Interested in Amateur Radio Digital Mode FT8 Operations?

FT8? No, thanks. A1A forever.

 

There are a lot of amateurs working ft8 but I'm simply not interested because I like to rag-chew and I can do that on other digital modes.
73!

 

Sounds like you are a lot like me, although when I say " you're as young as the man you feel" and my wife replies "18 then" that's not so good.

Joking aside, amateur radio is more like karate than football. It's about my battle with myself, not whether I have a bigger, erm, number of points at the end of the season.

 

Educate me here. A1A is CW, correct?

 

Yes. Or more properly, Morse telegraphy.

Handy reference: https://radionerds.com/index.php/Emission_Types


Regards,
-Bruce

 

By any measure, getting your DXCC using ssb (phone) is the most challenging way to do it. This is self evident if you look at DXCC statistics. Try getting DXCC on topband using phone!!

I sometimes wonder if morse code had been invented after phone if it would have attracted similar criticisms to those thrown at FT8. Morse code is an artificial technology involving the creation of dots and dashes to facilitate communication where phone communication is often not possible. If it were not for these dots and dashes, true human communication (via voice) would not be possible. Does this mean that the "morse technology" made the qso? If you cannot hear the other operators voice and can only make the contact as a result of these technologically produced dots and dashes is there really a big difference between cw and FT8, particularly if you use a computer to send or decode cw.

FT8 makes DX qsos easier but so does cw when compared to using the voice that God gave us to communicate.

The only valid criticism for FT8 is that you find it boring or uninteresting (fair enough - each to his own), but all this other garbage about computers making contacts, it making DXing too easy, the destruction of real conversations etc is just garbage. CW has been doing all this for donkeys years. Modern cw dxing and contesting brought us to where we are now - ie 10 second qsos, and JT Modes have simply embodied this trend into a beautiful user interface.

Paul - vk4ma

 

Eloquently put. Even phone has had it's digital cosmetic surgery with the advent of waterfalls making it easier to spot someone else on the airwaves. That's fine!

I'm all for making entry into radio as easy as possible because that's how any hobby/language/tradition/skillset survives and evolves. I'm a late entrant, having wanted to get involved back in high school but put off by the people at the time. That's not what we want to do!

 

Yep, I’m another old guy. I have been around ham radio since I was 12 years old. First heard two local hams on 75 meter AM, I was hooked, but didn’t get my novice ticket until 1974. The novice year was probably the most exciting time for me. Anyway my two cents on the topic, I love CW, RTTY, and SSB. Made several hundred FT8 contacts, guess it’s just not my cup of tea. A lot of people really like and enjoy FT8, and more power to them. But, as for me it’s just too boring. The most fun I had was setting up the software and getting it to run with my logging programs. Ham radio is the greatest hobby in the world and actually a lifestyle for many, we will see many new modes and technology in the years to come. Enjoy the radio, do what you like to do and make contacts. As someone already said “each to his own”, 73 es gud DX

 

You make some valid points about technology improving how CW works. But, it doesn't address my main criticism of FT8 - that it relives the operator of LISTENING with their God-given ears. THAT'S really what takes the fun out of it for me.

 

It's for some, not for others. I love ft-8, in fact, I'm on it right now. 75 meters pileup on one radio, FT-8 on 20 meters on another radio. FT-8 works even when the bands are "closed". It's ham radio, do what makes you happy. Some argue that DMR, EchoLink, AllStar, Dstar, P25, Fusion is not "real" ham radio. Hey, it's your time, you have a finite amount of it, use it the way you want to.

Cheers all

 

The Hobby is big enough to include a variety of cool modes and systems.
Don't like one then don't use it
G3SEA/KH6

 

Why sit in front of your computer listening to the AOL dial up sound and waiting for the paint to dry and then pretend you made a contact?

Learn CW and enjoy making all kinds of contacts, and genuine rag chews.

Ft8 ?? tried it, to boring, no thank you. Best wishes.

 

If a computer program is needed to make the contact its not real Ham Radio.

DMR is no different, without the internet DMR does not work. Its not Ham Radio, might as well use Skype or do a Zoom call, you can even see the person when you use Skype or Zoom.
Or just email them and get their cell phone number and put em in your log.

Then send in for a piece of paper to put on your wall and it will make you feel very good about yourself.

Next will be digital contesting. 59 Good luck in the contest.

Put lipstick on a pig and its still a pig, it doesnt matter what you label it.

Bottom line is, if the internet and computers are down, real ham radio with a radio and a wire will always work.

 

No need to have the sound on at an audible level (configure the sound card mixer) -- I don't hear a thing.

The digital modes, to include FT8, gave me a chance to try something new in comparison to the modes I used for decades. I operated CW for years but eventually got bored with it. It just doesn't have the same appeal that it did for me 40+ years ago. And for the variety of digital modes (not all of them are Internet dependent), if the Internet goes down and I must play radio, I'll break out the microphone or paddle.

 

Why go and learn an ancient technique of sending information when there are so many more reliable methods of sending text over radio?! Why is it that cw ops come and crap all over digital mode threads? Do digimode ops come crap on cw threads?