# Kids These Days
*Entered: emacs on daily driver*
*Date: 20221129*
*Soundtrack: The Clash - Clash City Rockers*
## Is FT8 Killing Ham Radio?
Of note, older generations have complained about the
attitude, actions, processes, etc of the younger generation
for at least 2,500 years, so this is nothing new. In the
particular venue of Amateur radio, it is no different: it
has been said that SSB was killing (then AM) amatuer radio,
that phone (voice) was killing CW (morse code), and when the
first digital modes appeared (packet radio, comptuer
generated RTTY, and PSK31) it was thought that digital modes
were killing amateur radio.
With the advent of weak signal modes developed by Joe
Taylor, breaking through the noise floor with a suite of
modes, most recently FT4 and FT8, the argument has started
anew. And here's what the naysayers are naysaying:
## It takes the skill out of radio.
Does it, though? CW is indeed a skill, one I had to learn
for work a long time ago. And CW has been a minority of
radio operations since phone was developed.
As for the rest of the "skills" involved in operating
amateur radio, there is antenna theory, which requires a
solid understanding if you are constructing your own
antennas, but if you are just buying one, the skill is
reduced to the last step of reading a meter and adjusting,
something every operator needs to do, regardless of mode.
The rest of the "skills" the naysayers refer to really boil
down to having the money and means (no CCRs) to build a tall
tower on their property, and buy a very expensive radio, so
you can hear distant stations, and a very expensive 1.5KW
amplifier so that distant station can hear you.
That's not "skill", that's just disposable income.
## It's worthless in emergencies.
So is CW. I am inolved in emergency communications, and no
served agency (police, fire, office of emergency services,
Red Cross, etc) is capable of, or interested in CW. It is
mostly phone over VHF and UHF FM, and using Winlink to send
forms. As I said previously, I did have to learn CW for my
job, but I only had to learn it in school, I never once
needed to use it at work.
## It's short, meaningless, automated QSOs.
So is most of DXing, whether in a contest or just trying to
get that one DX station. And that is every mode, to inlcude
CW and phone. Many operators out there use a keying device
that sends automated calls and responses of pre-recorded CW
or voice for the same reason. There are, however, weak
signal modes that are designed for real keyboard
conversation, just like RTTY and PSK.
## My take
A suite of weak signal modes like this is an innovation that
allows low cost stations to make DX contacts that would
otherwise not be possible without at least $20K invested in
a high end radio, tower and amp. It is an innovation that
allows for DX contacts during the down side of the sunspot
cycle. And it's an innovation that has attracted a new
generation to amateur radio.
But folks fear and despise change, I get it, I don't think
any good music has been produced since Bad Religion's last
album, but that's just me. I'm fine with other folks
enjoying other music, and I'm fine with other folks
preferring other modes of amateur radio. But for me, I'm
going to continue to connect a laptop to my radio, and
infrequently a leg key, because that's how I learned radio
25 years ago and that's what I found interesting about it.
