[NLRS] The New Normal?

[Kirk P]

Rich,

As a CW op, Contest op, FT8 has really changed radio for me.

Ive only worked 1 station this Es season thus far on CW. Zero on SSB. Many on FT8. Boring as can be.

Though FT8 hears well Ive missed MANY Qs due to the length of time it takes to complete.Especially yesterday during the morning EU opening. To be fair, I don't know that Id have heard any of them at all on CW but if they were to have peaked could have completed in seconds.

I'm not selling out, nor will I be doing any major purchases to the station ( Especially when SDR receivers are so inexpensive and great and my current rigs TX just fine) but hopeful folks will become bored and migrate back to the other modes too.

As for 2m, Anything outside of metro area has come via FT8 or MSK144.

N0KK



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________________________________
From: nlrs-bounces at mailman.qth.net <nlrs-bounces at mailman.qth.net> on behalf of Rich Westerberg <richn0hjz at gmail.com>
Sent: Sunday, May 31, 2020 9:05 AM
To: NRLS Reflector <nlrs at mailman.qth.net>
Subject: [NLRS] The New Normal?

Hi All -

I'm working on getting my station built up at the new QTH.  I've been
monitoring 6M a lot and watching some of the spots too.

The past few days 6M has been open quite a bit and I've called on SSB and
worked a few guys.  Lots of times my call goes unanswered.  I'll flip over
to 50.313 and hear signals there.  When I do catch someone on SSB, we are
both loud.  It's not for lack of propagation, it seems like it's lack of
people.

Does anyone do SSB and CW anymore or is it all on FT8 now?  I'm looking to
invest money into antennas and amps to get me on several bands.  If
everything is all on FT8 and it's all about letting your computers talk
now, I might reconsider.  Maybe I'm Old School but the thought of sitting
back and letting my computer talk for me just isn't appealing.

Is there more to VHF than FT8?

Rich N0HJZ
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