FT8 - The Universal Solvent

FT8 keeps eating away at the bands, one ham at a time. Like the mythical universal solvent it cannot be contained: FT8 dissolves every container traditionalists attempt to put it into. The digital wave inexorably marches onward.

Lately I've succumbed further. Until now I've restricted my use of FT8 to 6 meters. With the long winter nights of a deep solar cycle minimum there are only the low bands available most of the time. I enjoy the low bands yet it can get tedious outside of the excitement and intensity of contests and DXpeditions.

Every night there are same stations working each other on CW. Top band aficionados continue their vigil for propagation and welcome all comers. The regulars exchange signal reports and, this time of year, supplement that with seasons greetings, wishing MX and HNY to all. Activity briefly spikes to include a broader range of stations during sunrise and sunset enhancements.

It's all very cozy. I have good antennas for 80 and 160 so I can hold my own even without enhanced propagation, although I would benefit from more receive antennas (they're coming, eventually). With my amplifier out of service until parts arrive it is a little more difficult to work DX in the everyday challenging conditions.

Then there's FT8. I have taken to monitoring 1840 kHz many evenings just to keep an eye on top band propagation when I am busy doing other things and I'm uninterested in pursuing routine CW QSOs. Of course the inevitable happened: one day I hit the Enable button in WSJT-X. My log has begun filling up with top band FT8 QSOs.

The breadth and depth of activity is startling for anyone daring to venture beyond the traditional modes. In amongst the multitude of call signs never heard on CW there can be found familiar call signs of contesters and DXers. The DX to be found is itself quite surprising. Every night I hear UA0, Africa, South America and in the mornings there's the Pacific and Far East.

Try to find these distant stations on CW and you will be disappointed. It isn't that FT8 is so much better than CW (it isn't). You can only work what's there and what's there is on FT8. The clear implication is that many so-called difficult propagation paths on 160 meters aren't really difficult at all, there's just no one active on CW.

The transition to digital modes is less extreme than on 6 meters, so far. To escape from routine QSOs with the regulars it is necessary to spend some time on FT8. My top band FT8 log is filling up with DX QSOs and DXCC countries I rarely hear on CW outside of contests. In a way it's sad that the hobby is changing yet exciting in that digital modes are spurring activity from newcomers and old hands alike. That's a good thing.

Will CW survive? Perhaps until 2040 when most of the older generation will have passed on. There are not enough young people entering the hobby with an interest in CW although it may survive among a small minority. Obsolete technologies do attract some among the younger generations, whether it be vacuum tube appliances, vinyl records or mechanical clocks. CW will have its adherents as well for many years to come.

I will continue to spend a portion of my top band time operating FT8 although CW will remain my first choice. Two nights ago I heard A50BOC on 160 meters, barely audible and not workable and it was exciting to hear. CW signals from JA and HL are far more attractive to me than FT8 despite the difficulty of making the QSOs. However I will go where the activity is, just as I did on 6 meters.

Okay, that's enough philosophical rambling. During my short time on 160 meter FT8 I've been learning a few things. Operating there is not the same as 6 meters. Openings are longer, the atmospheric and man made QRN dominant, QSB slow and deep and the activity is far greater most of the time. The spectrogram shows a busy 1840 kHz on a weekday evening.

Reciprocity of station capability is less than on higher bands. Decoding a station does not mean they can decode you, and vice versa, when your power and antennas are comparable. This is as true for FT8 as it is for CW and SSB.

• Local QRN can differ by 10 db or more. This varies by time of day, latitude, urban/rural locale and other factors well known to low band operators. Don't be surprised when some stations don't answer you.
• Many top band hams are unintentional alligators since, apart from the above QRN factors, most do not have low noise (directional) receive antennas.
• Too many stations call on the CQing station's transmit frequency, which often means none of them are successfully decoded. I don't know why this seems to happen more on 160 than 6 meters, or perhaps I am suffering from selective memory.
• Clear frequencies don't last long in that 3 kHz FT8 window. It is commonplace to have someone start transmitting on another station's transmit frequency and time slot despite signal levels implying that they must be able to hear the other station. Everyone suffers as a result. 
• You can see a couple of poorly adjust transmitters in the spectrogram above. It is often worse.
• DX stations are regularly covered up by nearer stations that cannot hear them and think the frequency is clear. There is no QRL? equivalent on FT8. If the spectrogram looks clear (or not) away you go.

Some of the problem is poor operating though mostly it's just regular hams doing the best they can with what they have on a band with difficult operating conditions. It's all a part of the game so get used to it. Those with skill and superior antennas have an advantage as they do on any mode, on any band and whatever the prevalent propagation. Experience and practice make a difference.

While it's nice to try something new and work new stations I don't take FT8 operating on 160 meters too seriously. That may change if the migration from CW continues. If it does I may have to concentrate on 160 meter FT8 for real just like I now do on 6 meters. I intend to hold off on other bands for a while longer, hopefully a long while.

Change is good even when it makes us uncomfortable.