In a recent thread on the CWops mailing list, a fellow wrote:
You wonder why more and more guys are getting on FTx mode? How about this?
- MADAGASCAR, 5R. Eiki, JH8JWF is QRV as 5R8AS from Ivato, Talatamaty, IOTA AF-013, until November 6. Activity is on 80 to 6 meters using FT8. QSL via LoTW.
- GHANA, 9G. Dave, AB0GC is QRV as 9G1SD from the Wenchi, Brong Region. Activity is on 17 to 6 meters using FT8 and FT4 at various times during the day. QSL direct to home call.
- BANABA ISLAND, T3. Members of the Rebel DX Group are QRV as T33T until November 15. Activity is on 160 to 6 meters using FT8 in DXpedition mode. QSL via LoTW.
- INDONESIA, YB. Amir, YB9IPY/p is QRV from the Rajaampat Islands, IOTA OC-239, until November 8. Activity is on the HF bands using only FT8. QSL direct to IK2DUW.
I’m not on FT modes, but if you like chasing DX and new band/countries, or ARRL DX Challenge, or even tracking weird and unexpected LP propagation on a “dead” band, stuff like this makes it start to become a rational decision.
Sigh….
What followed was a wide-ranging discussion of CW vs. the digital modes. Some thought that FT4 and FT8 were cheapening the value of DXCC and other DX awards (as if they had any real value to begin with). Others just brushed it off saying, “There are a steadily increasing number of ways to enjoy this hobby. Pick your favorites for whatever reasons excite you.”
I’m more in the second camp than the first. If people get their kicks from operating FT8, then more power to them. It’s funny when you think about it. We CW operators often say that one reason for operating CW is that it’s easier to work DX on CW than phone. So, I guess it’s a bit hypocritical to bad mouth FT8 just because FT8 makes it even easier to work DX.
I’m not a big DXer, so it’s not a big deal if I don’t work Banaba Island this time around. And, overall, I think anything that gets people on the air is a good thing. Even so, not even having the chance to work these DXpeditions unless I fire up the FT8 software is a little disappointing.
What do you think?
I am a DXer. Would like to work Banaba Isl. But in the end, we all do it for ourselves. I think the main value of hamradio is that you enjoy what you’re doing in this hobby. People shouldn’t judge others by what modes they should use to obtain “real” DXCC. Let everyone have their fun! 73, Bas
FT4 and FT8 have democratized DX. It’s now possible for an urban dweller with a minimal antenna and only 100W to get reasonable DX. Eventually a radio will come to market that can decode digital modes across an band and transmit anywhere within that band. This would alleviate the pileups at 7074, 14074, etc and also do away with setting alternate frequencies by hand.
Some people gripe about FT8 while they happily use their 4G and 5G smartphones that are multiple generations of technology beyond the analog narrow-band FM signals of the original cellphone networks.
Maybe I have the advantage of being younger (only 41!) and naturally future-focused, but I think the shift to more digital modes is key to ham radio’s future.
Personally, I love the idea of operating CW, but it’s already greatly declined in relevance, and that slide will only continue. On top of that, I expect that non-digital voice modes are going to be pretty unpopular by 2072, as they require rather large channels and have robustness problems with QRM. Lots are getting ever-smaller, and EMI is getting ever-worse. All that said, I still spent waaay too much time designing my own printed iambic paddle, and am trying to learn the code well enough to get on the air. But it’s really difficult where I am.
I live on the edge of a proper city. Local QRM is 9+ anywhere on the HF band, and my huge-by-local-standards back yard has a perimeter of 110′ or so. It’s pretty hard to do much DXing with that, but the JT modes cut through the noise amazingly well. In fact, at my last QTH, which was in the center of the city, with a yard half the area of this one, I had a 43′ vertical that let me get from SF to ZA on JT65 at <100W. It took a very nice grey line to get there, but it happened.
These constraints are going to be an increasing concern for amateur radio. Humans are getting ever more urbane, and very robust modes are needed to keep DX alive. This is especially true in jurisdictions with limited EMI oversight, which includes most developing nations (and the US, where import controls on crappy LED lights etc are nonexistent, and a radical splinter is winning a guerilla judicial war to tear down the regulatory apparatus in general).
Basically, if ham radio wants to continue being relevant into the 22nd century, it's going to need to learn to deal with degraded band conditions. And the JT modes are quite good at that. On the voice side, the FreeDV project has a lot of promise as a functional, non-proprietary digital voice mode that everyone can standardize on. We may need to swap out some of the FT bits to get good keyboard-to-keyboard channels, and Codec 2 may not work so great on non-English languages, but the two projects show a lot of promise for the future of DX amateur radio into the 22nd century.
People still hike the Appalachian Trail, even though cars and airliners abound. Is the purpose of the journey to experience the trip or simply to get from Georgia to Maine? Neither is wrong, it just depends on what you’re looking for. However, the advent of cars and airliners means that you’ll meet fewer people on a hike.
In the context of ham radio, this may mean fewer contacts, but also fewer frustrating pile-ups and more chances for actual conversation. Neither is good nor bad, but simply a matter of preference. Honestly, I’m kind of enjoying the more clear areas in the digital text sub-bands these days, but that’s only tangentially related.
I’ll go out of my way congratulate the backpacker who’s thru-hiked the AT or the ham who’s earned a DXCC award with CW (especially if QRP). While I won’t denigrate the person who caught an afternoon flight to Maine or cranked out a DXCC in a month on FT8 (and frankly the tech for both of these is really cool), it is just not quite as noteworthy.