That's perfect for CW Skimmer but for digital modes like JT-65/JT-9 standard 3 to 5 kHz is enough 73, Thomas
Well-done, informative video and I mean no disrespect to the OP---but what a horrible thing this digital mode has brought to our hobby. I can't think of anything more boring than staring at computer screen displays to make silent, automatic, machine-made "QSOs" that might have well come from outer space, the ham across town or your next door neighbor's garage door opener. No thank you. I could go out in my backyard at night and get more of a thrill shining my flashlight at the dark side of the moon. I sincerely thank the OP for his informative video (I watched it entirely)---as it has just spared me from any further consideration of getting into this most sterile and robotic aspect of ham radio ever again! If this JT65 stuff floats lots of boats for others, well that's fine, but the way I see it it spells the beginning of the end demise of our hobby---at least the hobby that we have come to know and love so well thus far. The further we lessen human interaction via such "advancements in technology" the less real communication we end up with; despite any DXCC certificates on the wall that might appear to indicate otherwise. 73, Jeff
I agree Jeff and I prefer a good rag chew on SSB rather than 59 next please during a contest. But not having any beam and in low solar cycle it's sometimes difficult to get an interesting DX contacts from home QTH. But yeah jt65 or others are not very interesting to "operate". Nevertheless ARRL LoTW recognize them officially. Things go more and more digital and less and less human. 73, Thomas
We just have to accept that the 'machine to machine' era in HF is upon us. The outcome of that , if the trend continues, is the ultimate loss of substantial swaths of the HF bands, and almost all of 6M. We just cannot justify the bands allotted if we don't use them. We need to come up with a plan NOW to justify the allocations, given our dramatic inactivity on 6M, save for JT65. And here is the REAL kicker: K1JT has a cool new mode called RT8 , which is less robust in SNR but faster. Plan for it. But JUSTIFY THE BANDS! RT8. 73 Chip W1YW
Hi Chip, is this a typo? Did you mean FT8 (ie, Franke-Taylor 8 FSK) ?? 73 de John - WØPV ------------------------ From the Yahoo Group, June 29, 2017 Dear WSJT-X Beta-Test Colleagues, Steve (K9AN) and I have developed a potential new mode for WSJT-X. We're calling the mode "FT8" (Franke-Taylor design, 8-FSK modulation). FT8 is designed for situations like multi-hop Es where signals may be weak and fading, openings may be short, and you want fast completion of reliable, confirmable QSOs. Important characteristics of FT8: - T/R sequence length: 15 s - Message length: 75 bits + 12-bit CRC - FEC code: LDPC(174,87) - Modulation: 8-FSK, keying rate = tone spacing = 5.86 Hz - Waveform: Continuous phase, constant envelope - Occupied bandwidth: 47 Hz - Synchronization: three 7x7 Costas arrays (start, middle, end of Tx) - Transmission duration: 79*2048/12000 = 13.48 s - Decoding threshold: -20 dB (perhaps -24 dB with AP decoding, TBD) - Operational behavior: similar to HF usage of JT9, JT65 - Multi-decoder: finds and decodes all FT8 signals in passband - Auto-sequencing after manual start of QSO *Comparison with slow modes JT9, JT65, QRA64:* FT8 is a few dB less sensitive but allows completion of QSOs four times faster. Bandwidth is greater than JT9, but about 1/4 of JT65A and less than 1/2 QRA64. *Comparison with fast modes JT9E-H:* FT8 is significantly more sensitive, has much smaller bandwidth, uses the vertical waterfall, and offers multi-decoding over the full displayed passband. *Still to come, not yet implemented:* We plan to implement signal subtraction, two-pass decoding, and use of "a priori" (already known) information as it accumulates during a QSO. Three extra bits are available in the message payload, with uses yet to be defined. We have in mind special message formats that might be used in contests, and the like. Your considered suggestions for use of these bits are very welcome! K1JT, K9AN, and G4WJS have conducted on-the-air tests of FT8 with excellent results. We're now at a stage where tests under a wider range of conditions are desirable. If you can build WSJT-X from source code revision r7750 or later, and would like to help, please do so and report your results to us! Pre-built installation packages will be made available after further testing is completed. Suggestions for FT8 setup and examples of use can be found in a screen shot posted here: http://physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/k1jt/ft8.png We look forward to receiving your feedback. -- 73, Joe, K1JT
