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New digital mode FT4

Discussion in 'Amateur Radio News' started by G4TUT/SK2022, Apr 23, 2019.

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  1. DM2TT

    DM2TT Ham Member QRZ Page

    Sadly:by choice.This is the wood,where everyone has large space.
     
  2. W0MUD

    W0MUD XML Subscriber QRZ Page

    Game of Thrones may be for the mindless but it sure is entertaining to watch, definitely more entertaining than this thread.
     
  3. K8XG

    K8XG XML Subscriber QRZ Page

    OMG, this means the end of RTTY as we know it ! [always liked it never contested it]
     
    KN0DE likes this.
  4. VE7IVN

    VE7IVN Ham Member QRZ Page

    Another day, another new digital mode...ho hum...
     
    AK5B likes this.
  5. K8SQB

    K8SQB Premium Subscriber QRZ Page

    I had no idea I was being ruined. I've been building antennas like mad for the past several months and now have a considerable investment in portable masts, guy lines, baluns/ununs and batteries. I wondered how I would go about breaking into HF on my budget and the constraints on what one can do around one's home. Low power and a very efficient antenna are about all I can manage at home, don't even ask about running a wire out the window, let alone slap up a 40 ft tower with a yagi and rotor.

    But I can take it on the road and have been furiously outfitting my station to get out, away from the QRM and work HF. I'm not in it for the certificates or awards, but just to do it. My father loved Ham Radio and so do I. I've returned after a 40 year break and I'm doing what I can with the sunspot cycles and such.

    I like FT8 and may give FT4 a try, but they are not the end, only the beginning.
     
    KI6PMD, W9FL, KN4QHZ and 3 others like this.
  6. K2DFC

    K2DFC Premium Subscriber QRZ Page

    Try it for contesting. You'll be hooked. Like I am. Pretty much all I use it for. Along with the occasional DXpedition QSO.
     
    KI6PMD likes this.
  7. KG5THG

    KG5THG Ham Member QRZ Page

    Looking forward to trying ft4 during the coming e season.
     
    KK4HPY and KI6PMD like this.
  8. KK4RDI

    KK4RDI Ham Member QRZ Page

    30 million qso's and you ft bashers can't figure it out! ft-8 saved ham radio.!!
     
    KD4AYU, AI6UI, KK4HPY and 6 others like this.
  9. KK4RDI

    KK4RDI Ham Member QRZ Page

    And they supported the radio manufacturers and you haven't. They were able to make qso's that you couldn't with their modest equipment. They are growing the hobby, you are looking the wrong way in the mirror.
     
    KI5AIU, KK4HPY, WU8Y and 1 other person like this.
  10. N4UP

    N4UP Premium Subscriber QRZ Page

    When I came back to the hobby in 2012 I went straight to CW, my all-time favorite mode, still. But I kept an open mind and worked some SSB, decided it wasn't horrible, liked it, just not as much as CW. Then I took the plunge and figured out how to do RTTY and really enjoy that for contesting ( along with CW and SSB ). Still, CW, SSB, and RTTY, in that order.

    I thought about trying digital, but there were so many modes. I acquired and implemented the hardware and software to do digital modes, but, did I mention, so many modes. As a veteran operator but new to digital I had trouble figuring out what mode to use when and where. But there is hope for even dinosaurs. FT8 came along and it was easy to use, so I tried it. Decided it was okay, maybe even better than okay, so added FT8 as my fourth mode of choice. Being able to do FT8 with very weak signals and compromise antennas is a real plus, also its popularity means I can work a lot of people who aren't on CW or SSB or RTTY. That means more prefixes, band-mode-counties, etc. This year I will reach 1,000+ QSOs on all four modes ( of course I will have the usual 10,000+ on CW ).

    Will I try FT4. Yes. Will it supplant FT8, doubt it. Will FT8 supplant CW, SSB, or RTTY, definitely not. It is simply one more tool in the toolbox. I can see using FT4 for some contests and FT8 off-peak. But I will still prefer CW, SSB, and RTTY. Don't mind if some folks only do FT8 or FT4 or whatever appeals to them. Diversity in our hobby is not a bad thing.

    Have I ever tried digital modes other than FT8 ( I don't consider RTTY a digital mode, though apparently ARRL does ( was working toward RTTY DXCC when I realized they had changed it to digital DXCC )). Yes. I tried JS8 and couldn't find anyone to work. Maybe some day. Haven't tried any of the others. Would be nice to have one "digital software" package that not only works with the more popular digital modes, but also identifies what mode you hear/see so you can work it if you like. Or maybe just a software package that identifies the mode for you. Maybe that would be too easy.
     
    W4UO, AI6UI, KK4HPY and 4 others like this.
  11. K9GLS

    K9GLS Guest

    Oh I see you don't have the sarcasm font installed on your computer. Hard to recognize that font without it.
     
  12. KC1DR

    KC1DR Subscriber QRZ Page

    Can we please get back to that argument about "appliance operators" vs cw?
     
  13. KO6WB

    KO6WB Premium Subscriber QRZ Page

    Let's not
     
    AK5B likes this.
  14. VA3VF

    VA3VF Ham Member QRZ Page

    After 5 pages, did anybody read the FT4 document?:D
     
    KI6PMD likes this.
  15. N9GUE/SK2023

    N9GUE/SK2023 Ham Member QRZ Page

     
    KI6PMD likes this.

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