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I recently got back into amateur radio with an SDR (listening only, my license has lapsed and I need to renew it) I found that using the FT8 protocol, I can pi

I recently got back into amateur radio with an SDR (listening only, my license has lapsed and I need to renew it) I found that using the FT8 protocol, I can pick up transmissions from up to ~6000 miles away, using a very cheap magnetic loop antenna mounted indoors in my apartment. My building is made of concrete slabs and I was pretty shocked that I was able to receive such distant transmissions. I think I've invested maybe $70 into radio equipment for this capability. I've listened to a lot of other signal sources, but so far FT8 is the most interesting. I can run a companion app that maps out all the contacts, it is pleasing to watch on a nice slow evening

bmitch2112 3y ago
FT8 is lots of fun. Even more fun when you go to a park or up a summit and see how far you can get out and how far you can hear. You don't need very expensive radio equipment to transmit FT8 so if you do get your licence back it is worth looking into. http://qrp-labs.com/qdx.html http://qrp-labs.com/qdx.html
- lhamil64 3y ago
  I got my license about a month ago and ordered a QDX to try FT8, but they're super back-ordered. The orders page shows that they're just now fulfilling orders from May.
  - bmitch2112 3y ago
    Do you have another radio to try it with? Another cheap option is the truSDX https://dl2man.de/ https://dl2man.de/ I have it working with my Android Phone using https://github.com/N0BOY/FT8CN https://github.com/N0BOY/FT8CN It makes for a super lightweight pack. I usually bring a 17foot whip antenna to a park or summit and get contacts all over the world.
    - lhamil64 3y ago
      No I don't, do you know if you can buy the truSDX pre-assembled, or does it just come in a kit? I'm visually impaired, so soldering is difficult for me. But I'd like to try getting on HF.
      - bmitch2112 3y ago
        You can get it pre assembled. Here's a link to it on AliExpress: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003908457475.html https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003908457475.html The AliExpress link is one of the official suppliers listed on the site: https://dl2man.de/where-to-buy-trusdx/ https://dl2man.de/where-to-buy-trusdx/
nvy 3y ago
Wow. Can you link to the antenna you use? Could you achieve those distances transmitting with the same antenna, assuming you renewed your license?
- amatecha 3y ago
  For listening, you can pretty much just throw some wire up and you'll hear stuff. When I first started, I got an RTL-SDR, and with alligator clips, added some random wire I had to the dipole antenna that came with the RTL-SDR. I was able to hear some FT8 signals from overseas. Helped that I lived in a top-floor apartment, but still :)
- kunwon1 3y ago
  This is the antenna: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08LVYTL5V https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08LVYTL5V I doubt that I could transmit with this, but I could be wrong. It's not something I've investigated.
  - wkat4242 3y ago
    It says maximum power 250mW so it looks like you could do really low QRP with it. I do wonder if you'd get a signal out from your apartment though.
    - kunwon1 3y ago
      Wow! That surprises me, and I probably never would have checked, so thanks. I think of FT8 as deep magic at this point, so it wouldn't surprise me if that's enough to reach pretty far
- bmitch2112 3y ago
  You basically just need any sort of wire to receive. FT8 is a very weak signal mode so I wouldn't be surprised if you string up some speaker wire inside and still hear signals.
JKCalhoun 3y ago
Interesting. Also interested in getting into this. I have played with SDR, not FT8 though. Maybe you can point to a site that helped get you started with FT8.
- kunwon1 3y ago
  I don't recall any specific how-to sites, I was all over a lot of them. There are three applications in my 'pipeline': SDR++ (a standard SDR client, any should work as long as you can choose your audio output device), WSJT-X [1], and GridTracker [2] I'm on Linux, and I'm using PulseAudio. I need to route audio output from SDR++ to WSJT-X. I do this using these commands, which I found somewhere online that I can't recall: pacmd load-module module-null-sink sink_name=Virtual0 pacmd update-sink-proplist Virtual0 device.description=Virtual0 pacmd update-source-proplist Virtual0.monitor device.description=Virtual0 This creates a virtual device that I can select in the respective applications' options dialogs. Connecting GridTracker to WSJT-X involves using the options dialogs in both programs, there is a UDP socket option, the details of which I don't immediately recall. My setup is different because I've written a one-off python script to log contacts for my own edification (sometimes I leave it running overnight to take advantage of the solar weather conditions) WSJT-X is written by Joseph Hooton Taylor Jr. [3] He is an astrophysicist and Nobel laureate. It is well-documented software, but not very intuitive. Joe Taylor was also part of the team that developed the FT8 protocol. I recommend watching some videos about it or reading the documentation, as per your preference. [1] https://wsjt.sourceforge.io/wsjtx.html https://wsjt.sourceforge.io/wsjtx.html [2] https://gridtracker.org/ https://gridtracker.org/ [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Hooton_Taylor_Jr.?useskin=vector https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Hooton_Taylor_Jr.?usesk...
  - kunwon1 3y ago
    Also, a few more items that I recall being difficult to figure out- 1. FT8 uses a standard frequency setting on each band. The presets are built-in to WSJT-X, or you can find them online. WSJT-X and your SDR client should be set to the same frequency. 2. To decode FT8, your radio should be in USB mode, and your system clock needs to be very accurate (By which I mean, you need NTP) 3. FT8 signals are practically invisible on a normal waterfall display I had everything hooked up for a few days of head scratching before I realized that I hadn't setup NTP on my PC for reasons that escape me. As soon as my clock was synchronized, messages started pouring in. I have the most luck on the 20 and 40 meter bands.

