[SFDXA] FT8 and the Other WSJT-X Digital Modes are "Tools, " K1JT Says

[Bill]

/From The ARRL Letter for February 4, 2021/

FT8 and the Other /WSJT-X/ Digital Modes are "Tools," K1JT Says

According to /WSJT-X/ software co-developer Joe Taylor, K1JT, the very 
popular FT8 and the other digital modes in the software suite "are 
tools, freely available to hams who want to use them. They are very good 
at some things, not so good at others." Nonetheless, FT8 -- and, by 
extension, its contest-mode variation, FT4 -- especially have become 
game-changers on the HF bands, although, as Taylor has explained, FT8 
"was explicitly designed" for making contacts during weak, multi-hop, 
sporadic-E openings on 6 meters.

"It's extremely good at that," he added, and noted that transcontinental 
and intercontinental DX on 6 meters has greatly benefited from the use 
of FT8 over the past several years. Developed in 2017, FT8 is named 
after its developers -- Taylor, and Steven Franke, K9AN. The numeral 
designates the mode's eight-frequency shift-keying format.

Taylor said that while the development team knew that FT8 would be very 
useful for weak-signal DXing on HF as well as on 6 meters, it did not 
foresee that it would have the sort of impact it's had on HF operating.

Taylor agreed that FT8 is "a mature mode," with the protocol's details 
published in /QEX/. "Details of message structure, in particular, will 
not change in a way that is not backward compatible," he said.

Although some FT8 fans may feel the mode is running out of room on some 
bands, Taylor said that as far as he and his fellow /WSJT-X/ developers 
are concerned, the 3 kHz slices of spectrum suggested for FT8 use are 
just that -- suggestions.

"There is no reason why additional slices should not be used when 
over-occupancy requires it," he told ARRL. "We don't attempt to dictate 
such usage patterns; band planning is best done by committees created 
for that purpose."

Many radio amateurs are taking advantage of the FT8 and FT4 modes all 
the time. FT8 watering holes are sometimes the only places to find 
signals on bands that otherwise might be considered dead.

The /WSJT/ Development Group this week announced the general 
availability release of /WSJT-X/ Version 2.3.0. It includes a new Q65 
mode but does not involve any changes to the FT8 protocol. A summary of 
new features can be found in the /WSJT-X 2.3/ /User Guide 
<https://physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/k1jt/wsjtx-doc/wsjtx-main-2.3.0_en.html#NEW_FEATURES>//./ 
The /Release Notes 
<https://physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/k1jt/Release_Notes.txt>/ offer 
additional information, including a list of important program changes 
since the /WSJT-X 2.2/. Upgrading from earlier versions of /WSJT-X/ 
should be seamless. Installation packages 
<https://physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/k1jt/wsjtx.html> for Windows, 
Linux, and Macintosh are available.
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