[OKDXA] FT8 Ignorance...

[Dallas Shell]

You’ve got it correct. There is two basic modes, Fox/Hound, and Regular. 

The Fox/Hound mode is intended for DXpedions but FT8WW is not using this mode, he is using Regular mode. 

Inside Regular mode there are a couple of variations, the first (and normal usage) has 5 information blocks that are exchanged in sequential order. Tx1 thru Tx5. There is also Tx6 which is used to call CQ. 

So a normal exchange would be
Tx6 (essentially CQ de call sign grid )
You would call him using 
Tx1 (your call and your grid)
He would answer with 
Tx2 (your call, his call, your sig)
You would respond with
Tx3 (his call, your call, his sig)
He would respond with
Tx4 (your call, his call, R73)
You would respond with
Tx5 (his call, his call, 73)
You’re done and log the contact. 

A shortened version of this routine, which FT8WW is using, simply eliminates one or two of the above exchanges. He will sometimes call CQ but  nobody will send him the Tx1 group. This makes it go much faster. To make the program skip sending the Tx1, you put the mouse pointer inside the Tx1 box and double left click the mouse. This will make the Tx1 be greyed out and not happen. 

There are other nuances you will find as you wade thru the several hundreds of pages of documentation. I’ve learned a bit here and there as needed. 

Dallas




Sent from my iPhone

> On Dec 29, 2022, at 14:05, Kim Elmore <cw_de_n5op at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> 
> I'm puzzling over what I'm seeing in my WSJT-X windows.
> 
> I underrated the two window's function: the left window shows everything decoded in the receive passband, while the right window shows what's decoded on my specific rx frequency. The rx frequency must have it's own (narrow) passband (1 Hz? 0.1 Hz? 0.001 Hz?), but I'll leave that for now.
> 
> What puzzles me is how to interpret that the following in my left window:
> 
> 193245 -14 0.2 1839 ~ FT8WW N2CEP -15
> 193315 -10 0.2 1839 ~ FT8WW N2CEP -15
> 193415 -14 0.2 1839 ~ FT8WW N2CEP -15
> 
> 193445 -16 0.2 1839 ~ FT8WW N2CEP -15
> 
> 193615 -14 0.2 1839 ~ FT8WW N2CEP -15
> 
> 194345 -15 -0.0 1891 ~ FT8WW N4FAC +14
> 
> 194415 -19 -0.0 1892 ~ FT8WW N4FAC +14
> 
> 194515 -19 -0.0 1892 ~ FT8WW N4FAC +14
> 
> 
> I understand the columns (in order) as UTC time SNR (dB), time-offset-from-expected, frequency (Hz). Now comes my confusion in the "Message" column: is N2CEP calling FT8WW, or is FT8WW responding to N2CEP? What's the number (-15)? I never see any of the responses from any station RR73, etc. In one case (line not shown), the Message consists  of HR5/F2JD <KG4USN> 73. That sort of makes sense, but again, I've never seeen anything I can put together as an entire QSO anywhere, ever.
> 
> 
> What am I doing wrong?
> 
> 
> 73,
> 
> Kim N5OP
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