[Elecraft] FT8 - was "On Second Thought, I'll Take The Stairs"

[Victor Rosenthal 4X6GP]

Actually, I'm building a regenerative receiver now. I have to use JFETs 
because I got rid of all my tube stuff due to lack of room. But of 
course I will continue to benefit from the DSP in my K3, and its keyer 
(although I have a bug that I use once in a while).

But those things don't take away the connection to history, they make it 
better. The point for me isn't to use the same gear as they did in 1912, 
but to enter the Morse space as they did. If I can do it with equipment 
that is more stable and effective, so much the better.

After all, a modern sailboat is very much more sophisticated than an old 
one, but sailing is still sailing.

73,
Victor, 4X6GP
Rehovot, Israel
Formerly K2VCO
CWops no. 5
http://www.qsl.net/k2vco/
.
On 13/07/2020 10:59, David Gilbert wrote:
> 
> Fine, but that demarcation is pretty arbitrary.  You could just as 
> easily go back to tube gear with crystal controlled transmitters and 
> regenerative receivers., but I'd be a lot of money you don't.  The gear 
> you operate compares little in form, fit or function to anything those 
> folks used back then.  Your current radio almost certainly has a lot of 
> digital signal processing already, and I'll bet you use a keyer instead 
> of a hand key.  Quite frankly, I can just as easily imagine somebody at 
> his keyboard on the other end as I could if he was operating a paddle. 
> Most DXing and almost all contesting is already somebody simply pounding 
> on a function key on a keyboard.
> 
> And like I said before, it is entirely possible to preserve the bulk of 
> everything you mention and still use modern signal processing to make 
> human connections more achievable.  WSJT-X just doesn't happen to be 
> that at this point, but that doesn't mean something else couldn't be.
> 
> Dave   AB7E
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On 7/13/2020 12:41 AM, Victor Rosenthal 4X6GP wrote:
>> For me, it's simple.
>>
>> When I make a CW contact, even if its total content is "ENN TU", I am 
>> connected to history, to Jack Phillips on the Titanic, to all of the 
>> military traffic men and airborne radio operators of WWII, to the 
>> operators on the merchant ships on the high seas and the Great Lakes, 
>> and to all the hams of the past, even Mr. Marconi, the first ham.
>>
>> I like hearing the propagation change with my own ears and struggling 
>> to capture an ESP-level call. I like the feel of the key and the sound 
>> of the code. I like the idea that there is another person like me at 
>> the other end with his or her hand on a key.
>>
>> I consider myself extremely lucky to have caught the bug at a young 
>> age and developed the skill needed to make CW as transparent to me as 
>> my mother tongue. I see how hard it is for those who begin to learn at 
>> middle age or older. They shouldn't give up -- it's worth it.
>>
>> 73,
>> Victor, 4X6GP
>> Rehovot, Israel
>> Formerly K2VCO
>> CWops no. 5
>> http://www.qsl.net/k2vco/
>> .
>> On 13/07/2020 5:06, Wayne Burdick wrote:
>>>
>>>> On Jul 12, 2020, at 6:57 PM, David Gilbert <ab7echo at gmail.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Think of it this way ... CW works fine as both a contest mode,
>>>> DXing mode, and conversational mode.  Underlaying CW with a well
>>>> configured digital signal processing scheme like that which is
>>>> under FT8, except with a different user interface than either
>>>> WSJT-X or JS8,  could be equally versatile but with maybe 6-8 db
>>>> better S/N ... possibly by an even greater margin if the decoding
>>>> allowed errors instead of being all or nothing.
>>>
>>>
>>> Except that (a) you don't have to know CW, and (b) you don't need a
>>> key. There goes 73% of its charm :)
>>>
>>> Wayne N6KR
>> ______________________________________________________________
>> Elecraft mailing list
>> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
>> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
>> Post: mailto:Elecraft at mailman.qth.net
>>
>> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
>> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
>> Message delivered to ab7echo at gmail.com 
> 
> ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:Elecraft at mailman.qth.net
> 
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
> Message delivered to k2vco.vic at gmail.com