Yes, FT8 is Radio
By Will Jackson, KR4CE
By Will Jackson, KR4CE
As a dual computer science/civil engineering major, I really love how things work. Although I too prefer phone because I’m a die-hard extrovert, FT8 is neat. Recently members of the Dominion DX Group (DDXG) worked a rare DX contact together via a late night text group chat. It was truly fun. SV1GA was operating at Mt. Athos, a special monastery in Greece. Lauren Ware (W4LEW), Jon Bennett (N4QA), Tom Mundy (N3GTG), Adam Humphry (KQ4OTH), and I jumped on this DXing opportunity and had great satisfaction in the process. All of this was over FT8. I’ve particularly enjoyed starting the ARRL’s DX Century Challenge (DXCC) Award to work 100 (and more) countries/entities through DDXG. Understanding how digital modes work is intriguing. The tones sent over RF by a computer program to make FT8 work are actually sophisticated engineering. I was even at Dennis Farmer (K4DAF)’s shack and coincidentally heard FT8 on his old school SRR-13A. Extra Test Question #E2E03 reads, “To what does the "4" in FT4 refer?”. And the answer is, “Four-tone continuous-phase frequency shift keying.” There is a lot more going on under the hood than just “computers talking to each other”. Plus, there’s more than just switching modes in WSJT-X. We radio operators are more innovative than we give ourselves credit or explain to people. While adding and subtracting parts of the phone wave for SSB has existed for some time, hams keep pushing our capabilities with weak signal digital modes. It’s a bummer to me these conversations are still happening as to if digital modes are “actually radio.” There hasn’t been a significant new phone mode in some time. Yet the digital capabilities to overcome poor propagation are ever-growing. We may miss that human touch, but it’s important to note how helpful these technologies are. Further, some people really enjoy them. FT8 is fast. If you’re a DXer like me, you don’t have to sit through a pile up. Ham radio is truly a wonderful hobby. We should all strive for ways to make it more fun, especially for the younger folks who are enjoying the technical marvels of it.