Life in the Slow Lane: FT8

[Note: I've been busy so I have no well-developed technical articles in the pipeline. Instead I am going to start February slow. Real slow.]

Slowness is a notable characteristic of FT8 communications. That is an objective fact, no matter your opinion of digital modes and your operating habits -- casual, technical or competitive. The fastest QSO takes 1 minute and 2 minutes or more is not uncommon with QRM and QSB in the mix. That a long time to exchange call signs and signal reports! Although FT4 is twice as fast it is used far less. The few decibels of relative merit doesn't appear to be the reason.

I may be an outlier of my generation since I still like to drive fast, send and copy CW fast, eat fast, maximize my QSO rate during contests and not dwell too long on any one thing. I don't like speed because I'm a contester but it may be that I remain a contester because it's fast and exciting. Slow contests often bore me. Watching FT8 activity during a digital or VHF contest is as exciting to me as watching paint dry.

Occasionally I ask my non-contesting friends if they find FT8 too slow. From their surprised reactions the question appears to be unexpected. It's as if they're thinking: faster than what? Or: what's the rush? Those underlying questions seem to be ever present even as their answers touch on other issues, including the small stations that make digital modes so attractive to them.

I should not have been surprised. I am in the minority in my age group with my "need for speed". People my age tend to drive within the speed limit and prefer to savour their QSOs. Speed is more alluring to the young.

Most hams are growing old and are inclined to slow down the pace of their lives. They aren't contesters and they are not interested in rate. FT8's 15 second regimented periods are no impediment for the casual operator. It is not too slow to irritate and not so fast that it requires rapid reactions. The "Call 1st" feature provides additional relaxation by eliminating the need to make a decision about which caller to answer. Digital modes welcome and may encourage passive behaviour.

I use FT8. It is my go-to mode for DXing on 6 meters. I like what it can accomplish and so I tolerate its slowness. Attempting to spur activity on 50.318 MHz FT4 by calling lots of CQs has been unproductive. Few are listening.

I also use FT8 on 160 meters when the DX is lacking on CW, which is almost always true outside of contest weekends and the rare DXpedition. Mostly I just monitor to see what DX paths are open. I do not use FT8 on HF because there is plenty of DX on SSB and CW. At least, so far.

Digital is not my preference even though I love the technology for its ability to scrape a QSO from the merest wisp of a signal. FT8 is a mode you like or don't like, use or don't us. It's a personal choice. An increasing number of hams choose it and accept its fixed and pondering pace. That is not a problem for them. I am happy to use it to monitor 6 meters for transitory openings that are so difficult to exploit with the traditional modes.

My preference for CW and SSB is typical for hams of my generation. Younger hams feel differently. Many have never learned CW and have no intention of doing so. For many of them, their entry into ham radio was technology. For me and my peers it was communications. In the 1970s, ham radio was just about the only way for an ordinary person to reach out and talk to someone across the globe. Modern communication services have made our passion for HF and DXing look quaint to most people. 

Why does the speed of the mode matter? I'm a contester, but that's not why it matters to me. Indeed, when QRP was all I had I was not frustrated by the slowness of getting through to another station. I used it as an opportunity to hone my operating skills. I know many hams who use amplifiers so that they can rapidly log the QSO and move on. QRP is an undesirable handicap in their pursuit of speed.

Enticing more hams into contesting or FT4 is a losing cause. They like their slow CW and casual phone QSOs, and they're perfectly fine with the speed of FT8. It makes perfect sense to me when seen from their perspective.