FT-8, The New HF/6m Digital Mode, Introduction For Beginners
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- Опубликовано: 29 июл 2017
- Here is a new digital mode that comes to you from the makers of JT-9 and JT-65.. Called FT-8 (Franke-Taylor design, 8FSK modulation). A weak signal mode that is not as sensitive to JT-65/9 but definately something that will work when voice and CW will not. This is an introduction to someone who has never heard of it, or never has used JT-65 before. It may not be for everyone, but everyone should try it.
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Very helpful. No disrespect to the other Elmers out there that have uploaded videos for FT-8, but this is much clearer and easier to understand.
73!
Just seeing this 3yrs later, but great summary! I knew zero about this mode and now i feel like i have a good understanding of what it is. I thought the video length was perfect.
I really appreciate this video. I just started up FT-8, but before blundering through it I wanted to know the right screen activity during a contact involving the macros and you made it very clear what is going on. Much better than other sites I've been trying to see what's what. Thanks!
i love ft-8, i enjoy digital modes more than voice, its just easier to me. i know some people hate Digital, i dont know why, its all a hobby. there is something for everyone
Great and simple. Length not an issue. I learned a lot in those 17 minutes.
Great Video Eric. I'm a very recent license holder and was working PSK with little success when my Elmer told me to try FT8. Your video explained a number of questions I had about the software and I'm finding contacts all over the place now. THANKS!
Yes, a very good summery of FT8, I am going to try it, thank you for the video and not talking down to folks like some others do.
Those who have negative things to say are probably of the same mind set when SSB first went on the air, can you imagine the negative comments from the CW and AM crowd?
I watched another video after first watching this one, Well what can I say, I had to come back to your video to clear up the confustion from the other. Well done on explaining this new digital mode in good all plain english. Great job..
I share your passion for short, to-the-point, RUclips videos regardless the subject. Yours was timed perfectly. It contained a lot of good, relevant information and no unnecessary drivel. More importantly, I learned from it, so thank you. 73, Steve, W6SDM
Thank you SO much! This is the bare bones I needed to find. Now, if I can just get the TX to work, I'd be happy.
You do an excellent job of explaining to an old newb like myself.
Good job. was looking for a FT-8 video before my DX club meeting where they are going to talk about it and this was the bomb! Can't wait to teach it in my General Class next month. TNX VY MUCH N8FE
Marsha FLeming,,,looking for a beginner hanradio what's your recommendation?
Thanks for the info. I just got a ftdx-3000 and am looking into ft8. My dad has used it for a bit and I have to say you helped me alot. Now I feel confident to get into it. Alot simpler than psk31 but looks like more fun to play with lower power. Im gonna start at 5W and then work up only if I need to. Thanks again and 73, ad0am
Thanks for the video. I'm just starting FT8 and your video helps a lot.
Another great video Eric.. Been using this mode for a few weeks now...much faster then jt65 Sill waiting for LOTW to accept this mode
Thanks for the good info. Not a bad length of video for me. I am wanting to learn and I always come to your channel to find out these things! 73
Best video I've seen so far showing what FT-8 really does and doesn't do.
Great video, I am just getting into digital modes Eric and I live in an area that produces a noise level 10/9 on every band so I hear this mode will still get through... Time will tell :) Thanks was great and I for one learnt about operating FT8 from this!
Incidentally: power by itself doesn't "blank out the waterfall" or "distort" signals. Most of those types of effects can be mitigated by turning off AGC and reducing the RF gain.
