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Back To The Magic
12 June 2019 | by 
This odd love-hate relationship continues to this day but with the FT8 mode being used almost exclusively now on 6m, it’s your computer that now snickers at you for any untimely excursions from the shack ... showing you, in any delightful color scheme that you choose, all of the DX that you 'just missed' once again!
It happened to me again yesterday, while out in the yard stacking next winter's firewood.
It was just a short excursion, as the eastern stations were working Europeans and all of the VE4 beacons were very loud back here on the coast. The possibilities of a link to the European path kept my excursion to only 10 minutes but sure enough, there it was on my WSJT-X list of decodes .... several CQs from CT7ANG in Portugal! My laptop could barely stop giggling. This would have been the first PNW-EU QSO of the summer had I been maintaining vigilance.l!
I continued to stack firewood and to watch the band more closely, knowing that every once in awhile, for entertainment purposes, the prop gods will toss out a bone or two, just to keep you on the hook.
A later check indicated that CT1HZE’s CQs had been decoded just a few moments earlier ... there was renewed hope!
Joe’s strong FT8 CQ popped-up again a few minutes later and he came right back to my initial call. Although that was it for the day, the 2019 PNW-EU path had begun!
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| courtesy: PSK Reporter |
I’m still somewhat ambivalent about FT8 and its ‘coldness’ when it comes to person-to-person interaction, but since most of the DX action on 6m is now digital, it’s either embrace it or miss out. At the moment, I’m at least prepared to hug it and see how it behaves. If it puts more Europeans and new DXCCs into my magic band log, then that’s a worthwhile investment.
Unlike way too many others, I’m not prepared to let my computer endlessly CQ for hours at a time. In a crowded local environment, with big strong signals being the norm, this method of operating is simply disrespectful to other amateurs as this mostly useless CQing will usually make reception of any weaker signals impossible.
FT8 is a weak-signal mode and the interfaces used do not handle extremely strong local signals very well. I would urge others to think about this poor operating practice and adopt what has always proved to be the best tactic for catching DX ... listen, listen, listen. The same tactic works just as well on FT8 as it does on CW.
Back to stacking firewood but having tossed me a bone yesterday, I’m sure the prop gods will be out to get even for awhile!
2 Responses to “Back To The Magic”
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POTA uses Slack as a way to post a spot of a ham’s operation. I tried in vain to suggest my local WCF hams to start a Slack post. Local hams could be alerted to LOCAL openings. 73 Kyle N4NSS
Kyle a very easy way to watch the propagation trends and to see who is working what at any given time is on the ON4KST 50MHz region 2 chat page. There is a map showing this visually as well and one can really get a feel for what might be heading in their direction. Combine this with active listening (what beacons are you hearing?) and it’s easy to see where a possible link to EU or to AF might take place. Some of these really long paths are only present for a couple of minutes so they are easily missed … when stacking firewood for example!