FT-8 Gentlemen's Operating Etiquette Guide!
Since the great development of the FT-8 digital mode has come to pass, it has been my experience that there are some operating techniques that are beyond questionable but rather very rude and disrespectful!
What I'm going to point out isn't something that a person would regularly experience when using the phone mode, so WHY are people doing this in the digital mode???
1. When calling CQ DX, why do some people
answer/call you when THEY ARE NOT DX??? Would you do it the phone mode? No
because the guy calling CQ would tell
you that you are NOT DX to him! DON'T DO THIS!!!
2. When calling CQ for a particular state,
using the two letter designator, i.e., WY for Wyoming or ID for Idaho etc, why
do some people answer/call you when THEY ARE NOT IN
THAT STATE??? Would you do this in the phone mode? No
because the guy calling CQ would ask you if you are in that particular state.
Got this figured out yet? DON'T DO THIS!!!
FYI... I've seen guys
format their cq in the following manner, (wanting a qso with two states), and
I'll use my call as an example: CQ ID WY WA9WSJ While this
will be decoded at the
receivers end, he CANNOT click on it to answer you! Because
that added two letters and the extra space, cuts off your grid square number at
the end. The program code specifically
needs to see this grid number to run the qso! Using one state
two letter ID is okay, just not two.
3. If you are answering a guys CQ, change your frequency in the waterfall after
you've finished the contact, or better yet, transmit slightly off his frequency. He had
that spot first!
Don't hi-jack his spot! Would you call CQ on phone on his
frequency when you're done with that type of contact? No you wouldn't. DON'T DO
THIS!!!
4. I've even seen a guy call CQ for a
particular state right on top of the same frequency that an ongoing qso was
taking place with a guy from that state! It was obvious that
he knew the particular state would see his cq! Yes
propagation changes but the signal strengths were all good, he was trying to be
sneaky but it actually created QRM!
DON'T DO THIS!!! Would you answer a guy who was qrm'ing you
this way? I won't.
5. Another 'for instance'. If I'm calling a
station, it's very obvious I'm not calling CQ, because you can see the guys call
in front of mine. Wait until I finish calling the other
guy, either finishing my wanted contact or giving up. DON'T
JUMP RIGHT IN AND CALL ME without waiting until I'm done! You wouldn't do this
on phone, would you?
I understand that you may need the
CQ'ing guys state for W.A.S., BUT, have patience and call him when he either
finishes making his contact or when he quits calling the specific CQ!
Put yourself in HIS place! Don't operate in a way that would aggravate you if someone did these things to you!
Go here for another operating techniques page!