There's a widely held popular belief that every strong signal is someone running "power" but power is only a tiniest fraction of the equation when it comes to signal strength (this usually causes readers to come banging on the door with pitchforks and torches so I'll put my flame suit on). Just a recent example: I received a +18dB report running 1.5 watts from a station one minute and then the band dropped out and I had to up the power to 50 watts and finished the QSO with a -18dB report. Reports are not absolute (I have more info on this from Joe Taylor directly if you're interested). It's also quite difficult to overdrive FSK signals like JT65, JT9, and FT8 (though every other post you see on the various social media sites drops the word "overdrive" like it's candy as well as the very over used "ALC" references). A signal like the modes generated by WSJT-X are essentially constant amplitude and continuous phase. A linear transmitter PA is not necessary and the ALC level isn't nearly as critical as it is with, say, PSK31 (this one REALLY brings out the keyboard commandos so for those folks: I have verified this with the WSJT-X development team including K1JT so if anyone wants to argue the point, go argue with him, however, my money is on the Nobel Laureate ;) ).
Lastly (this is for the benefit of others who may be reading) - the waterfall is a convenience appliance only. It was never intended to be used to measure signal quality or spectral purity. There are dozens of factors that influence how a signal appears on the waterfall - the signal you see is not the actual signal but the sound card's interpretation of what it "hears" from the radio. This is where a Panadapter tied into the IF comes in handy. In 15,000 JT65 contacts, several thousand JT9 contacts and going on 4,000 FT8 contacts, I can literally count on one hand (maybe two now but I'll have fingers left over) the number of "poor" signals I've seen and in each case, those were not caused by "power" or "overdrive" but by lack of isolation between the soundcard and the radio (very necessary!!) or RF making its way back into the transmit chain due to common mode current riding the coax back to the shack.
Ok, that was way longer than I'd intended :)
73,
Jim S.
N2ADV
Thanks for that. Nicely explained and I'll be giving it a go in the next few days.
That was great and down to earth, easy to follow well done regards from the UK
I'm a relatively new amateur radio operator (did signals in the Reserves for 14 years though when I was a young buck) and have only just this Easter weekend created my first HF station at home using a Yaesu FT-450 and a DIY horizontal delta loop that isn't resonant on any of the bands, as I've just used the available space in my small garden. Somewhere about 9MHz would be resonant I think. I've only had one voice QSO since Sunday and It dings your confidence when you spend a lot of time calling CQ and trying to work other stations and you don't get a reply. One of my club mates loaned me a data cable on Tuesday night and so I spent a couple of hours yesterday installing WSJT-X, configuring the radio to work with it, and trying to respond to and initiate CQ calls using this mode. I had one QSO the whole evening, but I'm not disheartened as I can see the reception reports on PSKReporter.info and I can see that my meagre signal is being heard as far as East Coast USA, and central Russia.
Cut to the Chase Andy!! ----I've got a better understanding of the way the protocol works as a result of watching this video, the idea behind the waterfall, and how to respond at the correct time. Thanks very much. 73's M6UAW
Nice job. This is a much better video than most similar tutorials.
Video was not too long. I learned a lot. I've been experimenting with JT65 and a Uniden HR2510 on 10 Meters, and I'm having a lot of fun with it. I'll try this mode next. 73 Paul AA1SU
i actually tried it yesterday for the first time. Before I tried it, I thought it was absolutely a waste of time, but I read up on it and gave it a go yesterday. It is a super fast mode. I was actually pleasantly surprised at how well signals got out. I am running a 55 foot vertical and lowered my output power to 2 watts and then used the signal transmit slider to lower my power even more. I was making contacts with 0.1 watt on 40, 80, and 160 through pretty horrendous conditions that CW would not even be able to penetrate. I finally wrapped it up at like 2am. It was fun. Sure, a lot was automated, but the fun part was trying to reach out to DX with minimal power. I couldn't reach Argentina at 5600 miles...but it was fun trying. It's a bit finicky to set up on the Mac, and make sure you go find JT-Bridge (software-that finds your contacts on WSJT-X and imports them into your Logbook www.k0pir.us/macloggerdx-wsjt-x-jt-bridge/). The most difficult part of the FT-8 is figuring out how to make a contact. It's one of those modes you definitely have to read the manual. I tried going on youtube and people get so bogged down in details that it's difficult to see what's going on. Whoever designs these modes has an amazing thought process. I am amazed with what can be done with such low power.
