[VHFcontesting] FT8?- tarnation!

[Patrick Thomas]

The problem is that nobody is taking the few seconds to reach for a mic/key once in a while during a 33-hour contest, right?  I do not see how a legacy category will solve this - it will make it easier for people who don't want to use digital to win a smaller competition but not solve the real problem, I think.

A very high score bonus for SSB/CW would _actively motivate_ people to use these modes - even the "mixed category" people.  If you could get 1 point on 2m with an FT8 QSO that takes a minute to complete or say 10 points with a CW/SSB contact that takes 15 seconds to complete (assuming a couple re-tries), it's a no-brainer.  If you REALLY NEED digital, you can still use it, but you pay for the "simplicity" with a lower score.

For the record, I'm under the age of 50, I have a major in computer science, was an early adopter of cell phones and instant messengers, and I still regularly use and advocate SSB/CW. :-P

By the way, the bigger problem I see is with attrition and lack of newcomers.  If we don't solve that then before long we'll need 1500 watts just to reach the next nearest participant in most of the country, irrespective of mode.

Patrick
KB8DGC


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Date: Wed, 20 Jan 2021 15:26:41 -0500 (EST)
From: Ed Kucharski <k3dne at comcast.net>
To: Jay RM <w9rm at calmesapartners.com>,	"vhfcontesting at contesting.com"
	<VHFcontesting at contesting.com>,	"alex at kr1st.com" <alex at kr1st.com>
Subject: Re: [VHFcontesting] FT8?- tarnation!

I agree with both Jay and Alex. Too bad we can't go back in time. I'm afraid the digital genie is out of the bottle and we won't get it back in again. Does anyone really think ARRL or CQ will ban digital from their vhf contests? I don't. I do agree a vhf+ digital only contest (or two) would be nice but IMHO it won't solve the decreasing ssb/cw activity problem we are presently seeing in vhf contesting.

Jay brings up the ARRL 10m contest as an example of a successful split mode contest (SSB Only, CW Only and Mixed Mode categories). I believe we can apply the same model to the big 3 vhf contests (4 if you count the CQ VHF contest).

"Legacy" (phone/cw Only), "Digital Only" and "Mixed Mode" (phone/cw AND digital) categories.