[NLRS] [MWA] N0HJZ - CQWW VHF

[Jim Lageson]

Sparkgap hams hated CW hams… CW hams hated AM hams…AM hams hated SSB
“Donald Duck” hams …SSB hams hated AM and FM hams.. When PSK31 came CW and
SSB hams hated it and cried that it will kill ham radio.. It didn’t.

I happen to enjoy FT8. Having a VHF station with limited power and antennas
digital modes has opened a whole new world to me. It seems the perfect weak
signal mode for VHF. I don't feel FT8 is going to be the death to VHF
contesting, it's just evolving. I  worked 58 Europeans this season using a
Hex beam and a small 3 element yagi thanks to FT8. I worked N1BUG-1200
miles and VE2DFO-700miles on 2 meters FT8 running 10 watts during last
weekend VHF contest.  Maybe contest sponsors should give more points for
non-digital modes or let you work stations again on different modes, that
would get folks off the screen. I consider myself a CW guy and would prefer
to work that mode, but for now it is what it is.

I hope I didn't open a can of worms but FT8 is not the devil.

jim
n0ur

On Mon, Jul 19, 2021 at 1:48 AM Rich Westerberg <richn0hjz at gmail.com> wrote:

> Due to a business trip, I could only spend a couple hours on Saturday.
>
> It was amazing how strong the signals were on 6M on Saturday night, and
> there were still people sitting on their crystal on 50.313.
>
> I couldn't believe how few people were found on 2M SSB or CW.  I could
> hear signals on 144.174.
>
> There are so many Upper Midwest folks I never heard on SSB and CW.  FT8 is
> going to be the death of VHF contesting.
>
> 73
> Rich N0HJZ
>
>
>
>                     CQ Worldwide VHF Contest - 2021
>
> Call: N0HJZ
> Operator(s): N0HJZ
> Station: N0HJZ
>
> Class: SOAB LP
> QTH: MN
> Operating Time (hrs): 3
>
> Summary:
>  Band  QSOs  Mults
> -------------------
>     6:  122    48
>     2:    7     5
> -------------------
> Total:  129    53  Total Score = 7,208
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