bmitch2112 3y ago

FT8 is lots of fun. Even more fun when you go to a park or up a summit and see how far you can get out and how far you can hear. You don't need very expensive radio equipment to transmit FT8 so if you do get your licence back it is worth looking into. http://qrp-labs.com/qdx.html http://qrp-labs.com/qdx.html

lhamil64 3y ago
I got my license about a month ago and ordered a QDX to try FT8, but they're super back-ordered. The orders page shows that they're just now fulfilling orders from May.
- bmitch2112 3y ago
  Do you have another radio to try it with? Another cheap option is the truSDX https://dl2man.de/ https://dl2man.de/ I have it working with my Android Phone using https://github.com/N0BOY/FT8CN https://github.com/N0BOY/FT8CN It makes for a super lightweight pack. I usually bring a 17foot whip antenna to a park or summit and get contacts all over the world.
  - lhamil64 3y ago
    No I don't, do you know if you can buy the truSDX pre-assembled, or does it just come in a kit? I'm visually impaired, so soldering is difficult for me. But I'd like to try getting on HF.
    - bmitch2112 3y ago
      You can get it pre assembled. Here's a link to it on AliExpress: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003908457475.html https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003908457475.html The AliExpress link is one of the official suppliers listed on the site: https://dl2man.de/where-to-buy-trusdx/ https://dl2man.de/where-to-buy-trusdx/

nvy 3y ago

Wow. Can you link to the antenna you use? Could you achieve those distances transmitting with the same antenna, assuming you renewed your license?

amatecha 3y ago
For listening, you can pretty much just throw some wire up and you'll hear stuff. When I first started, I got an RTL-SDR, and with alligator clips, added some random wire I had to the dipole antenna that came with the RTL-SDR. I was able to hear some FT8 signals from overseas. Helped that I lived in a top-floor apartment, but still :)
kunwon1 3y ago
This is the antenna: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08LVYTL5V https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08LVYTL5V I doubt that I could transmit with this, but I could be wrong. It's not something I've investigated.
- wkat4242 3y ago
  It says maximum power 250mW so it looks like you could do really low QRP with it. I do wonder if you'd get a signal out from your apartment though.
  - kunwon1 3y ago
    Wow! That surprises me, and I probably never would have checked, so thanks. I think of FT8 as deep magic at this point, so it wouldn't surprise me if that's enough to reach pretty far
bmitch2112 3y ago
You basically just need any sort of wire to receive. FT8 is a very weak signal mode so I wouldn't be surprised if you string up some speaker wire inside and still hear signals.

JKCalhoun 3y ago

Interesting. Also interested in getting into this. I have played with SDR, not FT8 though. Maybe you can point to a site that helped get you started with FT8.

kunwon1 3y ago
I don't recall any specific how-to sites, I was all over a lot of them. There are three applications in my 'pipeline': SDR++ (a standard SDR client, any should work as long as you can choose your audio output device), WSJT-X [1], and GridTracker [2] I'm on Linux, and I'm using PulseAudio. I need to route audio output from SDR++ to WSJT-X. I do this using these commands, which I found somewhere online that I can't recall: pacmd load-module module-null-sink sink_name=Virtual0 pacmd update-sink-proplist Virtual0 device.description=Virtual0 pacmd update-source-proplist Virtual0.monitor device.description=Virtual0 This creates a virtual device that I can select in the respective applications' options dialogs. Connecting GridTracker to WSJT-X involves using the options dialogs in both programs, there is a UDP socket option, the details of which I don't immediately recall. My setup is different because I've written a one-off python script to log contacts for my own edification (sometimes I leave it running overnight to take advantage of the solar weather conditions) WSJT-X is written by Joseph Hooton Taylor Jr. [3] He is an astrophysicist and Nobel laureate. It is well-documented software, but not very intuitive. Joe Taylor was also part of the team that developed the FT8 protocol. I recommend watching some videos about it or reading the documentation, as per your preference. [1] https://wsjt.sourceforge.io/wsjtx.html https://wsjt.sourceforge.io/wsjtx.html [2] https://gridtracker.org/ https://gridtracker.org/ [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Hooton_Taylor_Jr.?useskin=vector https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Hooton_Taylor_Jr.?usesk...
- kunwon1 3y ago
  Also, a few more items that I recall being difficult to figure out- 1. FT8 uses a standard frequency setting on each band. The presets are built-in to WSJT-X, or you can find them online. WSJT-X and your SDR client should be set to the same frequency. 2. To decode FT8, your radio should be in USB mode, and your system clock needs to be very accurate (By which I mean, you need NTP) 3. FT8 signals are practically invisible on a normal waterfall display I had everything hooked up for a few days of head scratching before I realized that I hadn't setup NTP on my PC for reasons that escape me. As soon as my clock was synchronized, messages started pouring in. I have the most luck on the 20 and 40 meter bands.