Kudos to K1JT and his group. I use their modes and software for expanding my DXCC and VUCC totals too. I like short DX and contests exchanges (quite a dry IARU event this weekend). Yet also appreciate, and dearly miss, an occassional nice round-table / ragchew OTA, which are becoming oh so rare. So with apologies to Joe WB6ACU, I modified the lyrics (below) of his catchy song to fit my feelings about the manic adoption of digital modes in amateur radio lately. 73 de John WØPV ---------------------- Analog Ham Welcome to cyberspace, I'm lost in the fog Everything's digital I'm still analog When something goes wrong I don't have a clue Some ten year old smart a** has to show me what to do Sign on with JT65 you just have to wait Sit there for days and vegetate I access my Cluster, read all the Spots, I'm an Analog Ham . The whole world's living in a digital dream It's not really there It's all on the screen Makes me forget who I am I'm an Analog Ham Yeah I'm an Analog Ham in a digital world I'm gonna get me an Analog YL Who loves me for what I am I'm an Analog Ham What's wrong with SSB, I think it sounds great AM, CW, RTTY, but that's just the way I am I'm an Analog Ham Turn on the radio, listen until dawn More then a dozen bands, nothing is on Endless FSK tones, endless FSK tones, endless FSK tones The whole world's glued to the JT modes It looks so real on the big L-C-D Grid squares and signal reports are called QSO's, too bad for the Noobs They become what they see The whole world's living in a digital dream It's not really there It's all on the screen Makes me forget who I am I'm an Analog Ham Yeah I'm an Analog Ham in a digital world I'm gonna get me an Analog YL Who loves me for what I am I'm an Analog Ham Yeah I'm an Analog Ham in a digital world
As much as I dislike linking to to this site, it IS a good summary of FT8... http://qrznow.com/new-digital-mode-from-k1jt-ft8/
Great song.. Digital is not only on HF but you have a lot of it VHF/UHF like DMR, P25, DSTAR, C4FM, DVOICE, etc. replacing a good old FM. For me does not sound better and requires stronger signal but yes you can send the files or pictures taken with camera hidden in mic... Then comes Echolink which is most time a Skype for Ham Radio operators. I does not travel even necessarily by radio bands omitting cell phone network or WIFI. You can make a "QSO" with anybody in the world whatever propagation... as it goes via Internet 99% of distance and then few miles on air if coming out via linked repeater. In France we have a lot of difficulties to get youngsters interested in Ham radio especially if you don't speak about digital things. If it continues the "F" prefix will be high on most wanted list by 2040. We are here part of endangered species close to extinction - around 12.000 to 14.000 specimens left.
Excellent point, Chip! I think I know what RT8 stands for: RT8, the rat that ate six meters (and is gnawing away at the others right now)! 73, Jeff After post edit: I posted the above before reading the rest of the posts and now see that RT* was a typo---so change that to: FT8, the ferret that ate six meters...
Jeff, We do disagree on this: such digital modalities were inevitable. They are innovative; they are very useful. I predicted such use, publicly, more than a decade ago. The problem is that we have not PLANNED for them. Thus we are seeing the "disruption" (in an innovation sense) of 6M. There was no HINT that would happen in this magnitude, even a year ago. There has been no new enabler that made JT65 suddenly go from modest use to dominant use on 6M. It happened because it could. Our lack of foresight on this was at least 4 years in the making. One outcome of that is the JT65 'calling frequency' of 50.276 or some such; this collapsed the 4 MHz 6M band to roughly 5KHz!! Poor planning! There should be a plan, for example, that includes SEVERAL 'calling frequencies': many for international QSO's, some for QRO QSO's, some for domestic single hop Es, and so on. Right now? Nada. One free for all on 6m on a tiny slice of spectrum. And CW beacons blaring--with no QSO's on other modes. Don't (us) blame K1JT for this--its up to us to plan this out for FT8. 73 Chip W1YW
Chip; I think you have another typo in your first sentence above; didn't you mean "We don't disagree on this...?" Another nail on the head about not seeing this coming/planning for it, too. I guess that's what happens when us older guys keep our noses out of the cyber world that engulfs us now (speaking for myself only, of course; you are obviously keeping abreast of things much better than I). The only way I know how to combat it is to keep using SSB and being active more often on the traditional frequencies. Let's keep six meters phone and cw freqs from becoming a ghost town of sorts! The CQ VHF is next weekend and I'll be running QRO SSB at my small antenna farm as much as I can (if thunderstorms are not in my immediate area, of course). While I doubt this digital mania will wither out anytime soon at least we can try to keep the rest of our 50MHz boat afloat so it doesn't get sunk by disuse. 73 + 6, Jeff
Points well taken Jeff. To me it's important to exercise every facet of our hobby, because while it may not be important to me, or while I may not find it the most interesting aspect of the hobby, I know that others do... You are absolutely right. This is a social hobby, and i've learned that by participating in as many modes as I can has resulted in the most awesome of friends (near & far), because I try to show interest in things that others might find interesting Which is why i'm on the slow path to learning CW myself! I don't think a day has gone by in the last few months where someone hasn't commented on my blog, or YouTube videos to get on CW! (CW Academy is still many months away for me...) I like to encourage folks to try ALL modes. Not just to limit themselves to digital. Otherwise, we're all missing out on a lot. 73 Johnny
Yes! That's MacLoggerDX... I need to update it LOL, they've had a few updates since i've last updated the software. I can barely keep up with all the updates anymore! I feel like i'm still learning stuff on it, and don't use half the features, but it is one gorgeous UI!
