[SFDXA] FT8 and the ARRL June VHF Contest

[Pete Rimmel N8PR]

MORE info on FT-8
>
> Begin forwarded message:
>
> >
> >
> > Subject: [VHFcontesting] FT8 and the ARRL June VHF Contest
> >
> > Hello to all the VHF contesters who ran the June contest.
> >
> > Due to all the hype concerning FT8, we decided this year to add a
> completely independent 6M station just to monitor FT8.  The station has a
> 6M5X for the antenna and a small SSPA.  The new station was interlocked
> with the main 6M run station to keep one station from blowing out the
> other.
> >
> > When the contest began, there was no Es on 6M, so naturally we went to
> > 50.313 looking for FT8 contacts.  There were 6-8 traces visible.  Some 
> > were
> weak and some were really strong.  So, we started trying to work them.
> >
> > The results were terribly frustrating.  We tried running S&P by keeping 
> > our
> TX fixed on 1500 or 1200(or whatever) and calling stations that were 
> calling
> CQ.  Many would not come back to us unless we got right on their 
> frequency.
> Apparently, these ops did not realize that it is possible to work just 
> fine with
> our audio on 1500 and theirs on 1244.  It is sort of a "split operation", 
> but it
> works very well and you can hold your CQ frequency.
> >
> > A goodly number were still not using the "NA Contest Mode", so you could
> not complete with them in any normal way.  The best we could do was to
> stop using the contest mode(CM) long enough to complete with them.
> Sometimes, this was successful, sometimes not.  Remember that if one
> station is in the CM and the other one is not, the messages do not proceed
> properly.  Using the CM is critical.
> >
> > We could tell that this was not a recipe for success, so we started 
> > calling CQ
> ourselves, keeping our TX audio fixed at 1500.  We worked stations from 
> all
> over the waterfall, but it was slow going.  We often were called by a 
> station
> with a decent signal, but when we went right back to them, they
> disappeared and were never seen again.  This wasted a lot of time.  Many 
> of
> those folks that answered our CQ were not in the CM, so, it was very hard 
> to
> get their grid as many of them called using Tx2(K5QE K2XXX -02) rather 
> than
> Tx1 which has the grid.
> >
> > Whenever our op could see that FT8 signals were really strong, he would
> jump to SSB and work whatever he could.  On Sat, about half of our 6M
> contacts(about 225) and half of our grids(about 60) were made on SSB. If 
> the
> Es died out, he would go back to FT8.
> >
> > At the end of Sat night, we had more contacts on 2M than we had on 6M.
> This is pretty ridiculous in June.  Our score was about 28K.  It was 
> terribly
> frustrating and my stress level was a bit high.
> >
> > On Sunday, we found the Es opening at about 8AM, maybe a bit earlier.
> Signals were strong and we began running hard. Several of the top ops had
> to go home, because they had to work on Monday.  So, I had to man the 6M
> station from about Noon to 9PM.  I was running 100-120 per hour for 
> several
> hours, which later fell back to about 60 per hour later in the evening. 
> At the
> end, we had 202 grids and 980+ contacts on 6M.  Our score was now 400K+
> and less stress on me....HI.
> >
> > The bottom line is that FT8 performed about as I feared it would.  The 
> > large
> number of newbies and / or HFers that insist on running without the 
> contest
> mode hurt the number of contacts that we were able to make and really hurt
> the rate.  Ditto the folks that think you have to be right on their 
> frequency.
> All this can be fixed with some education and some (gentle?) persuasion.
> We somehow have to get these folks to understand that in the VHF world,
> we need GRIDS, most especially in a contest, where the grid is the 
> exchange.
> I DON'T CARE HOW THEY DO IT ON HF!!  As VHFers, I believe that we should
> use the CM at all times. Maybe folks would see how much better it is.
> >
> > RECOMMENDATIONS:
> >
> > 1.  Use SSB or CW whenever signals are up.  It is MUCH faster and you 
> > will
> work more contacts with more grids.  I had several hours with a rate above
> 100 per hour.  You just cannot do this with FT8 as the absolute maximum
> number of contacts is 60 per hour...and in practice, you cannot do that. 
> It did
> not happen in this contest, but I have seen one of our top ops run over 
> 200
> contacts in an hour.
> >
> > 2.  Use the "NA Contest Mode" in contests.  I believe we should use it 
> > at all
> times, just so the newbies and HFers will see that rather than the "funny
> little numbers".
> >
> > 3.  Stations calling CQ should pick an audio frequency and stay there. 
> > Work
> S&P stations anywhere in the waterfall.  This alone will help a lot.
> >
> > 4.  Don't make one call and then disappear.  Obviously, some contacts 
> > will
> fail for whatever reason(band drops, amp blows up, or something like 
> that),
> but you will work a lot more if you stick with it.
> >
> > FINAL THOUGHTS:
> >
> > I think that with some education and some practice, FT8 can work a lot 
> > of
> stuff whenever Es is NOT happening.  It is a useful tool to be added to 
> the
> contesting toolbox.  We just need to eliminate the bad operating practices 
> so
> that everyone can maximize their contacts....big stations and small ones
> alike.
> >
> > I am most interested in how others found FT8 in this contest. Was it 
> > better
> or worse than what I have described above?  If you like my
> recommendations, then promote them.  If not, please let me know how we
> can all do better.  I always appreciate intelligent ideas and discussion 
> Flames
> go directly to the bit bucket--they will not pass GO and will not collect 
> $200.
> >
> > 73 Marshall K5QE
> > k5qe at k5qe.com
> > _______________________________________________
> > VHFcontesting mailing list
> > VHFcontesting at contesting.com
> > http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/vhfcontesting
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>



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