Making FT8 contacts

With the FT8 panel open and a logbook selected in the Log Entry panel, a contact takes two clicks: one to answer, one to log. Before you transmit, check that the logbook shown in Log Entry is the right one; FT8 contacts are written to it.

Answering a CQ

1. Click a decode. The console sets your transmit period to the opposite of the caller's, sets RX Freq to their frequency, fills in DX Call, DX Grid and the reports, and selects the right Next TX Message.
2. Double-click instead to do all of that and turn on TX Enable. The console transmits in the next period.

Everything else is automatic when Auto Sequence is on (it is by default): each time the other station answers as expected, the console advances to the next message, updates the reports, and adds both sides to the History table. When a 73 arrives the QSO is complete.

Calling CQ

1. Set TX Freq where you want to transmit, or click Find TX Gap.
2. Choose TX Even/1st to transmit at :00 and :30, or clear it to transmit at :15 and :45.
3. Click CQ under Next TX Message, then turn on TX Enable.

With …and Auto Reply on, the console answers the first caller it decodes (picking one at random if several call at once). With …and Auto CQ Again on, it calls CQ again after each completed QSO so you have time to log. That is not fully automatic: if nobody answers for a while, transmit is disabled and the watchdog dialog appears.

Choosing messages by hand

The Next TX Message buttons are the six standard messages: CQ, CALL (your call and grid), RPT (a report), R RPT, RR 73 and 73. Clicking one sets the text in the message box; you can also type a free-text message there. The box turns red with Invalid message format when FT8 cannot encode what you typed.

Esc stops a transmission in progress and turns off TX Enable.

Logging

When a 73 is received and Prompt to Log is on, the Log QSO? dialog shows the callsign, both reports and the grid. Click Log It to save the contact to the selected logbook, or Cancel. You can also log at any time with the Log It button next to the contact form, or by pressing Enter in one of its fields. Logged confirms the save; Incomplete means DX Call is empty.

Options

Options opens FT4/FT8 Options:

Reset to Defaults restores this table.

The transmit watchdog

If the console has sent the same message ten periods in a row, or Auto CQ Again has heard nothing for its waiting time, it stops transmitting and shows Transmit watchdog was triggered. Click Re-enable TX to carry on, or Close to stay in receive.