[CW] Is K1JT ruining amateur radio?

[w9oj at indy.rr.com]

Well stated, Hans.
73 de Mike W9OJ

	-----------------------------------------From: "Radio KØHB" 
To: "CW Reflector"
Cc: 
Sent: Wednesday May 1 2019 2:06:03PM
Subject: Re: [CW] Is K1JT ruining amateur radio?

	AF4K asks “Is K1JT ruining amateur radio?”

	I don’t know K1JT (Joe Taylor) personally, but my impression is
that he has done some remarkable work in his life. Ignoring for the
moment his Nobel Prize in Physics, his contributions to Amateur Radio
weak signal operation would alone qualify him as a “legend” in our
service. It would be hard to name any Amateur who more exemplifies
this FCC rule:

	§97.1 Basis and purpose.

	The rules and regulations in this part are designed to provide an
amateur radio service having a fundamental purpose as expressed in the
following principles:

	…

	(b) Continuation and extension of the amateur's proven ability to
contribute to the advancement of the radio art.

	…

	So my answer to AF4K would be “No, Joe isn’t ruining amateur
radio.”

	But perhaps AF4K doesn’t think that K1JT is personally ruining our
hobby, but that his weak signal digital modes will ruin the hobby and
shouldn’t be allowed. 

	As Bry points out, like PSK31 before it, FT8 has drawn thousands of
Amateurs to a few distinct “watering holes” on each band, and like
RTTY and SSTV, these islands of activity aren’t good places to
strike up a CW QSO. 

	But that hardly equates to “K1JT is ruining amateur radio”. 

	I don’t even think that is equates to the narrower statement
“K1JT is ruining CW”. 

	The FCC has given CW a HUGE advantage in operating flexibility over
EVERY OTHER MODE

	§97.305 (a) Except as specified elsewhere in this part, an amateur
station may transmit a CW emission on any frequency authorized to the
control operator.

	As a CW operator I can legally chose ANY clear Amateur frequency try
to strike up a contact. (It probably wouldn’t be very “bright”,
but it would not be illegal.)

	No other mode enjoys such an advantage.

	Further, the very nature of FT8 in fact makes it quite “spectrum
frugal”. Because you can’t “tune it by ear”, the convention
for operating FT8, like PSK31 and other “machine” modes, has been
to establish a “channel” for that operation on each band. You
aren’t likely to encounter these PSK or FTx stations randomly
operating outside of those small “digital corrals”. Even if you
did, a single FT8 signal occupies about the same spectrum space as a
25WPM CW signal.

	So, no, I don’t think that Joe Taylor, K1JT is ruining Amateur
Radio, and he is not ruining CW.

	73, de Hans, KØHB
"Just a boy and his radio"™


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