2019  2:09 PM  (GMT-05:00)
> > To: Brian Dickman <brian.dickman at gmail.com>
> > Cc: VHF Contesting <VHFcontesting at contesting.com>
> > Subject: Re: [VHFcontesting] FT4 mode
> >
> > One of the REALLY handy features for rovers is that it doesn't
> > requireprecision clock settings, there is no standard time cycle. That
> > means ifI'm in an area with no cell service I can still jump on even if I
> > haveclock skew.Also, the version being released soon has a kill switch
> for
> > right beforethe June VHF contest. They don't feel it will be ready to go
> > for thiscontest season so it'll cease to function at the beginning of
> > June.Sean WA1TEOn Mon, Apr 29, 2019 at 1:47 PM Brian Dickman <
> > brian.dickman at gmail.com>wrote:> Since the topic hasn't appeared on this
> > list yet, I figured it would be a> good idea to make folks here aware of
> > the pending WSJT FT4 mode in case> they hadn't seen it already.>> The
> > tl;dr:> * 2.5X faster than FT8> * Same contesting features as FT8> *
> > Automatic search and pounce mode> * 144.170MHz proposed 2m frequency>> To
> > read more, here's a couple links:>> *>>
> >
> http://www.arrl.org/news/faster-more-contest-friendly-ft4-digital-protocol-to-debut-in-a-week
> >
> > * http://physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/k1jt/FT4_Protocol.pdf> *>>
> >
> http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2019/april/video-of-ft4-talk-by-joe-taylor-k1jt.htm#.XMc36OhKhaQ
> >
> > (video> of a club talk Joe Taylor made about FT4)>> Notable dates:>> •
> > April 29: Second announcement, with links to downloadable installation>
> > packages> for WSJT-X 2.1.0-rc5> • May 9, 0000 – 0100 UTC: FT4 practice
> > session, 7.090 MHz> • May 14, 0000 – 0100 UTC: FT4 practice session,
> 7.090
> > MHz> • June 5, 0000 – 0100 UTC: FT4 practice session, 7.090 MHz (if
> > needed)> • July 15: General Availability (GA) release of WSJT-X 2.1.0>>
> An
> > RC version is already available now for testing. In other words, you get>
> > to juggle another new digital mode for this summer's contest season!>>
> As I
> > mentioned earlier, the proposed 2m frequency is 144.170MHz (USB dial>
> > frequency). It's inevitable that this becomes as popular; if not more>
> > popular than FT8 for contests. You would still need FT8 to dig out
> really>
> > weak signals, but for everyone that bangs into your station at -10db and>
> > higher, FT4 is a no brainer given the potentially higher QSO/hr count.>>
> If
> > you have direct feedback for the developers, especially about the>
> > frequency selection, I suggest you send that to the wsjt-devel mailing
> > list> rather than here.>> 73,> --> Brian AF7MD>
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