[VHFcontesting] FT8?- tarnation!

[Jose_Carlos]

Hi guys

The contest regulation follow the DXCC, 160m and 2 m does not have a separated award by mode.

 On VHF digital  mode is nothing new, I used to work several multiplies on Meteor Scatter using  high speed CW and then FKS441 using WSJT. MS is the core of VHF activity.

All the arguments I heard here is just the symptom, not the problem!  

The real problem is activity, it means hours on the chair!!. 

What’s is very common in recent years is downsize!. Less antennas , less good stations active on VHF.

That is the problem, if everybody turn on the radio and park the VFO on 144.200, and don’t call CQ, turn on the radio on or turning it off does the same thing.

My taste is not for digital modes, I gave up on EME because of that, JT65  or RTTY does not bring me joy.

However FT8 is a different ball game that deserves a different score. Imagine a multi- band station running FT8 server (robot) , sorry but operator is optional on FT8, what a mess on contest regulation, you competing against  a machine?

Any way, back to may point, if you don’t call CQ, CW or SSB, you  cannot  complain the lack of activity on VHF.

The only way to generate activity is being active!

73’s
JC
N4IS

Sent from Mail for Windows 10

From: alex at kr1st.com
Sent: Wednesday, January 20, 2021 2:02 PM
To: VHF Contesting
Subject: Re: [VHFcontesting] FT8?- tarnation!

I think the best approach is a separate contest for digital modes. It's 
done on HF, and it's done in other countries. This is not terribly 
difficult.

The points per mode approach is doomed to fail I'm afraid. That may be a 
solution if there would be an overall lack of activity. Then you can 
make a contest more attractive by allowing to work the same station on a 
different mode. However, in the areas where the complaints are the 
loudest, there is no lack of activity. In fact, the level of activity is 
sufficiently high on FT8 to warrant its own contest, and disallow non 
burst type digital modes in the "regular" contest.

By doing nothing, or by trying to somehow change the rules of the 
current contest to make it more attractive to operate on other modes and 
bands, I think you can be assured that the VHF contests will turn into 
digital mode contests. I'm OK with that if that happens, but I'd rather 
operate both a traditional _and_ a digital mode contest.

Now an enterprising club could take advantage of the current situation 
and use it as an opportunity to organize a digital mode contest within 
the current contests...

73,
--Alex KR1ST

On 2021-01-20 10:57, Sean Waite wrote:

> Personally I don't think that's another contest, and that we need to 
> find a
> way to co-exist inside the same contest. I'm not sure of the best way 
> to do
> that. We have 3 contests in a year - we should try a different approach 
> on
> each one (and yes, I realize there are weather and band conditions that
> change these contests) and see what approaches work well and which 
> don't.
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