On the VarAC website download page, there is a list of prerequisites that are mostly related to the requirement for the computer that will be running VarAC. However, there is one that struck me as ironic.
"Being open to engaging in real conversations with ham radio operators, rather than just exchanging reports as in FT8 🤣"
That prerequsite requirement is ironic because I find it hard to have even one actual VarAC QSO per day while at the same time I receive many Beacons and Broadcasts.
The SNR of the beacons and broadcasts that I see at my location indicates that there are numerous stations at widely distributed locations that are capable of a good quality radio link. Why is engaging in a QSO so difficult?
During my difficult to arrange VarAC QSOs, I often hear comments suggesting that beacons are a problem. Actually, I see the beacons as an indication that the raw materiall of a QSO - radio propagation between two stations - exists. Beacons and broadcasts are not preventing access to the channels for QSOs There just aren't enough people "Being open to engaging in real conversations with ham radio operators, rather than just exchanging reports as in FT8 🤣"
Until discovering VarAC a couple of years ago, conversational digital modes like Olivia and others supported by FLDIGI were my ham radio activities of choice. I believe that the integration of the VARA modem with the VarAC user experience is the best conversational ham radio digital mode. QSO difficulty is a bit like going to a favorite restaurant with great food and good service but with few customers. Why?
In the 3 years I've been running VarAC, and over several years using JS8CALL, and other "keyboard" modes, it's been my observation that it's getting harder and harder to find folks willing to chat. Maybe it's because most hams don't feel comfortable banging away on a keyboard? I learned to touch type in high school, way too many years ago, and then held a job that was computer based for 30 years at the FL DOT, so keyboard use is no problem, and actually the way I prefer to chat on ham radio. I don't even know where the mic for my 7300 is, HI.
The overall trend recently has been for a gradual increas in folks calling CQ, so that's encouraging.
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