In Defense of FT8 on DXpeditions

Marion Island

The comments portion of people spotting ZS8W are pointed, and, quite frankly, stupid:

“When does the ham radio start?” This was on the last day of the DXpedition.

“Ham skills became a PC game.” Just like paddles for CW.

“Too bad DX is also destroyed.” Yuri seemed to do pretty well; not destroyed.

“It just was another fiasco.” All DXpeditions are fiascos, except for the 30,000 QSOs.

“CW/SSB forever.” What happened to AM again?

“FT8 is BRAINLESS.” Not when you apply the same principles of pileups as other modes.

“Digi=4losers.” Except for the 30,000 QSOs from Marion Island.

And lots more. These are just some polite ones.

In this article, I’ll explain the advantages of FT8:

1. FT8 offers weak signal contacts

2. Multiple FT8 streams increase QSO Rate

3. FT8 removes the pileup from the DX Station

4. FT8 is less taxing on the DX operator

5. FT8 is still a challenging mode

FT8 Offers Weak Signal Contacts

Let’s face it: rare DXpeditions are far away from civilization, have complex logistics, and everything is a compromise - antennas, power, and radios. The more of these you add, the bigger the effort. There are reasons why the latest planned DXpedition to Bouvet Island has a budget of over a million dollars.

FT8 is designed for weak signals, including those even below the noise level. A larger percentage of DXpedition contacts are being made using FT8, because the signals coming from rare DXpedition locations are almost always weak.

For example, during the 2022 T33T DXpedition to Banaba Island, approximately 96.6% of the 97,193 logged contacts were made using FT8 or FT4, with only 3.56% on phone and a mere 0.005% on CW.

Marion Island, ZS8W, is ranked as the 11th Most Needed Country on Club Log, reflecting the difficulty of operating from there and the years in between operations. It makes sense to maximize the number of contacts made from each rare DXpedition.

Multiple FT8 Streams Increase QSO Rate

From what I can tell, ZS8W operated with two FT8 streams per band. And Yuri was typically on two bands at the same time. He averaged about 4 QSOs per minute across the two bands, or about 240 QSOs an hour. This accounts for some repeats, as he did not wait for you to send him an RR73; he moved on to the next station in the queue.

A 120 QSOs per hour is theoretically possible with SSB and CW, but it ignores the nature of CW and SSB pileups:

• People indiscriminately call and call and call and call, never listening for the DX station when it comes back to the station.

• When the DX station does come back to a station, another (or several stations) will call the DXpedition station on the exact frequency of the station being worked.

• Stations will not transmit up; instead, they will call the DX station on the same frequency the DX station is transmitting on. Then you get multiple stations saying or sending UP UP UP, or LID, or other fine terms for the station, all the while covering the transmissions of the DX station they are accusing the errant stations of doing.

I need Marion Island on CW. The one time I heard ZS8W on CW, his signal was weak, the pileup was 30 kHz wide, and it truly was a fiasco. To dominate a pileup, the DX station’s signal needs to dominate the calling frequency. For a rare DXpedition, that is rarely possible. A dominating signal never happened with ZS8W, despite using an amplifier.

FT8 removes the pileup from the DX Station

The interesting thing about FT8 and DXpeditions is that FT8 forces a cadence of 15 15-seconds to transmit and 15 seconds to listen. And unless someone is transmitting at the same time as the DX station—some obviously are not hearing the DX station and transmitting at the same time as the DX station—you see blissful silence during the DX station transmissions. Not 30 kHz pileups that continue to call while the DX station is transmitting.

Consequently, the pileup is forced to behave in such a way that they only call when the DX station is listening.

FT8 is less taxing on the DX operator

DXpeditions are hard on the operators. You are in a strange environment, living in (usually) difficult conditions, and fully concentrating for hours to copy CW and SSB signals and dealing with unmanageable pileups.

FT8 requires the operator to select the areas to work, add stations to the queue for work, and choose the best signals to enable the completion of the QSO. You are still operating the station, but the effort is a lot less. And for a one-person DXpedition to a Top 11 Needed Country, taxing the operator, who also is required to do other work on the island while he was there, helps him work more stations without being fatigued any more than necessary.

FT8 is still a challenging mode

All this “FT8 is just PC” commentary misses the mark about operating FT8; the strategies are the same or similar:

• Propagation still matters |. The best time for me to work ZS8W was between 11:00 PM and 3 AM my time. There were a few LONG nights.

• Propagation still matters ||. The only time I heard ZS8W on the higher bands was on 15 meters working CW. He was barely above the noise. And with 30 kHz wide pileups, I was not going to work him.

• Propagation still matters |||. When I worked ZS8W on one of the bands, the opening lasted about ten minutes, I got through, and then he was gone. This, on FT8, designed for weak signal reception.

• Where you transmit on FT8 makes a difference. If you are transmitting on the same frequency as 20 other stations, the probability of getting through is minimal. Minimizing QRM on the transmit side is essential.

• Deciding when your transmit frequency is no longer working and you need to move is a constant challenge. However, I tend not to move unless the DX station comes back to me and we don’t complete the QSO. Then, I move.

FT8 is not the only digital mode

If you don’t like the highly structured signals of FT8, there are plenty of other digital modes. Olivia, PSK, RTTY, THOR, and others are all on the bands. If you are not working DXpeditions (or other limited events like POTA), FT8 can be a lonely, if not boring, mode to operate. That’s why I’m getting into the other digital modes - because they offer more than signal reports.

But for DXing? FT8 is awesome.