FT8 popularity

Southgate News has a piece asking how long it takes to get DXCC using FT8.

In the piece they say that 80% of contacts are now on FT8. If true, and I do not know if this is, it means there is a huge drop in SSB use and far less chatting.

Although I enjoy FT8 as my voice is poor, I hope people still want to use other modes and chat. Without this, our hobby is much poorer.

Years ago people often chanced on amateur radio. Operators heard amateur AM transmissions and they were curious. FT8 needs special free software, so newcomers are very unlikely to chance upon it.