[ILQSO] FT8 Comments

[Simpson, Troy]

Good Morning All!

I too am in the same boat as a lot of other operators in regards to liking
FT8, but might not be appropriate for ILQP.  As I also run our school
station (W9GRS), we have done quite a bit of dabbling into various modes of
contact with our students.  FT8 is great for making contacts when
conditions are less than ideal and we have experimented with ways of
utilizing it during School Club Round-up (SCR).  SCR does not accept FT8
contacts as a valid mode and in my opinion SCR is having a bit of an
identity crisis on whether it is a contest or an event, kind of like Field
Day (this isn't the place to go into here, hi hi).  That being said, it is
possible to send a proper exchange utilizing customizable macros.  We have
pushed back on SCR and have demonstrated making QSO's several times with
proper exchanges successfully (they didn't like it). The challenge is you
have to manually do the sequencing and not let the computer do the auto
sequencing.  It is a bit more labor intensive, so you're not gaining any
advantage in terms of QSO rates, but you could make some of those harder to
get stations.  It also means you have to be actively monitoring your radio
(which you should be anyway).  The other challenge is that the other
station has to have set up their macros to exchange their info.

I have always been confused with the 2 point advantage of CW over Phone.
It seems like "double-dipping" as often the QSO rates are higher for CW
than Phone.  Not only can you get more QSO's, but get double the points.
Maybe I am missing something.

A suggestion in terms of categories would be to divide the total mode QSO's
by power class.  You would be hard pressed to get a low power station to
have most mode QSO's over one that is running power.

Always have fun being a part of ILQP and looking forward to next year!

73!

-Troy W9KVR
W9GRS School Station
-- 
Troy J. Simpson

NAGT 2016 Central Section OESTA
Science Instructor - Watseka Jr. High School
Science Olympiad Team Head Coach / Science Club Sponsor
Head Coach Girls Track & Field - Watseka Community High School
Twitter:  @GRS_Science
Watseka, IL