Great video here...above. I like that little Yaesu, especially that front display.
Thanks for the video. The mode is lots of fun. One correction... At 9:20 in the video ALL of the signals in the waterfall are being simultaneously decoded in the left hand pane automatically!! You don't have to click on top of a signal as it says in the video, in order to decode it. 73, John AF3K
I went back to review this video even though I have already tried FT8 to get a refresher. While some have said this video was too long, I on the other hand thought it was just fine and very informative. Since FT4 is now out there, like you, I enjoy the experimenting part of the hobby. And while I might not stick with any particular mode, I do it primarily to be able to explain it to those who are new to HAM radio to show them what they can do if talking on the radio isn't their cup of tea. In closing, thank you for your dedication to the hobby and sharing your knowledge with us all. 73 - W0HLK
Some very good comments Kenneth. Experimenting with all the different modes is just part of the fun! 73
Thanks. Your video helped me understand a bit more about the info on the screen!
FYI, the slider on the left is for the gain of the signals on the waterfall. The slider on the right is for your audio levels. Make sure to check your ALC against the audio level slider on the right. If you are calling CQ, check the "Call 1st" button. It will allow the software to auto respond to the first station the software decodes. This way you do not have to click on stations when responding to a call, potentially missing a call or extending the amount of time spent on a QSO. 73, N5SDD.
I'm new to DXMAP but on there FT8 is, by far, the most common digital mode. I think it's great that digital modes are evolving to be ever more tolerant of poor signal and propagation conditions. Having such a mode is great for QRP with small portable antennas and it would also be very useful in emergency conditions operating from battery power where getting through is far more important than the data rate.
That's actually really cool. Maybe I'm overly impressed because I've never done any digital before, but I think I'll try it this weekend. Thanks for the video!
Give it a go! It's a lot of fun.
Thank you for the video, now I have a better understanding about it.
Great info, I have been playing with FT-8 and hadn't got the auto sequence sorted - should be good to go now. It is fast...
Yes, much quicker than JT65. Quite a few different stations on 40m, Thank you for sharing
Just wanted to say....Thanks for all the vids man. You dont just create vid of jabbering on for 1-1/2 hours every single video. You dont have a “superiority” attitude. Just a “normal” guy that really enjoys ham radio. Ive watched a lot of your vids, and continue to learn about things I havent had the opportunity to see before.
Got my Tech just a few months ago, took the General early this month, and passed the Extra yesterday. With all of that study behind me, Im going to spend some time on some of the other modes I havent any experience with. I get on the phone bands every day, but want to setup some other communications options.
Anyway....thanks. 73
Nice video. Never heard of FT8. I do a lot of JT65 and got my WAS using JT. Definitely going to check this out. JT65 is slow but I can multitask during the 48 seconds. Heck I've even cooked dinner during QSOs. Thanks for the info. I also just gave you a sub. AK3GR.
I downloaded rc1 of wsjt-x and made 3 contacts within minutes. I'm hooked. This might kill JT65.
Awesome thanks!!!
Dude, you have a knack for great instruction/demonstration! You get to the point and you're probably the first person I didn't have to keep skipping ahead! Thanks!
Interesting.....thanks for sharing.
great job on the video !!
Best video I've seen and understood.....
Thank you great information.
Saw it in action at VE3ZM FD 2018. Nifty stuff.
Very useful and clear video - I'm just trying to set my FT-450 up to use it, as I am limited to vertical HF antenna. First impressions of range of signals received is very encouraging. Here in UK I am receiving China and South America which I really struggle to QSO with on SSB. Thanks very much - length of video is fine for beginners. 73 Rob G1VXD
When I first started FT8, I did find it kind of boring. But after getting some tips from a local ham, I got really interested because I was racking up contacts all over the US, Europe, and Asia. However, to do that, I did have to kick up my output power beyond 10 watts. But I'm kind of a DX'er anyway, so, getting contacts in Europe and Asia made it worth it to me to continue.
