FT4 digital mode now available The new amateur radio digital mode FT4 is now available for download as part of WSJT-X Release Candidate 5 You can download wsjtx-2.1.0-rc5-win64.exe (or for other O/S) from near the bottom of the page at http://physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/k1jt/wsjtx.html FT4 Protocol document http://physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/k1jt/FT4_Protocol.pdf See the WSJT Group at https://groups.io/g/WSJTX/ www.southgatearc.org/news/2019/april/ft4-digital-mode-now-available.htm
It's FT4. Yes, there is a JT4 used for EME. The new hotness is FT4. See here: http://physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/k1jt/FT4_Protocol.pdf
I tried this afternoon, faster but I am not sure if the decoding is any better or not. Had the beam toward Europe and made 20 or so contacts. Contesters should like , it's fast.
The new one is FT-4 ! JT-4 has been around for a while now & is used by the lunar satellite sending data back to earth ! so I am told ! you can get a dashboard app. to decode the telem. data ! check out AMSAT web site for all the info thanks again Joe keep up the good work 73 Phil KI6PMD..
This was my first attempt at FT4. I think it will get used in the same way as FT8 has. People use what's new and what's popular. If the developers leave the ability to use it as a standard digi mode, it will get used as a standard digi mode. If they remove standard mode and change it to a contest only mode, people will use a clone of WSJT-X that has the same function.
I must have downloaded an OLD 2.01 release candidate. When I click on mode in the WSJTX menu it only offers FT8, JT4, JT9, JT9+JT65, JT65, QRA64, ISCAT, MSK144, WSPR, Echo and FreqCal. There is no FT4 in the menu. I just downloaded this yesterday, 6/5/19 from the Princeton website. I see the reference to FT4 in the instruction manual but it does not appear in the program. Please forgive the error on my part. I will try the download again. John K4AGO
Setup instructions are listed just above the release choices. FT4Protocol.pdf. select your language and get set up. k3naw
RTFM, i watched i video posted here on qrz last week featuring Joe Taylor ,giving a talk to his local radio club, his comments about FT4 near the end of the film, persuaded me to give it a go,i do already know one of the pre release beta testers who said it is fast, so according to the suggestions in the in the manual for 2.1.0 rc5 , i installed it in a separate hard drive location,as i built my PC myself i have 2 hard drives so a separate location was quick and easy,upon firing up the new version for the first time there was no details that needed changing ,all my custom macros and radio settings had been picked up from the older version, within 5 minutes i was working into south america, and as i write this post @ 430 am Thurs UTC tonight and last night from about 18:00 UTC onward i have been the only European station on 14:080 hence Tuesday into Wednesday 132 stations worked ,99% US stations, and Wednesday pm into Thurs am with much less operating time 80 plus stations(the band was quieter than the previous evening), a few double qsos, where i have logged people and they have called me again straight away,now whether this is due to the speed of FT4 or the fact that they are not using the JT Alert software in conjunction WSJT ,anyone's guess, even when working a station and you get 1 or 2 more stations calling you for the sake of a minute i can work all 3 stations, i have only had 1 bad experience with FT4 as yet ,last night i was called by a station(i will not divulge callsign) and as i was working him which due to slightly fluctuating conditions was taking a bit more time ,another station popped up, same grid square location,as i have a very very fast internet connection i was able to plug both calls into qrz, and as it turns out both ops lived in the same TOWN, but they were both consumed with calling over the top of each other as to qrm each other, so they both ended up NOT working outside of the USA, as after 5 minutes of QRM ing each other they gave up and disappeared, the sad thing is i would have happily have worked them both, but obviously both these ops who had either Advanced or Extra licenses dont believe in waiting 6 or 12 or 18 seconds(as they were both so close they should have picked up the other ones signal) i could at over 3000 miles,if they had of been using JT Alert this probably would not have happened, but like the old saying"you cant teach a old dog new tricks" was probably relevant, as a mode i give it 9.5/10 (no lotw support as yet without faffing with upload),my other small gripe is that JT Alert doesn't see the FT4 band activity correctly yet(not a wsjt fault though) , i will be taking part in Thursday mini activity event on 40m @ 00:00 UTC, so if you see me and work me and would like a card ,direct is fastest pop one in the post with 2 GS i will gladly return(especially if your Hawaii/North Dakota or dare i say it Dela rare) M6ENP
Technically speaking it's: WSJT-X 2.1.0-rc5 32 bits: https://physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/k1jt/wsjtx-2.1.0-rc5-win32.exe 64 bits: https://physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/k1jt/wsjtx-2.1.0-rc5-win64.exe
