Finally.
It took me sooooooo long to achieve this award. This wasn't my favourite band.
- no contest qso's possible
- no ssb, only cw and digital
- no directional antenna
FT8 changed a lot to achieve this next goal. 8B-DXCC sounds good.
After 1400 Q's on FT8, I can return to contest modus, finally !
In June, the 30m antenna will be changed to a 40m dipole.
The coming month I'll be active as OT70RSX on 30m CW, and if FT8 allows (but I have doubts how this special call will be handled by receiving stations), also in this new mode.
Now it's time for new goals :
- work KH7 and Z19 (strange, never got confirmed this zone) on 40m
- work last 5 States for 40m WAS
- work as many zones/WAS as possible on 80m
- increase the number of DXCC on 160m (now only 50 confirmed countries)
It's also time for new work in the garden :
- make an underground coaxial connection between main tower and 80m structure.
- prepare beverages on ground
This is also fun :
I encountered also many comments on FT8.
This new mode divides the opinions on our hobby.
It seems that the most controversial point is how the operator handles the information sent to the transceiver.
Discussions are always about the low frequency part. SSB and CW are "better" than a predefined package of computer data. It is (too ?) easy to let the PC making the contact in FT8.
What about CW skimming, voice recorders, ESM modus, digital voices, etc... ?
Sure FT8 is easy, but it's also easy to make a contact with a high-end sophisticated transceiver and a commercial antenna.
50 years ago, the guys that are complaining now about FT8 should have complained on commercial equipment. Too easy to make contacts with roofing filters and DSP.
For me, there is no importance what LF information is sent, and how it is sent.
The game is to let this information fly around the world and to receive an answer.
My hobby is about high frequencies and propagation. About antennas and station setup. About not blowing up equipment. About avoiding neighbour complaints. About receiving the most weakest signals.
Certainly not about what LF information is transported from and to my transceiver.
