[NCDXA] Unique DX Operation

[Vytas Cerniauskas]

HI Fred, everyone - hope all are well.
I appreciate your recent (and past) comments on FT8 operating.  I suppose
you are attempting to work V4 as it's needed for a new 'mode' vs. needing
that country on ANY band as it's a chipshot with any random piece of wire
from anyplace in the states.

That said - I share NRJ's view on quiet CW segments of the bands and all
this FT8 action - and the fact that V47JA watches TV instead of the radio
whilst operating means to me that he doesn't see it very exciting either
(!)
Admittedly I've worked some interesting stations on unexpected paths at
times, but for 2023 and moving forward I'm only using that mode for rare
ones needed, otherwise my Short Attention Span (SAS I always say) makes it
impossible for me to pay attention to the radio & sometimes I simply leave
the chair, forgetting that I'm actually in a QSO. It's simply not very
exciting.....even though it's a fantastic tool when used as your own QTH's
real-time propagation reporter.
Other DIGI modes like for EME-MS-RTTY-PSK don't have the same effect on
me,  Maybe it's got to do with the volume knob being turned down, but hey I
can't listen to the meaningless audio tones for long  vs. hearing the neat
atmospherics that you normally enjoy during analog Q's,

Clearly it has a place for small stations/limited antennas/new hams/etc etc
and will continue to do so - but all you have to do is look at the recent
FCC spectrum auction results ($88 Billion worth) to realize that we're in
serious jeopardy when a multitude are satisfied with using 1 or 2 narrow
frequencies within a large slice of each authorized band !!  THink about it
- during a CW/SSB contest we spread out, during an FT8 event everyone runs
to the same or maybe One alternate 'channel' .  If I'm a regulator looking
for more dollars, all HF/VHF/UHF ham bands are in the crosshairs & they
have the technology to prove the allocated bands are far underused, even if
internationally allocated.
There's such a spectrum crunch that many auctioned and (existing bands)
Govt and commercial users are now forced to share the frequencies,
including even aviation freqs.  That simply does not bode well for Amateurs
collectively.

The VHF contest last weekend was the same, lots of FT8 action on 6 but
fortunately some decent 2x Es.  No 2M Es was hsd here but I think W2 area
and south got into it.  I ran a minimal effort (rebuilding towers right
now) but was good to hear some of the frequent offenders still on CW-SSB.
I did zero FT8 in this contest and don't think I will moving forward either

73 All
-Al  WA1T
FN43lk




On Tue, Jun 6, 2023 at 5:15 PM Fred Matos via NCDXA <ncdxa at ncdxa.org> wrote:

> Hello DXers,
>
> I was trying to work V47JA over the past few days without any success.  I
> noticed that he worked mostly EUs, so I sent him a message.
>
> His response is below.
>
> Your thoughts?
>
> 73
>
> Fred
> W3ICM
>
> Hi,
>
> I sit here and watch TV, and let the WSJT-X select who I work. When the
> "LOG" it screen pops up I press "OK", then I press "Enable Tx", whomever
> the program selects it answers.   I occasionally look at the screen to see
> if any of the FULL SCREEN of stations calling are familiar calls or
> friends, and then I will manually select them.  I am sorry if WSJT-X did
> not select you in the PILEUP.....
>
> 73,
> JOHN   V47JA
>
> _______________________________________________
> NCDXA mailing list
> NCDXA at ncdxa.org
> http://mail.rickmurphy.net/mailman/listinfo/ncdxa
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mail.rickmurphy.net/pipermail/ncdxa/attachments/20230614/91b321a6/attachment.htm>