FT8: Passive Entertainment?

On Sunday evening after CQ WW SSB finished the bands became eerily quiet, on both CW and SSB. That's typical because quite a lot of the daily chatter on the bands is by contesters, and they understandably shut down at 2359Z to eat and rest. Since I made an unserious contest effort I was not tired. Finding little to interest me I drifted over to 3573 kHz and fired up WS Digital Mode Suite (the former WSJT-X Improved).

There were a few Africans on so I worked one and then called another, C5R. I couldn't work him. He heard me fine but I couldn't decode his somewhat weak signal after that initial message sequence.

There's the rub. I am decoding nothing, that's the software's job. While it records and decodes signals in the passband I sit, watch and wait. I have no influence at all over whether a signal successfully decodes. The decode can fail for any of several reasons: QRM, fading, distortion, receiver issues, etc. All that I (really, the software) can do is repeat a message until a reply is received and decoded.

In this case it was QRM. A couple of NA stations would start transmitting with far stronger signals that overlapped C5R. I doubt that any harm was meant, only that they didn't hear his relatively weak signal while I have a very effective directional vertical yagi on 80 meters.

All I could do was watch while my report to him repeated several times without a decoded response. I could see his signal partially exposed next to the stronger stations on the waterfall display so I knew he was transmitted. Yet there was nothing I could do except give up, so that's what I did. The same thing happened a little later. I didn't try a third time. He may have been wondering what was going on.

That's the issue I have with these digital modes. On CW or SSB it is possible to interact with the station to try and find a way to complete the QSO, or to quickly QSY and ask the interfering station to move. It is possible though awkward to compose a custom message in WSJT-X, which I never do. Maybe he wouldn't move anyway or just not understand what I wanted from the very short message that the software allows.

There is another reason I prefer the traditional modes: pile ups. On digital modes all you can do is call and hope that the DX picks your call out of dozens. Worse, you might not be decoded at all due to the QRM. You can't easily hear others on or near your frequency due to enforced transmission intervals that are precisely identical. You can't listen without losing at least half a minute.

For FT8 pile ups it's: little pistols beware! In the past I've written many articles about CW pile up techniques that can allow even the smallest station to get through. Here's an old article from when I got through a big pile up on a DXpedition using QRP. Skill counts for a great deal on CW, to a lesser extent on SSB, and not so much on digital. On the other hand, luck can be a friend to the little pistol on FT8 if the DX happens to click on your call.

FT8 and its sibling digital modes are just too passive for my taste. Skill and interaction count for so little. I am not too concerned with the software decoding but with the inability to be more actively involved in a challenging QSO. That's one reason I am not attracted to digital modes other than a few cases. One of those is 6 meters, where it does wonderfully, and occasionally on 160 meters when CW activity is sparse or absent, a common occurrence. I might also work rare DX on digital as insurance in case they don't appear on CW. I'm not a traditional modes snob.

On the other hand, the passivity of FT8 can be relaxing after a hard fought contest or a busy day at work. FT8 can be the active ham's alternative to television or doom scrolling. Have a seat and let the activity wash over you. There's nothing wrong with that, if kept in moderation.

An incomplete FT8 QSO is no disaster. You move on to the next station while hoping to work them another time, whether a few minutes later or next week. That can happen for any mode. Unfortunately there is nothing much you can practice to hone your skills on digital modes since circumstances dominate the probability of success.

Keep your perspective and don't punch the computer or curse the oblivious interfering stations. It won't do any good. It's just one QSO out of many thousands you'll make over your ham career. When I get frustrated I spend some time on CW or SSB where I have more control, more agency over the results.