WSJT-X display

After setting up my HF station over the weekend, I’ve been dying to try digital modes with it. I’d heard of FT-8 from several sources as being a relatively easy and fun mode to get into, so I ordered the necessary cable to go with my SignaLink USB and got working.

It was a little challenging to get everything set up. I already had a CI-V cable I used over the weekend, which can let the computer query and change the radio’s parameters like frequency, mode, filters and noise reduction. However, I also needed the second connection with the SignaLink to receive and send audio. That’s all a bit harder with Linux’s idiosyncrasies with regard to multiple audio sources and sinks. Add to that the minor headache of compiling WSJT-X from source before realizing it was available pre-compiled in the Ubuntu APT repo.

However, after much fiddling and tweaking, I was able to make my first HF digital mode contact over FT-8: K9IJ in Illinois, at a distance of 895 miles (1,441 km)! It took me a minute to realize there was more to an FT-8 QSO than one call/response exchange, and I’ll need to read up on what exactly we said to each other.

FT-8 has been somewhat controversial in the ham community since it came to prominence a few years ago. The information exchanged is extremely limited, basically just callsigns and signal strength reports, which annoys proponents of ham radio’s more extroverted facets like rag-chewing. I believe one of the things that keeps ham radio relevant is its emergency communication aspects, and I have to admit, FT-8 doesn’t really check that box. You’re not going to use FT-8 to call in the cavalry after a natural disaster. Still, it’s an interesting propagation experiment, and a nice low-commitment way of making QSOs. I understand there are even contests which allow FT-8. If I’m feeling more chatty, there are other, more conversational digital modes which I’m planning to explore, and there’s always voice and CW.

That’s the thing: amateur radio modes might fade from the limelight, but I can’t think of any mode that’s been mainstream at some point and then been abandoned. We still use CW and AM and SSB and simplex FM and RTTY and SSTV and AX.25. Even when “better” things like IP-over-microwave come along, we haven’t given up on any of these things.