Great! I liked it. Keep up with good work! It is not too long video! :)
Found this really helpful thanks , M7PNR 😀
JT65 is my preferred method, but I’ll be def trying this out.
Perfect for me as a beginner 👍
Just saw your video. It's really good. FT8 is my first foray into digital since the county-wide APRS Wx packet network I setup back in the '90s. I've been playing with FT8 for a few weeks now and in that time have worked all states (just on FT8) on 40m, nearly all on 20m, and am getting close to DXCC. Previously, I had worked all states on 40m SSB on a late night net that requires physical QSL card confirmations... that took many years.
If I may make a few suggestions.. I've found that I need at least 40w (and occasionally higher) to establish a good exchange, without going too much over a R+00 report. I've heard from many in the FT8 community that this is a poor signal mode, NOT a qrp mode, and 40-60w is quite common; unlike other digital modes.
In addition, everytime I saw a station in your video show up in green on the left pane, I was thinking , "Did he already log them?" Only previously worked stations show up like that for me. Unworked stations, show up in dark purple if they are a new entity; and light purple if I've not worked them, but have worked their state or country.
Finally, it might be worth explaining JTAlertX. I found setting it up it to be the most frustrating aspect, but also quite rewarding once I had it tweaked correctly. No more uploading ADIF files, or knowing if I worked that station on one band but another.
thanks this was very helpful
I love these ultra efficient digital modes, having the ability to make contacts even when the antenna and band conditions are very poor is incredible for me.
After s year nearly since discovering it, I have not used it as much as i expected. certainly incredible. But it's to monotonous for me and i fall asleep over the keys Hi. I do as well and end up with a headache. So mainly use it for testing home made gear and propagation to get some idea off band conditions. It has taken off in mass. has now dominated the hf bands and also first time i have heard a digital mode on 160m and 6m. Whenever i switch on i now find a FT8 signal. I was s keen psk man, but hardly hear any now after building a dedicated psk system. now tuned to ft8 just for the fun of monitoring. that's my problem, i find monitoring More interesting..leave it monitoring while on the workbench. Not a dx chaser or contester. Been mainly cw for many years, but thats dried up a bit, rare to get a reply on s cq call i find now, yet years ago 1 watt qrp worked the world. so not much of an :operator now as little rag chews around now. Gone back to building gear. using valves as i have 'loads of them. Anyway FT8 certainly created a stir.
contacts..ok great. But can you actually ever communicate more information? How effective for example would FT8 be to communicate an emergency message
Very good beginner vid. Comment below is understood disappointment that it's digital and not rag chew. It's less than a contest 599 report. But a different type of experience with QRP and distance
Great video, best I've seen yet on FT-8. KE4KMG
Casual non-amateur listener here - I was having a casual surf around the amateur band and came across what is likely to be FT-8. Had never heard anything like it before - initially sounded like someone mashing keys on a musical keyboard, sort of like a digital mode, but initially threw me for a loop. Thanks for the clarification :)
ChayD huh I just had the same experience on my SDR a couple days ago. I’m still learning too, actually taking my technicians test in the morning!
Funny, you say you're no expert on FT8- I got more out of this video than I have from the so-called experts. Thank you for clearing up a few things. 73
Very helpful. A great mode for lots of qsos. 73s
Thanks for this helpful video. I still feel as if I'm muddling through. I just purchased the ARRL book, "Get of the Air with HF Digital. I hope to clear the water a bit with it.
I thought I'd never have an interest in digital until FD2018 when I observed KM4YMI making loads of contacts. Now I guess the bug has bitten me.
Thanks bro.
Use D4Time to sync your clock...has been on my computer a long time...flawless...
I did learn something, what all them lines of data mean lol. Thank you.
