Thank you for the Invitation

[jeffgold1]

Thanks for allowing me to participate in the forum.
I'm N4AVJ, and recently active in digital modes, FT8, FT4. I'm an Extra Class Operator here in Virginia Beach, so if you hear me on the air, please QSL.

73

 

[Alan]

Greetings Jeff. Congratulations on being an Extra. You'll have to tell the older hams about the digital modes of ham radio. 73

 

[Deleted member 8]

Welcome, Jeff. I do a fair bit with JS8 myself.

 

[Angie]

I am having a time figuring out how computer communications as the JS8, is like ham radio. Do you have a power supply and antenna, or do you use the hotspot or cable modem to send you QSLs?

 

[Deleted member 8]

I am having a time figuring out how computer communications as the JS8, is like ham radio. Do you have a power supply and antenna, or do you use the hotspot or cable modem to send you QSLs?

JS8 is not like System Fudion or DMR or D-Star. Those digital modes use a radio to send a digitized signal to a hot spot or receiver and from there the signal is routed over the internet to be broadcast out of a radio repeater or remote hot spot. I really don't have any interest in that, but maybe some day I'll experiment with it.

JS8call is a free program, similar to WSJT-X, that lets you connect your radio to your computer via a sound card and broadcast using the JS8 protocol. The computer decodes the messages from the radio transmission and displays the text on your computer. You can type a reply and your radio will broadcast it digitally. So it's like using the HF radio as a modem.

JS8 is not extremely fast, but I've had QSOs with people several thousand miles away. I use a Xiegu G90 on 20 watts powered by a Tekpower power supply, a Chameleon Emcomm II antenna, and I usually work 20M and 40M. The radio and antenna can get down to 160M and up to 10M, but for JS8, I usually just use 20M and 40M.

What I really like about JS8call is its ability to pull extremely weak signals out of the noise. Back in 2021, Cuba was jamming the 40M ham band for political reasons. JS8call worked great - the JS8 signal was still able to be heard despite the jamming.

 

[Angie]

Thanks for that explanation. I may need to look into this more. I know I have young family hams that have tied computers with it, too. They could help me adapt.