Watch as we duke it out over FT8 - AND - what the rules of the contest should be. Help us decide on scoring and other rules. Personally I'd like to see "band of choice" instead of picking a band, but I can see the merits in both approaches. What say you?
Eff Tee Ate........I kept waiting for the ham radio part to start .....RIG....ANTENNA.....POWER.....ANTENNA.......WX..............You know....ham radio stuff. Hey guys, how about a WSPR Contest(ay 1W or less....THAT might be interesting). Click it on and everybody watch the wsprnet.org? p.s. 100 watts on FT8? Only a 'War Criminal' would run 100W on FT8(IMHO), mic gain maxed out too, right?
Last I checked, FT8 was over RF and used the ham radio frequencies, so sounds like real ham radio to me. As for the "Ham Radio Stuff" in the exchange, they give as much information as any other major contest, signal report, and location. What is the problem here?
It's simply that persons own problem. Ham radio is full of gatekeepers that will go to any length to make sure no one enjoys themselves with a hobby. If you're not doing it "their way" you're doing it "wrong". If no one gives these types of people any attention, they might simply just go away. Or SK, either way.
Cool beans. But for me the whole "contest" thing is way overdone on HF...but, that's just me. Go have some fun - that is what ham radio is all about, after all.
Clickbait title IMO....you're being played; it's nothing more than a competition between him and Jason to see who can come up with the most "controversial" subject/s in ham radio, all posted on here or dollartube....Controversy equals hams foaming at the mouth either in support or against. The subjects are designed to bring in the "clicks"...the more controversial the subject the more hams fall over themselves arguing about whether a 7300 is good/bad or whether cw is better/worse than FT8....end result is the same; you work it out who the winner really is here Don't be a sheep, open your eyes and look at the big picture. P.S. all my views are my own, i haven't been paid, sponsored or gifted anything to bring this message to you.
Meh. To each his own. I will simply opt out while you guys have all the fun. I concede; you win. Congratulations. There are so many contests, and even more "awards" for ... um ... practically everything. With so much wallpaper being passed out, it all lacks significance. You are free to get excited over another contest; just do not expect everyone to get all warm and runny over it. Thankfully, there is room for both of us in this town. I am just voicing my take. Your mileage may differ. K8JHR
"We just birthed a contest" Uh, no you didn't. The WWROF and Slovenia Contest Club beat you to it: https://ww-digi.com/rules/wwdigi20_eng.pdf I've played along twice. Reinventing the wheel is not the same as an original idea.
I was afraid this was going to happen. Contests on FT-8 are not much fun (like Field Day is not much fun on FT-8) its because a contest on FT-8 is just what you don't need. FT-8 is a WEAK SIGNAL UNcrowdwd band mode (as is JT-4,JT-9, JT-65, FT-4, FT-8 and all the rest of the programs Joe wrote/had a hand in writing). It's meant for the wide open spaces of very little signal, like moon bounce, meteor scatter and the HF bands where there are nice courteous hams who know the difference between QRO and QRP. I have a hundred watts and coat hanger. My signal is so weak that when the bands are good I need to run 50W to the antenna which means 100W to the antenna match. When FT-8 started I was ecstatic (not an electrical word) that I could actually work signals I could not hear. Then the itty bitty 2kHz band of FT-8 filled up with dinosaurs running QRO and now I can't work anything more than 9db below the noise on 20M. And now someone wants to start an FT-8 contest! Fine do it on 6-meters, do it on 10 meters or anywhere people aren't and there is plenty of room (frequencies) to spread out. MTCW TOM K5VOU
I really like SSB and hearing the other stations voice...and the challenge of digging weak ones out of the noise. I started DXing when I was single digits in age as a AM BCB DXer. I will say this. I have worked digital modes on field day and I did not get much of a thrill from it...but in severely restricted HOA and other situations it makes sense! Also...I have heard the digital signals S9+ here in Asheville, NC and saw zero SSB activity up the band. Interesting. My radios are easy to interface and set up for these weak signal modes but...I just don't use them. I really prefer phone. It's the hardest mode when conditions are poor.