Re: the waterfall: your radio is displaying the carrier frequency (were the carrier not suppressed since you're running SSB). Since you're running USB for these modes, the waterfall shows the number of Hz above the carrier frequency. So if your radio shows a frequency of 7.074 MHz, looking at the waterfall at 1,000 Hz, a signal is sitting "on" 7.075. At 2,000 Hz, the signal is "on" 7.076; this is important to remember as since the JT65 segment starts at 7.076 MHz so if you show a frequency of 7.074 MHz and you transmit a signal at, say, 2,800 Hz, you're 800 Hz into the JT65 watering hole and you may be causing QRM to someone running another mode.
Hope that helps.
73,
Jim S.
N2ADV
True, but the FT8 stations are now sending at PSK frequencies and others, pretty annoying when they do that
I am really late to the digital game being a ham for 30 years now, but thank you for the video. Going to try this with a newer rig and some cables I have coming for it.
how’d it go?
@@HighFidelityFox It's going great. I use MSHV I stead of wsjtx because for me it works better. For me the cat cable control never works. Not sure why,but works fine using vox.
@@user-bn3zo3mh5v Never heard of that programme until now, will definitely try it out as I hate the WSJTX split window for waterfall. For me it’s the opposite haha, I can’t get vox to work but I can get CAT to work
@@HighFidelityFox Don't know. I have all the proper cables but no luck. I have tried regular serial cables and usb to serial and it acts as if there is nothing there,but I can use the audio cables and it works fine. I am a hardware guy in a software world. Just glad I can get on at all.
@@user-bn3zo3mh5v Have you made sure all the settings such as baud rate are correct in the programme? Your radio manual should have the settings. Tried using MSHV but the UI was so confusing i couldn’t figure it out haha
Very helpful! Thank you! 73
Thanks
Thank you for the video. It's very hepful. I"m wondering if it's better to check the 'Tx even / 1st' or to leave it unchecked?
nice video
Cool. Just installed the software and 40m looks pretty busy on this mode.
KE8BYM
Thanks Eric, great video helped a lot. One thing I would like to add is synchronizing the PC clock once the software is installed and being set up. I ran into an issue where the software was not decoding however it was receiving well, synchronized the PC clock and the band activity began to fill in. I am running a Yaesu 857D with a Signalink USB through a USB hub. Cat control of the 857 and VOX control of the Signalink work fine. Have made my first few QSOs now! Thanks again.
you cut off... I have an 857D and wanted to know what you were trying to finish saying..
Very helpful explanation. Would have been uses to explain what the other over movable bars above the waterfall define. 73s ZL4AI
Good video. I tried it but just can't get excited about digital modes. It's just too boring and I don't like the fact that it requires a PC to run. SSB and CW are a lot more fun.
Andrew Ivanov .......I agree Andrew. Making a contact yourself requires skill and leaves you with a sense of accomplishment. People are relying too much on computers to do their work. Its the very definition of lazy!
There are exceptions though. For example, obtaining weatherfax and satellite images or chatting with the ISS as she flies over. APRS can be quite useful, as can the ability to access email or internet-based wind/weather information without an internet connection - as I did when circumnavigating solo in a 26ft yacht.
But, just harvesting QSLs in an automated fashion is boring, and is simply a way of checking conditions and performance... it's not easy to get excited about unless you're a gridsquare hunter or a contester. Manual modes are so much more gratifying.
But, speaking as someone who's used amateur digital modes in anger, when the nearest human being to me was on the ISS... and had that digital access keep me safe, connected and avoiding storm systems... I got to say, it can be damned useful.
Even in voice modes and CW, many OPs simply want to register a contact and move on. Amateur radio can be so much more than that.
Thanks for this video. Just started with FT8 and was kind of wandering how to make a QSO. 73
Nice 17 minute video. When the red tx and green tx bars are moved at the top of the waterfall, how does that affect the transmit and receive band frequency? Is it an offset? Does it affect the contacts?
Good video KD2TIP
Thanks for information I may end trying it out I have sigalink
Always enjoy your videos, however I find this mode kind of silly, but having said that I believe it is a tool in some respect. It will test your antenna with low power to see how far you can reach out and touch someone. I've been using it for a very short time.
