Contesting w/ Digital Mode

[Hope]

I am considering using the digital mode for the upcoming Virginia QSO Party. Unfortunately, there is a BARTG HF RTTY Contest scheduled for that weekend as well. The BARTG contest is very structured and includes sending the UTC time as part of the message. It would probably be best for me to avoid RTTY.  I've only done one contest, the VA QSO Party last year, and I used phone. If you have used digital for contesting, do you have any tips to share? Thanks!

[Obh]

Try and avoid the RTTY. they don't care that they are operating over you and absolutely will blow you out of the water.

What mode were you thinking of using?

I've used FT8 and JS8call before for contests but neither required anything special. These are your best bets because you just stay on the calling frequencies. Otherwise, if you are just wandering around the digital areas, its going to be touch to make QSOs.

[Hope]

FT8 is not supported in the contest and looks like I'll be avoiding RTTY. So, I'm considering using PSK31, JS8Call and VarAC. Staying on the calling frequencies is a good point. I'm going to look for contest QSO's this weekend to observe and see what it's like in prep for next weekend. According to the data, 800 stations used digital mode in this contest last year. Digital QSO's get 2 points vs. only 1 point for phone. I have a couple of online spotting sites that I plan to use, but I don't know if anyone using digital will be looking at a spotting site. We will see how it goes, I'm only participating to get points for my club and to have fun.

I'll probably also turn in a log for voice. At my ham club meeting tonight, a couple of guys recommended using the voice memory feature of the radio for calling CQ on voice, just hitting the play button would save the voice a bit. None of the club members use digital modes. If you think of anything else that might be helpful for me to know, please share. Thanks!

[Obh]

Why do you say FT8 isn't "supported"? There's nothing in the rules that prohibits FT8. The tough part is the exchange but its doable (which needs to be done manually).

[Hope]

I haven't looked into it, just quoting a ham that said, "There is no easy way to exchange data both ways in the VQP using FT8."

Are you advising this might be worthwhile to look into? I have WSJTX on my computer and I learned how to use it last summer, but I didn't care for just exchanging signal reports with people so I haven't used it since then.

If you think this might be the way to go, any advice or quick instructions? We must exchange a QSO Party Number and a QTH (County in VA or a state, province or DX for others).

I was excited when I found out there was a JS8Call QSO Party today, thinking I could watch and figure out how it's done, but I've only seen a couple of CQ's, mostly heart beats.

[Obh]

It definitely makes it cumbersome to get that serial number in there. Typically thats all thats needed, but if you need location as well, thats going to be tougher.

[Hope]

Got it, thank you.