[amsat-bb] Digital is worthless

[K3ROJAL@xxxxxxx]

Field day was great for our club out in the open and on a hill in north 
Baltimore county. One thing was noticed when trying to operate APRS, packet 
and the sats.  Digital modes are worthless for any type of emergency, either 
simulated or contest setup. The time it takes to  get them setup and working 
is not worth the effort at all. Computer screens cannot be seen during 
daylight hours oudoors, various rigs will not work with just any TNC etc.  
Our club has found that the only dependable means of communicating every 
single time is the use of CW. A message can get through just by touching two 
wires together if need be. Fortunately there is still much use of CW in the 
HF bands where we racked up a very good score because CW contacts were worth 
2 points this year on Field Day. The visitors that brought the digital 
equipment to try and help our score had no expertise whatsoever in using CW 
and had to just sit around and listen, ( we used them for the labor part of 
breaking down ).  Anyway, is is terrible that many hams no longer are 
interested in using the simplest and most reliable mode of communications.  
Thanks
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