Let's see... Field Day is not a "pseudo" contest. It is in part a contest and has been since the 1930s. FT8 was quite effective for us, garnering more points than the phone and SSB stations here. No surprise considering condx weren't that great. OP: If the person wasn't joking, just ask, "Well, how long did you operate, OM, and how many QSOs did you make?" Then, give 'em the air. And next year? Conditions are probably going to be somewhat better but not great. And there will be FT4, which will handily up the digital QSO rate.
In other news today, there was whining and criticism on the zed, about ham radio .... Two points are two points, CW, RTTY, or FT8. Next year we will likely have FT4 which has the higher QSO rate. Our FT8 ops crushed our SSB folks because of the two point advantage. Work the mode you like. Let the whiners whine ....
If the club cares about points it is a no brainer. The waterfall is full of stations, it works well under poor conditions, and each contact is worth twice as much.
I remember a FD in which I had a better rate on 6M CW than the HF stations! Nothing special, just working the locals.
And even if points aren't the main focus, consider this: In a real emergency, conditions may be terrible.
All depends on the club. The group I do FD with values all points, as long as they are earned in accordance with the rules. Socializing is great, but FD is about RADIO. I helped a bit - copied the W1AW message Friday night using CW, pencil and paper. For those west of the Rockies, K6KPH also sends the W1AW message - all one needs to do is read the rules.... Also made some 40 CW Qs. Not sure how many, we don't keep per-op totals. But we ended up with over 900 on 40 CW and 900 on 20 CW. It was an off year, in previous years we broke 1000 on each of those bands, on CW. Conditions weren't terrible, just not as good as some other years. Field Day is a contest. Always has been. Anybody who says "FD is not a contest" just doesn't understand Field Day. However, Field Day isn't just a contest. Big difference.
Yes. 6m was open fd here in KY, I even made a couple cw contacts. The week before it was really good. Several beacons, ssb on 50.120 and of course ft-8 was going wide open.
If only it were as simple as those who've never used FT8, especially on Field Day want to think. Do I hunt and pounce or stake out a place and call CQ? Where am I gonna find a clear spot? Do I wait for him to call CQ again or tail-end the station he is working? QSO rate is falling. Should I change bands or wait? And on and on and on. Sound familiar?
