Welcome to FT-SHMATE!

A Modest Proposal
By Victor Rosenthal, 4X6GP

While waiting for VP6R to operate CW instead of FT-8 on 20 or 15 meters during the very short openings to the Middle East, I began to think that FT-8 might not be as bad as I’d believed. My thoughts turned to ways that it could be improved. And suddenly I got an idea that I think will revolutionize digital mode operation, amateur radio in general, and maybe even pay for my beer.

Read more: Welcome to FT-SHMATE!

Stop using FT-8

FT-8 is so much less labour and operator skill-intensive than CW/SSB that it has a fatal attraction for DXpeditions - more people can be worked more easily and more quickly. Added to this, "He who holds the gold makes the rules" and DXpeditions mostly hold the gold as we want to work them. So if increasing numbers of DXpeditions are intending to use FT-8 what can we CW/SSB ops do about it to turn this around?

To start with, we can stop using FT-8 at all in our day-to-day operation. The less stations there are on FT-8 the less temptation/likelihood there is of a DXpedition using FT-8 it - particularly if all stations with good transmit and receive antennas aren’t using it.

Perhaps even more important – and we come back to the gold metaphor - when you make a DXpedition donation – and please do so - clearly state you are interested in CW/SSB and do not use FT-8.

[borrowed from Steve, VK6VZ]

P.S. Feel free to download (click here) and share this article.

Amendment to ARRL DXCC Rules Will Expand DXCC List

The ARRL Board of Directors approved a motion to amend the DXCC Rules, when it met January 19-20. Section II, Subsection 1 of the DXCC Rules now will include a new Subsection (d): The entity has a separate IARU member society and is included on the US State Department Independent States in the World. In fact, the Republic of Kosovo (Z6) has been added to the DXCC List of current entities, increasing the total number of current DXCC entities to 340. The addition of Kosovo raises to 331 the required number of current entities confirmed to qualify for DXCC Honor Roll; Top of Honor Roll is 340. DXCC award accounts are being tabulated to reflect the change.

This change qualifies as an “event,” effective on January 21, 2018, at 0000 UTC. Nothing is retroactive.
http://www.arrl.org/news/amendment-to-arrl-dxcc-rules-will-expand-dxcc-list

Audio transformers 600:600 ohms

Small, cheap and widely available (eBay) transformers are frequently used in digimode interfaces. Read more.