[VHFcontesting] Pondering

[Marshall-K5QE]

Hello to all VHF contesters....Five years ago, we had SSB, CW, JT65b, 
and FSK441.  We used JT65b for EME and for long haul schedules(where we 
might try FT8 today).  We used FSK441 for meteor scatter and if we were 
very lucky, we got a significant Es opening where SSB or CW would allow 
you to rack up the mults at a great rate.

Life was good and we all contested as hard as we could.  Today, I 
believe that we have less activity than before.  Whether this is from 
FT8 or not is hard to say.  I know that scores are lower today than they 
were during "the good old days".  I think that propagation is worse 
today than it was years ago....but that is hard to prove.  Here at K5QE, 
we have not had a really good year, propagation-wise, since 2010.

I think that the popularity of FT8 is that you can work stations at DX 
distances that were harder to work using older tools. Stations are 
saying, "OH look, I just worked Idaho on 6M". "WOW, I just worked NY on 
2M!".  So, we have a paradox.  We can work stations that we would not 
normally work in the "old days", but scores are lower.  How can that be??

There is still plenty of contesting skill and knowledge running around.  
I have heard HFers say, "Well, if you go to 40M too early in the 
contest, you will lose the contest".  On the other side of that coin I 
have heard, "Well, if you go to 40M too late in the contest, you will 
lose the contest".  I am not a great SSB operator, but I can do about 
150 contacts per hour on VHF if propagation is good.  The really great 
ops that sometimes visit here can do more than 200 contacts per hour.  
What that means is that if you are fooling around with FT8, making 30 
contacts an hour(a fair estimate) while a big Es opening occurs, you 
will lose the contest.  On the other hand if you spend loads of time 
calling CQ on SSB, hoping for an opening that never occurs, you will 
lose the contest.

The contest knowledge and skill is in knowing when to be running SSB, 
when to be running MSK144, when to use JT65, and when to use FT8.  I can 
almost guarantee that if you blindly park on one of the FT8 "watering 
holes" for the entire contest, you will not do as well as someone that 
uses a more "adventurous" approach.

ASIDE:  I have often wondered why stations that have two independent 
VFOs could not have the main one listening for FT8 and the secondary one 
listening for SSB.  That way, if a big Es opening occurred, you would 
not miss it.  There must be a reason why this is not normally done.  
Every once in a while, you could switch to the secondary VFO and call CQ 
for a minute or two.  If nothing, go back to FT8.

Now, if you want to really wax philosophical, you can ask why we do VHF 
contesting at all.  We don't "win" anything except bragging rights and a 
certificate on the wall.  OH I forgot, we don't even get the certificate 
on the wall any more.  In my case, I am sure that I must be a masochist 
and VHF contesting is my punishment.  AAAAAAaaaaaaaaaRGH!!  What is your 
excuse??  You are permitted to have a good laugh on me.

73 es GL, Marshall K5QE


On 9/25/2019 4:44 PM, Zack Widup wrote:
> Well, how dead was it 5, 10, 20, 30 years ago?
>
> 73, Zack W9SZ
>
> On Wed, Sep 25, 2019 at 11:28 AM Herb Krumich via VHFcontesting <
> vhfcontesting at contesting.com> wrote:
>
>> I wonder how dead contesting would be without FT8Just pondering
>> Herb
>>