Please don't bring up logic in threads like these where most of the comments are not really based on that or facts It may confuse people and the universe could implode. Logic ... TSK TSK ...
Part 97.313a! YES! Exactly! So glad someone else reads the rules! According to FCC Rules and Regulations, the Radio Amateur may use the minimum power necessary to conduct communications, whatever that power may be. Up to 1500 watts PEP. With any given station. Of course, that is power to the antenna and not EIRP. EIRP has no limit on most of the HF bands, excepting 60M, 630M and 2200M. Oh... yeah... the latter info is NOT in Part 97.313a. So maybe we all need to know just a little bit more than what is in Part 97.313.a Pretty much explains why RTTY operators routinely run 500W+, though. They need to. And can, under the rules. And what do you know! The same rules apply even to weak signal digital modes like Olivia, PSK-31, JT-65, JT-9 and FT-8. Otherwise those moon-bounce and meteor scatter operators would be mighty disappointed. Now is it courteous to run 500 watts to a 3-element Yagi up 75 feet to communicate with another US station using more conventional propagation paths? Probably not. Pretty much like an elephant in a grocery store. He WILL get all the peanuts. So, personally, I don't and really do use the minimum power required to close the link. But it's often not 5 watts, or 25 watts in this down cycle. And my antennas are pretty limited, too. No giant arrays way up in the sky. I'm not even renting them remotely the way some operators do. So my EIRP is limited, and I'm OK with that. Too many other fun things to do rather than obsess over the biggest, highest and best in a ham radio hobby. But you never know. With its relatively rapid CQ capability and tireless computers to do the heavy lifting, FT-8 has opened up the possibility of "weak signal" digital modes being used in contesting and Field Day. Point-and-shoot, so to speak. It's going to be pretty hard to put that mode back into Pandora's Box. I've seen plenty of "brass knuckles" contests where CW operators are running 1500W (or more, it seems) into massive high-gain arrays. So... what comes next, now that CW is fading with the older generation? We just don't know. Yet. Maybe its just starting to get interesting.
Is it really a fact that CW is fading, given the surge in QRP and the near-necessity of CW for QRP field ops? My sense is that it's enjoying a renaissance.
Actually just went back and re-read the rules. 97.313a.b clearly states that no amateur must exceed the power limits as deemed appropriate by arbitrary reasoning in QRZ.com forum posts. There you have it ...
Braden (KD8ZM): Among the multiple ham clubs I belong to in SoCal, not one of the new hams among the new hams members have any interest in CW. There is some revival in older hams who were either 5 WPM/13WPM or no-code who are just coming back into the hobby. But the number that actually return to CW is a trickle. So the long-term outlook is grim, IMHO. Regarding QRP... it looks very much like the weak signal digital modes will soon overrun that venue as well. LiFePo battery packs, Android based CPUs that sip power and digital friendly QRP radios seem to have arrived - one recent club meeting was dedicated to that. In fact, it's what kicked off my recent interest is Solar ops. Michael (K5TRI): Hmmm. I missed the section of Part 97. But it kind of fits in with the current trend towards extremism and mob rule, which I hope moderates in the near future. In the meantime, I've SuperGlued the power control on my FTDX-3000 to "25 Watts", just to stay our of trouble.
I agree that chat-modes are very enjoyable. However, there are a couple of people out there, elderly, who have become far too accustomed to having a mode and what they perceive as 'the official Olivia band slot' to themselves whilst few others have traditionally used it. FT8 has its uses, but it does quickly become very tiresome.
I'm 100% behind the spirit of this post. The JT and FT modes and WSPR have proven incredibly resilient and reliable. However, the beautiful thing about Olivia is that you can operate in adverse conditions and still have a pleasurable QSO. And, once you've established a contact, you can certainly move to other modes that enable keyboard and photo exchanges over RF.
Olivia is a good, robust mode, but it's rather slow. MFSK16 is just as good, and the character rate is much faster, especially when working over the pole into EU when the K-index is >2. MFSK16 usage has dropped way off in recent years, but perhaps we can rekindle interest in the mode.
Thanks for the article Thomas- Lets' not forget another popular multi-mode program "FL Digi" with TX/RXiD. It's free and fully customizable. 73, Eric n6spp ~wsjt'ing since 2001
The robot units were fun. I ran a Sideband Engineers SBE36 B&W SSTV robot and Drake Twins on 10m in the late '80s. 73
Thanks for the post, a lot of good information. I'm a big fan of Olivia, however I have had few contacts other than prearrange ones due to the obvious lake of activity. I have attached a video of a prearranged contact I had with Dale KB3FEI earlier this year(2017) which really demonstrates what a great mode this is for long haul communication from a basic station in pretty bade conditions. Very keen to promote the use of Olivier and more than happy to arrange more contacts, particular from the far side of the World......... Regards Peter vk6ysf
No it's just people not really understanding something and then parroting arguments they read somewhere spread by somebody else who didn't really understand it either. Pure Dunning-Kruger at work here. As for JT modes only used for low power, every EME operator running JT65 at KW+ levels may just get a big chuckle out of this statement
I love olivia....I've been on that mode for awhile, 8/250;8/500;16/500. Psk 31 isn't to bad lately. used to be on psk 31 the qso's would last 8.9 minutes and then qrt. OLIVIA is really a great conversation mode/s. I'm on 8/500 on most days from my mobile 14.072.00,14.072.50. Ft8 is a quick,fast way to get name,rank and serial #. JT65 and jt9 are slow.JT4 is a little faster. Then there's contestia,mt64,dominos,thor,throb,hell,mfsk,amtor ( been trying to get some activity on that mode for some time ) pactor,packet, psk 220,250,ale 400, axe 25 and whole lot of others. Even RTTY. 40 meters is a great dx band for 40 RTTTY 7.040-7.030. used to be that the digital dx was on 7.035 khz, there used to be a ton of psk dx operators there. Now it's 7.070. The only problem with FT8 I can see on 20 meters is that the signals tend to be broad enough that the side qrn spreads up to 14.075.50 and down to 14.072.00 khz. We can all get along on this band IF we give each other a little more breathing room.My suggestion is this: digital controlled stations 14.125-14.110 khz; packet: 14.110-14.100; RTTY 14.100-14.080; DIGITAL ( all modes except psk. FT8 remain at 14.074 ) 14.080-14.068.50khz; Keep the 14.070 for psk and allow 14.080- 14.068.50 for other modes. I have heard olivia,contestia,psk being used on or about 14.069-14.068 in the past. But when you try to establish a contact on 14.072, 14.072.50, the splatter from the FT8 stations is overwhelming. I really like FT8, a ton of dx there. But OLIVIA is really a nice conversation mode. It is especially surprising when I sign KA1BSZ/M and people say Really? mobile? Even for us mobile,qrp,qrpp and operators with limited antennas that have small signal, it's hard to compete with stations that have 120 foot towers, with 4,5,6,8 and 11 element beams. We can all get along on this narrow, crowded band if we just give every one a chance to work the rare one 73 FROM VERMONT DE KA1BSZ/M
I do wish that there was more activity on MFSK16. It really is a great rag chew mode for bad band conditions and lightning QRN. It's hard to find a QSO now especially if it's a new station that I've not already worked repeatedly.
