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[VA3VF]

HamQTH makes looking up a station's grid faster, because the grid is on the first page.

This is a great suggestion. I have HamQTH configured in Log4OM, but since it's not my main logging program I forgot all about it.

As for QRZ, I think the work around would be to add the grid in the QSL field. That way there is no need to go to the details page. I seem to recall doing that in the past but changed my mind after some imbecilic online discussion. No good deed goes unpunished, as you likely know.

Bottom line is, expect me to follow the Law, anything beyond that you are on your own.

[AF5CC]

For some digital contests, the grid is part of the required exchange.

[VA3VF]

For some digital contests, the grid is part of the required exchange.

I wonder if this why I do not partake in FT8/FT4 digital contests. 

Seriously though, nobody mentioned contests until now, unless I missed it.

It goes without saying that if one is in a contest, the contest rules should be followed. Anybody "fighting" this rule is an .... (never mind).

[N6YWU]

Since so many people tend to rush off to QRZ.com to look up the person at point B, FT8 exchanges really only need to include a call and report, (grid info is on QRZ).

You are assuming that you and the other stations aren't operating FT8 portable, where if you use the grid squares on QRZ , you may end up with an incorrect log entry.  Now that FT8 can be operated portable without carrying a laptop, I expect it to become a lot more popular for SOTA and POTA ops.

[K0UA]

Since so many people tend to rush off to QRZ.com to look up the person at point B, FT8 exchanges really only need to include a call and report, (grid info is on QRZ).

You are assuming that you and the other stations aren't operating FT8 portable, where if you use the grid squares on QRZ , you may end up with an incorrect log entry.  Now that FT8 can be operated portable without carrying a laptop, I expect it to become a lot more popular for SOTA and POTA ops.

It already has.  I would estimate about 1/4 of POTA operation is now FT8/FT4

[VA3VF]

It already has.  I would estimate about 1/4 of POTA operation is now FT8/FT4

Again, is the grid square a part of what goes on with POTA/SOTA?

The discussion is moving from regular FT8/FT4 contacts - in my case strictly DXing - to contests and other special operations that use/rely on grid squares for whatever reason.

What I'm "learning" here is that for those that value grid squares, they should focus on contests and these special operations. If you get the grid elsewhere, bonus.

[K0UA]

It already has.  I would estimate about 1/4 of POTA operation is now FT8/FT4

Again, is the grid square a part of what goes on with POTA/SOTA?

The discussion is moving from regular FT8/FT4 contacts - in my case strictly DXing - to contests and other special operations that use/rely on grid squares for whatever reason.

What I'm "learning" here is that for those that value grid squares, they should focus on contests and these special operations. If you get the grid elsewhere, bonus.

No, grid square has nothing to do with either hunting or activating SOTA or POTA. Nothing at all. For that matter even the park number is not actually needed in hunting POTA. For that matter you don't even need to log an activator at all in POTA as he will do the logging and no matching is required. The only thing you have to do is work them and for him to log your call. Thats it.

[K4HB]

Again, is the grid square a part of what goes on with POTA/SOTA?

Only in the sense that a contact can count for multiple awards. (The USA, State, County, Grid, etc.)

What I'm "learning" here is that for those that value grid squares, they should focus on contests and these special operations. If you get the grid elsewhere, bonus.

Propagation on 6M is not always good during contests. I get new grids for VUCC whenever the band is open and a new one pops up. I'm getting new stateside grids mostly from rovers. They are popular with FFMA chasers. (Fred Fish Memorial Award) The object is to get all 488 stateside grids. Fred Fish was the first to achieve that, and only a few have accomplished it. So these guys go on a rove to the rare grids to help us out.

[VA3VF]

Propagation on 6M is not always good during contests.

I don't have enough exposure to 6m. I do have VUCC and that's about it.

My comments are strictly about HF, and on HF grid squares are not as widely used. It may change and become more like VHF/UHF one day, but it's not there yet.

So these guys go on a rove to the rare grids to help us out.

Roving fascinates me, but I don't see a lot of it in Canada. Could it have something to do with ham population density?

[WO7R]

My comments are strictly about HF, and on HF grid squares are not as widely used.

Well, CQ has something called the "Field" award where the "Field" is the first two letters of the grid.

Getting all the "fields" that have "some" land mass in them is a major accomplishment (though it may not look like that at first).