Excellent video. Now that FT4 is soon to be released to production, it will be interesting to see the uptake of that vs FT8. I did a comparison video on my channel of the two. 73
I have a video of Ft4 I did last week on my channel.
@@HamRadioConcepts Thanks I commented on that video too
Your reviews are very cool 73 from VE3BDE
Very good presentation!
Great video, well delivered. as an aside, these digital modes are ushering in the end of Amateur Radio. How soon till we simply go back to push to talk aka Nextels?
I wish I would have never made this video. Bands have been open every day, and all it is FT8, My soon to come video, you will want to see, about FT8 LOL
Thanks good description de vk5cz ..
Very,very good video. I am also new to FT8 and am learning. This added a few more pieces of the puzzle for me. I have a few questions that maybe you can answer:
1. At the end of your last QSO you sent him a signal report 2 times, the same value. Why?? Is this normal or other reason?
2.In the Tx even/1st do you have to change this based on the time sequence your CQ caller is on? That is 0 or 5??
Greg... KO8A
You have great informative videos! TNX de W4KDK
How do you handle multiple ft8 calls coming in to you one after the other or at a bunch at a time? For example 5 calls come in simultaneously. I usually do first come first serve and if the station does not respond after 4 or five tries I move on to the next one and so forth. Or I would look for the strongest station and go from there. If I cannot make contact with stations, then I try to call them back at a later time. Any suggestions? Thank you.
Great video. How do I get my grid.
somebody can help me? i am looking for something like this to send little text message to a home station and back. i am planning on traveling to remote location without any communication method or infractructure. i would love this method (low frequency, low power, high sensibility and automatic message logging and sending), but do you really need to be perfectly timed? 15sec 15sec? can you not enter a "monitor mode" that would detect and catch transmission without being timed with the 15sec standard time?
i recorded a sample transmission and try to play it back into the program, but its not catching it. is this because i am not timed with the 15sec timer?
Would this exact setup be able to be put on an rpi? If so what lp peripherals would I need as far as transmitters and receivers and antennas?
The version now is 2.1.0? Am I correct? Getting started ft8 as been three months without any results on bands at time I can operate but that part of band is busy!
How would you modify the script for the FD exchange? Is there a logging facility?
Great video! Are you planning on doing a JT Alert and PSK Reporter video?
Mark Norman KN4CWT I already did pskreporter
I saw that after I posted. Sorry about that.
Dose it work with a signal link ?? Also can i input into MIXW SOFTWARE. ??
Many thanks for nice iontroduction ! 73 SM4VLG
Well done. Thanks for the info. I'm not clear on why you need a separate USB audio device if the rig is already controlled by USB from the computer. I have a Yaesu 991A. If it's already using the sound card in the PC, why would I need a separate USB audio device? Sorry if that's a dumb question. Just got my tech license after a 50 year hiatus in ham radio, and damn if things haven't changed a lot :-)
Liked the video, good job.
great vid and well explined operation of the mode where as some of the other vids ar slightly confusing in one way or another .........2e0fok
SO WILL WSJTX AUTO LOG TO QRZ LOGBOOK?
Since the bands are so bad here in Hawaii and I have not been able to make a single HF contact so far I decided to try the FT-8 since it works in poorer conditions with less than perfect antennas. Well, so far I am having the same results with FT-8 as the other modes. I can barely see anything on the waterfall, a few extremely weak signals, but nothing anywhere near strong enough to decode. So far, no contacts.
UPDATE: I kept at it on 20m with the FT8 and I have made 3 contacts within 5 minutes, New Zealand, Japan, and another Hawaii station that I normally cant talk to with phone.
Hi I really love your videos just new to digital was looking so help and advice how could I contact you
Definitely thinking of getting this set up with my TS-2000 especially for the upcoming solar eclipse. Thanks for the Info !!! 73 DE KM4SJS (FM29ju)
nice video thanks man i learned a lot from you 73 PD2ARI