FT8 with WSJT

FT8 is now hugely popular it's a weak signal mode and stations usually run just 5 watts power making the Xiegu 106 all band transceiver a good choice without spending to much money - You may of course already have a suitable transceiver.The software will run on windows or on a Raspberry pi. You will have to buy the de-19 separately it does not ship with the transceiver.

If the program stops decoding or does not even start to decode despite you seeing numerous signals in the water fall it could well be a clock issue so install something like  Atomic clock or Meinberg to set the PC clock correctly and it should start decoding ok.


Online manuel for Xiego G106 transceiver

https://manuals.plus/xiegu/g106-hf-portable-transceiver-manual

WSJT Download link

https://wsjt.sourceforge.io/wsjtx.html

Grid tracker download ( You need the WSJT program for it to work )

https://gridtracker.org/index.php/downloads/gridtracker-download

 You will need to know your grid locator

https://www.karhukoti.com/Maidenhead-Grid-Square-Locator/

Below is a screen shot from WSJX taken from my windows laptop - it would look the same from  a Raspberry pi screen - the bottom right hand side is a shot of one of the Grid tracker screens placed for convenience 

Below is a partial screen shot from the Grid Tracker Programme

 

FT8 with the uSDX transceiver range

I bought the 8 band transceiver specifically for FT8 operation. I could not get the CAT control to work. But it's easy enough to use it with either VOX or PTT

You should be able to find both the below transceivers on one of the Amazon sites. This transceiver is of Chinese origin and as such is sold/manufactured under various brand name's

There is now also the 3 band uSDR transceiver which is not bad for the money

One of the biggest problems that I have found with these transceivers is the lack of information especially regarding the cables. The software varies from device to device you may find that you have more or less functions than someone else with the same transceiver, my 8 band unit does not have the internal electronic keying software.

 It's worth mentioning that you will need to adjust some of the menu settings to get the most out of this transceiver, notably the bias settings. I left the min bias settings to 20 as could see no reason to change it but the max bias setting was 160 on my transceiver which gave a R.F output on CW of about 3 watts, I increased it to 175 which gave me an output of about 5.5 watts. It could be increased further to give an output of 8 or 9 watts or more but maybe it could distort the SSB output or put unnecessary strain on the PA stage, but as I mainly use CW and consider 5 watts as being adequate for QRP so I have left it at 175.

I have set the SWR meter in menu settings to FwdRef which I think is the simplest to understand. My readings show F=2.75 W R = 0.00W however that does not equate to actual power output because my dummy load says I am have double that output i.e 5.5 watts. So I would check the real output with a dummy load to prevent overdriving the PA. The SWR measurements would appear to be 100% accurate or close enough.

 I bought a second unit which did have the keying software incorporated, and the factory bias setting was 220 which indicated a output of 10 watts and also my dummy load / power meter indicated the output as being 10 watts, I reduced it to 175. which gave me an output of about 5.5 watts. This unit also has the 160 meter band and the 50 Mhz band. So it's worth checking what level of software is on the unit you are thinking of buying.

The furthest distance I have got with this transceiver on 20 metres  (CW) is just over 5,000 km with an indoor dipole with a 559 report. Note that using an external power supply gives the same power output as when on batteries ( not checked this on the 2nd unit I purchased as yet)

It's still early days for these transceiver, you either like them or find them to much trouble, I guess you get what you pay for but I find them fun to use.

When I plugged a strait key into the key socket mine immediately went to transmit. You may rectify the problem by putting 'swap key' to 'on' in the menu but it may then effect your electronic key i.e you will get 'dots' instead of 'dashes'. If that happens just rewire your strait key jack socket using a (trr) jack plug as shown.

FT8 the final solution

I have re written things to make it a bit clearer and show how easy it is to get the TCVR working on FT8

The same cable is  needed for both VOX and PTT operation I suggest you use one of the cheap USB soundcards

For VOX operation

The first lead is from the soundcard headphone socket into the TCVR mic socket, which I made up by joining a TRRS to a TRS lead as in the above diagram - your cable colours may be different. You could buy a commercially available trrs to trs cable but I have not tried it so don't know how they are wired. This lead is the same for VOX and PTT operation

The second lead is a standard trs to trs jack lead going from TCVR headphone socket to the soundcard mic input socket

Settings on the transceiver and within the WSJT program

Transceiver VOX (on)  Noise gate (12)  Tx drive (3) Mode USB

WSJT program  Select correct soundcard / select right or left channel / VOX on

This method does work 100% ok

That's it you should be all set up for  VOX operation

For PTT operation  

Use exactly the same two cables as for VOX. For PTT you will need to build the PTT circuit, as most modern PC's don't have a serial port you will need to obtain a USB to serial port convertor.

Make a lead up to go from your PTT unit that you have made and plug into the 'key' socket which makes it easier than having another cable going to the mic socket jack plug. Make sure you select USB and you should have no output until you activate 'transmit' within WSJT, if you immediately  see an r.f output you have most likely left the tcvr in CW mode or wired the plug up incorrectly

Settings for PTT operation

Transceiver  VOX (off) / Tx drive (3) / mode USB

PC and WSJT settings Set com port up / VOX off / select correct sound card / select right / left audio channel as per the lead you made up

If you are using a Raspberry pi, go into ' sudo raspi-config'

in the Interface options, enable serial port

in the settings page of WSJT or JTDX implement as in the below diagram

Note : when selecting the port it will not show a COM Number the serial to USB device will show  as something like ' dev/ttyUSB0'

You are all set up for PTT operation

 

Earth loop

There is always the chance of feedback getting into your computer, which could introduce a hum onto your signal or the worst scenario it could damage your soundcard ( another good reason for using a cheap USB soundcard, better that unit gets damaged rather than the soundcard in your laptop ) With the power from these uSDR  transmitters being so low it's highly unlikely anything amiss will occur and it's probably not worth the effort of buying or making an interface up. With higher power transmitters I  always use some transformers to prevent earth loops etc. Should you deem it necessary you could implement the below circuit.

 

Antenna's for the SDR transceivers

The antenna on the right came with my 8 band usdr transceiver, they can be bought separately on Amazon,  etc.
At first I thought there was something wrong with the unit but with a SWR meter between the transceiver  and this unit on 14 MHZ using the supplied whip it tuned ok and gave a more than acceptable SWR reading.

I have tried a 66 foot and a 132 foot length of wire and the same result, an acceptable SWR reading.

 

 

 

( It actually tunes on the 10/14/18/24 and 28 MHZ bands using the 'z' match tuner )

 

 

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