[VHFcontesting] Is FT8 Really the Problem with VHF Contests?

[Bill Olson]

Fred you are SO YOUNG!!!!!!

bill
________________________________
From: VHFcontesting <vhfcontesting-bounces+callbill=hotmail.com at contesting.com> on behalf of Fred Stefanik <n1dpmfred at gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, September 13, 2022 2:12 AM
To: k3sk at buckwalter.co <k3sk at buckwalter.co>
Cc: VHF Contesting <vhfcontesting at contesting.com>
Subject: Re: [VHFcontesting] Is FT8 Really the Problem with VHF Contests?

I think there's a few factors....

1.  FT8 operations as the "norm" have driven a number of people away
from VHF contesting.  I for one am one of those people.... Now with
the analog only category it seems to be starting to breathe some new
life back into the contest.  I wasn't able, because of other
commitments, to get on except for late Sunday night towards the end
and I found "plenty" of activity on SSB then to satisfy me whereas
before it would have been ALL FT8.  There is as Paul says a place for
FT8, but that is not cranking out contact numbers, but where it's too
marginal for a CW contact.

2.  The ham population is aging (if you haven't noticed).  I'm 61 and
still feel like a "kid" in this hobby!  There are some new younger
ones joining the ranks but it is uncommon!  I remember how old hams
"crabbed" about the new hams that gained interest in the late 70's as
a result of the CB radio boom.  I'm one of those guys!  Ham radio has
been one of the best things in my life as it allowed and helped propel
me through my professional career in the broadcast transmitter
business.  I am mentoring a "kid" at work in RF and he's catching on
and I've suggested that he look into this hobby as it will help with
his understanding  (and because I still think it's cool).  I have a
number of mentors to thank, such as my older brother WA1CYK, W1KK,
W1QWJ, WA1UQC (all SK) and NC1I, K1WHS, W1VD, KA1ZE (W3XTT), WB1FVS
and MANY more....So regardless of the origin of new hams, anyone that
is a young newcomer to the hobby from wherever....help them out and
give them guidance and mentoring to help them enjoy the hobby and
learn, or this hobby will go the way of the dinosaur!

3.  (or 2A)  As the hobby's population ages there are more and more
SK's by percentage every month / year, the pandemic notwithstanding!
Think of how many hams we all know that have become SK's in say the
last 5 years (about how long FT8 has been popular). They need to be
remembered but also need to be replaced (that dinosaur thing again).
Somehow I think that guys like K1WHS will never get old (or maybe
never grow up to be an adult, maybe a more accurate statement!)

So all in all I think this FT8 / analog only category will help things
head in the right direction (in my opinion) but it will take time to
reach equilibrium.

73
Fred
N1DPM
FN32qb
160m - 432MHz + 10GHz portable

On Mon, Sep 12, 2022 at 8:33 AM <k3sk at buckwalter.co> wrote:
>
>
> I blame most of the weekend on very bad propagation and mostly general lack
> of participation.
>
> This was both, the worst propagation in 30 years I ever remember during a
> VHF contest. And, it was also my first ever contest using a digital mode
> (FT8). I worked as many SSB contacts as I could find, with frequent moves to
> that portion of the band. I only heard 4 or 5 CW calls and all but one was
> stations I already had logged.
>
> During the later hours almost all FT8 I copied were dupes, calls I worked on
> SSB or FT8 earlier. This was no different than other VHF contests, where
> only the diehards and power-house multi-op stations just keep hammering
> away. I did the same thing. I kept visiting the SSB calling frequencies and
> called over and over with no response.. Then I'd go to FT8 and do the same
> thing, getting the same results.
>
> Regardless of the mode, it was tough digging out a contact. An example that
> proves this point is 222 MHz. Of the contest bands it's not a normally
> active band but it's one I have and enjoy. I run a full KW and 4 10 element
> LFAs on 222 MHz. In the past on this band I've worked 20 to 50 QSOs,
> sometimes more. Over this entire weekend I worked 9 contacts! 5 of them were
> on SSB and 4 were on FT8. There's nothing wrong with the equipment as half
> the QSOs were 400+ mile contacts, Q5 copy and some of those were SSB. On FT8
> I kept hearing the same 3 stations over and over again all weekend.
>
> There just wasn't anyone there to work, regardless of mode.
>
> de K3SK
>
>
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