Category: Digital

The Importance of Accurate Time

For the FT4 and FT8 digital modes, like in comedy, timing is everything. If your computer clock is even one second off from other stations you are intending to work your signal strength will suffer. A difference of a couple of seconds may mean you are not decoding any signals at all. The importance of […]

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Have I worked this station on FT8, or not?

WSJT-X display

I rely on WSJT-X’s color coding to tell me whether a station calling CQ on FT8 is one I’ve worked or not. Recently, I’d focused a bit more on 60M prefixes for a WPX award endorsement. I was a bit surprised how few of the calling stations appeared to be new to me on this […]

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Finding New States With PSK Reporter

Silent Listener

I’m a big fan of FT8. It’s allowed me to work far more stations recently near the solar minimum with a very modest home station than would otherwise have been possible. I’ve worked all US states and received the ARRL’s WAS award on a couple of different bands using this mode. Sometimes getting that last […]

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Multiple WSJT Configurations

WSJT Configs

As I have written in the past, my home station is very modest. Nearby neighbors and antenna restrictions mean no powerful antennas at home are in my future. I compensate somewhat for this by using modes such as FT8. Another way of coping is by using remote stations on RemoteHamRadio.com. The problem in using WSJT […]

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PSK Reporter

PSK Reporter Map

After calling a station on Nauru using FT8 for some time with no response I was left with a question. Is my signal getting out at all? Is the target station deaf? How would I know? Navigating to the PSK Reporter website I was able to quickly determine that no station anywhere was receiving my […]

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Keep An Eye On Your DT

The old saying that timing is everything applies to many facets of life. Sports, comedy, etc. But it also plays a critical role in Amateur Radio. We all know about the use of UTC to avoid issues of time zones for Hams spread around the world. But precise timing is critical for some of the […]

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FT8 and RHR using Loopback

WSJTX

I’ve been using Remote Ham Radio for my serious DX’ing for some time now. Until recently this was limited to SSB and using the built in microphone on a Macbook Pro. I wanted to give FT8 a try since that would open up additional DXing opportunities. I came across some good documentation from RHR on […]

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