There are really too many grids for Grid Squares to be interesting for HF, but the world-wide set of fields turns out to be another matter.  The Honor Roll for the field award is set at 172 fields and it is no finger snap to get that many.  Now, it is possible to get a lot of ocean-only fields, but in practice, most ships stay surprisingly close to shore, so it really is "mostly" about fields with "some" land in them.

In that regard, the grids in FT8 are really useful for this award.  It isn't a terribly popular award, but maybe FT8/FT4 will make it more popular in the future, who knows?  After all, if you exchange grids, you've also exchanged fields.

[WO7R]

Roving fascinates me, but I don't see a lot of it in Canada. Could it have something to do with ham population density?

Perhaps.  But it also may have something to do with how Canadian population is centered.  There are huge tracts of land in Canada where essentially nobody ever lives and nobody ever will.

Canadians can correct me here, but I believe at one time, a very large fraction of Canadians lived plus or minus 50 miles from the Canadian transcontinental railroad.  Or, the southern-most 100 miles.  Something of that kind.

There is no "Fred Fish" award defined for Canada and it is not terribly likely there ever will be.  I don't know how one could be defined given Canadian population dynamics.  Even operations from Labrador are not common on 6m currently.

Well, if you don't have Fred Fish as incentive, then you're basically collecting grids and US and European Grids are just as good as local ones.  It's just a question of operating and seeing what you can get over time.

[VA3VF]

My comments are strictly about HF, and on HF grid squares are not as widely used.

Well, CQ has something called the "Field" award where the "Field" is the first two letters of the grid.

Believe it or not last Sunday, before I saw this thread, I had configured JTAlert to alert me of new HF grids. I'm almost hitting the wall with my current station, and since I don't plan any "investment" in it, I'm looking for other "challenges" where the current station can still be useful, in addition to "standard" DXing.

I already qualify for the Field Award. So I upgraded my eQSL membership to apply for it, since I don't do paper applications and mailings. Never mind card checking, I have very few cards.

As "luck" would have it, of the 4 CQ awards via eQSL, this one is still processed offline, so for all intents and purposes, not available to me.

But I did get a truckload of eQSL awards, so it was not all bad.

[VA3VF]

Roving fascinates me, but I don't see a lot of it in Canada. Could it have something to do with ham population density?

Perhaps.  But it also may have something to do with how Canadian population is centered.  There are huge tracts of land in Canada where essentially nobody ever lives and nobody ever will.

In true WO7R fashion, you covered all the points. This is exactly what I meant to convey with my one sentence.

I'm located in the most populated area of the country, the Toronto/Ottawa/Montreal triangle. I would not be surprised if the fingers of one hand are enough to count the rovers around here.

Canadians can correct me here, but I believe at one time, a very large fraction of Canadians lived plus or minus 50 miles from the Canadian transcontinental railroad.  Or, the southern-most 100 miles.  Something of that kind.

You are correct about that. Hopefully with global warming more people will move north. I'm staying put, with sea levels going up, my house will become beachfront property.

[K0RS]

For those that think a grid square is an indispensible part of an FT8 exchange here's an excerpt from ZA/IK2RLM'S QRZ page:

Here's a tip to make the QSOs go faster in FT8.  In WSJT-X, double-click on the "Tx-1" box to shut that exchange off.  No one needs your GRIDSQUARE  It gets logged automatically by most good logging programs.  It saves 1 cycle/ 15 seconds on our exchange.  ALSO  double-click on "Tx-4" to switch to "RR73" exchange.  That skips another cycle.  This will save as much as 4 cycles or a whole minute.  It makes a BIG difference when the band is only open for a little while like 6 meters.

That's from a station operator who truly is DX.

Of all the useless information that the authors of WSJT decided to incorporate in their program, grid squares are a mystery.  I suspect it's a holdover from VHF and UHF operations where contacts are typically more local and "DX" is measured on different scale.

To AA5CC's point:

For some digital contests, the grid is part of the required exchange.

If a CQ zone, ITU zone, serial number, name, grid square, or other data is what is required in a specific contest, then that's what you send.

[K0RS]

Having been one who tries to follow all the rules all my life and having been the one having to take a few "extra minutes" to "look up" someone's grid to make my log complete

I'm sorry you're so anal about your log, but it's not my problem.  Exactly what or whose "rules" are you following?

because it's not necessary in an FT8 exchange and being tired of the one who seems to always be berated for not being someone's tool

Ah, so everyone else is supposed to be your tool.