This 'Old Timer' asks: Why THE HATE for "FT8?"

"You have to grow with the times or the times will outgrow you." 

That is how my Music Director would sign off from his afternoon radio show back in the early 70's when I was Program Director at an AM radio station.

I never would have imagined in 1956 when I was introduced to Amateur Radio that one day as I left a doctor's appointment in 2024, I could carry a Ham Radio station in a small backpack and ride my bicycle less than a mile to a Parks on the Air site and communicate to other operators around the world. The only way I would have believed that back in 1956; is if I were sitting with Marty McFly in a Delorean and a plutonium-powered nuclear fission reactor with a Flex Capacitor traveling ay 88 MPH and set the date for March 14, 2024. 

March 14, 2024

You might wonder as why I mentioned my introduction to Ham Radio in 1956 and FT8 today. Well, in the early 1950's I remember Ice Boxes, not refrigerators. Ice Boxes. Several times a week The Ice Man riding in his mule drawn cart would stop by my neighbor and drop off a large cube of ice for their Ice Box to keep their perishables fresh.  It wasn't too long in the mid 1950's my neighbor purchased a refrigerator made at GE's Louisville's Appliance Park.

In the 1950's this "OLD FART"  remembers when telephones looked like this.

I even remember my phone number fro m the 50's, SPring7-8292.  There was no such time as an AREA CODE. You had to dial "0" in order to make a Long Distance Call.  There was such a time as a "Collect Call" and Person-to-Person Call". Also you could have a lowered monthly phone bill if you SHARED a phone line with another customer. These were know as PARTY LINES. Sometimes you might pick up the phone to place a cold and the other customer would be using it and you could listen to their conversation (NO PRIVACY). You had to wait until they finished to make you call. It wasn't until the early 60's, my parents changed over the more modern rotary phone, the mid 60's for the Princess and Trimline phones, mid 70's for the Push Button style phone and in the 1980's I found out my parents were sill leasing phones from AT&T. They were not pleased, I re-wired the three story home and installed cordless phone system throughout their house and cancelled their phone lease agreement with AT&T.

And finally I remember in early July of 1962 while spending my usual summer at my grandparents; my cousin and I sat in front of a Black and White TV and watched the launch of Telstar 1 Communications Satellite and a couple of weeks later watch the first international  satellite TV "LIVE" broadcast between the U.S. and Europe with Walter Cronkite, Chet Huntley and Howard Smith  U.S. newscasters.  

I do understand how some have a LOVE / HATE relationship with NEW technology and how it might infringe on them personally and individually. I guess you could blame a lot of this NEW technology on the Industrial Revolution. Maybe that's something to look at in a future blog. However when it comes to Amateur Radio I think I read somewhere about CONTINUATION and EXTENSION of the amateur's proven ability to contribute to the ADVENCEMENT of the radio art. Oh Yes, that's from FCC Rules and Regulations:      

PART 97—AMATEUR RADIO SERVICE

Subpart A—General Provisions

§97.1   Basis and purpose.

The rules and regulations in this part are designed to provide an amateur radio service having a fundamental purpose as expressed in the following principles:

(a) Recognition and enhancement of the value of the amateur service to the public as a voluntary noncommercial communication service, particularly with respect to providing emergency communications.

(b) Continuation and extension of the amateur's proven ability to contribute to the advancement of the radio art.

(c) Encouragement and improvement of the amateur service through rules which provide for advancing skills in both the communication and technical phases of the art.

(d) Expansion of the existing reservoir within the amateur radio service of trained operators, technicians, and electronics experts.

(e) Continuation and extension of the amateur's unique ability to enhance international goodwill.

My fellow FT8, CW, SSB, POTA colleague Robbie W1RCP goes a little more in depth in his YouTube Video: "Why the HATE for FT8?"

  

I remember the years I would lug my Ten Tec Omni along with a manual tuner along with a heavy marine battery and throw a wire into a tree for some portable operating in a park.  Today in 2024, I'm unwilling to go back in time on Marty McFLy's Delorean and operate in that manner

NOW, I can pack my entire digital station (QRP Labs QDX, Tufteln Linked EFHW antenna, battery, SotaBeams 10m Travel Mast, Bluetooth Keyboard, GPS Dongle USB cable and Panasonic FZ-G1 Toughpad into a standard school backpack and off I go to a POTA site which is less than a mile from my doctor's office.

              

For me the successful launch and operation of Telestar 1 in 1962 was an event more far reaching than Sputnik.  As a pre-teen, I felt I  understood the role satellites would have on communications in the future. I now can say my understanding was minuscule.  I could never imagine in 1956 or 1962 the HUGE role technology plays in our everyday lives.

 

I can see how some may depict FT8 as pictured in the image below.

If you're one of those who operated WSJT-x in auto-sequence, then I will agree it is like "Watching Paint Dry".  There are times when I feel like Luke Skywalker telling R2D2 I'm taking over control of my X-wing Starfighter.  I'll move out of Auto-sequence often to complete a QSO especially since I operate a lot of QRP. I try to use the same sense of operating like I SSB and CW. I'll move slightly off frequency to bee better heard, I'll move away for a few minutes to let the pileup subside, definitely find a clear frequency to transmit and move if necessary, send an occasional personal 73, tune up on an open frequency and send QRT when finished. 

There's so much hatred for FT8

 Novice-Friendly Radio Blog by M7MCQ: FORBIDDEN FRUIT

 

Living in an apartment has its limitations as far as what type of antenna I can use along with high local noise levels.. Because of that, (and before I discovered POTA) FT8 was my primary mode of operation. In 2019 when band conditions were not all that GREAT as compared to now, I was able to enjoy our hobby immensely. Was it a mode I had been accustomed to? No! But it did allow me to operate. 

For me, FT8 open the door to another avenue of Amateur Radio.  As a result I've delved a little deeper in Weak Signal Propagation. I'm amazed how far a WSPR signal can reach with only 200 mW. 

So HATE FT8 if you like.  Like Telstar of 1962 , You never know what path FT8 (WSPR) may launch humans to in the next century.  Here's an example of what might be in store for WSPR. Read on .....

  

In May 2021, aerospace engineer Richard Godfrey suggested examining historical WSPR data as a way to define the flight path of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 on 8 March 2014.^[7] In November 2021, Godfrey stated his belief that his analysis indicates the aircraft flew in circles for around 22 minutes in an area 150 nautical miles (280 km; 170 mi) from the coast of Sumatra before vanishing, later proposing a search area centered around 33.177°S 95.3°E.^{[8][9][10][11]}

As of March 2024, the validity of Godfrey's claim is yet to be established.^[12] On 6 March 2024 the BBC documentary Why Planes Vanish: The Hunt for MH370 examined Godfrey's claim and reported that scientists at the University of Liverpool were undertaking an analytical study of the possibility of using WSPR technology to locate the missing aircraft. The University stated they would release their results within 6 months