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[VE3PP]

since i can't remember were is my cd that came with tigartronics going to keep fighting to get it to working.

i unplug everything off the radio will try it again unstalled ft8 and install back in wit 32 bit if not will try 64 bit dunno make any differeince on ft8 or not will give that a try too if i can keep trying. my friend is helping me too kb4jhu live about 5 miles from me and beging friends since 2001he like to help when he not over my house.


73
Jackie
N4MJG
SKCC 7305 SINCE 2005
NAQCC 5233
OMISS 11548
General  LIC SINCE 2007
PRFER EQSL

Make sure you have software installed to keep your computer clock synced. If it is not synced JTDX will not copy FT8.
Download Dimension 4 and set it up to access a time server on the internet.

[KD6VXI]

You don't need to download anything to sync to an NNTP server.  Windows has had that capability for a decade plus.


--Shane
WP2ASS / ex KD6VXI

[N8AUC]

FT-897 works great with a signal link.
You connect the signal link to the data port, not the cat port.
I never use the CAT options on the radio. Set the radio freq with the VFO.
Had no problems using the signal link with Win 10 Pro.
Works very well with fldigi and FT-8.

73 de N8AUC
Eric

[K6JH]

You don't need to download anything to sync to an NNTP server.  Windows has had that capability for a decade plus.

My observations are that windows typically only sets time to +/- 1 second. Sometimes it will be ok, sometimes not. I installed Meinberg and the time is much closer.

[WA8NVW]

If folks take time to read the WSJTx user guide, they will find that WSJTx does not require millisecond accuracy of the computer's internal clock!  For FT8 mode you only need to be within roughly 2.4 seconds to get decode displays in the waterfall window.  FT4 runs at twice the speed, so it needs to be closer, at 1.2 seconds.  These values are actually the total differential time (DT) between your station's computer and that of your QSO partner; they are displayed in the receive windows for each decoded signal.

[WW5F]

Default for Windows is some kind of Windows time server.  I forgot the address since it's been more than two years since I've used Windows.  That was another one of the reasons I threw Windows away and went 100% Linux.  Seems I couldn't get accurate time in it and I could never keep it accurate.  Even with meinburg.  It has something to do with Windows Active Directory only needing to be within +/- 5 MINUTES, for security/encryption.

Linux uses chronyd (updated from ntpd) and when ever I check https://time.is/ , it says, "Your time is exact!  The difference from Time.is was +0.003 seconds (±0.036 seconds)"  Sometimes +0.001.  Sometimes +0.005.  Within a couple of TENS of MILLISECONDS is good enough for me.

https://time.is/

When I was doing the FT8 thing, most everybody else was 0.2 seconds ahead of me.

I also have a GPSDO coming in one of my serial ports on my ham shack computer with PPS, so when I lose internet, I don't lose time.

WWVB faded away from my neck of the woods when they "upgraded" their antennas a year or so ago.  So now I get my time from the U.S. Naval Observatory. 

[K0UA]

You don't need to download anything to sync to an NNTP server.  Windows has had that capability for a decade plus.


--Shane
WP2ASS / ex KD6VXI

Hi Shane, sorry, The Windows Network time protocol will not be enough. It doesn't synch often enough for most computers (many drift fairly rapidly) and it isn't accurate enough.

[WO7R]

You don't need to download anything to sync to an NNTP server.  Windows has had that capability for a decade plus.


--Shane
WP2ASS / ex KD6VXI

How I wish that were true.

Windows does use NTP protocols, but it implements them in a loose way -- too loose for FT8.

1.  Even the most expensive PCs have very poor time-of-day clocks.  They drift and by a fair amount.  Daily.  Even part of a day.

2.  Windows does not access NTP often enough and it doesn't seem to implement the better correction protocols either.

The result is something that any given PC can easily be a couple of seconds off.  That's enough to lose a lot of FT8 signals.

This is why most FT8 users end up running Dimension4 or Meinberg or some other third party NTP service.

Believe me, this has been known for years now.  It's not a guess.

It is also the #1 reason newcomers to FT8 fail to get decodes.  For years now.

[K6JH]

Another trick I’ve wondered about is a CQ responding to the 1st successfully decoded caller. Seems to me that there might be an advantage to advancing your time slightly when answering a CQ.

Is this true?

[K0UA]

Another trick I’ve wondered about is a CQ responding to the 1st successfully decoded caller. Seems to me that there might be an advantage to advancing your time slightly when answering a CQ.

Is this true?

No.  There is more to it than that. It checks your transmit frequency and then decodes from left to right audio spectrum wise. And then makes another pass if that option is checked.

[K6JH]

Another trick I’ve wondered about is a CQ responding to the 1st successfully decoded caller. Seems to me that there might be an advantage to advancing your time slightly when answering a CQ.

Is this true?

No.  There is more to it than that. It checks your transmit frequency and then decodes from left to right audio spectrum wise. And then makes another pass if that option is checked.

So then there is an advantage to setting your TX frequency lower (more to the left of the spectrum)?

[K0UA]

Another trick I’ve wondered about is a CQ responding to the 1st successfully decoded caller. Seems to me that there might be an advantage to advancing your time slightly when answering a CQ.

Is this true?

No.  There is more to it than that. It checks your transmit frequency and then decodes from left to right audio spectrum wise. And then makes another pass if that option is checked.

So then there is an advantage to setting your TX frequency lower (more to the left of the spectrum)?

Yes, but the first rule about fight club is we don't talk about fight club. The only advantage is you will be "the first caller" when multiple callers are calling And the guy has the "call first" box checked. I don't know why it is labeled "call first" when it should be labeled "first call" but it is labeled what it is labeled.

[K6JH]

Another trick I’ve wondered about is a CQ responding to the 1st successfully decoded caller. Seems to me that there might be an advantage to advancing your time slightly when answering a CQ.

Is this true?

No.  There is more to it than that. It checks your transmit frequency and then decodes from left to right audio spectrum wise. And then makes another pass if that option is checked.

So then there is an advantage to setting your TX frequency lower (more to the left of the spectrum)?

Yes, but the first rule about fight club is we don't talk about fight club. The only advantage is you will be "the first caller" when multiple callers are calling And the guy has the "call first" box checked. I don't know why it is labeled "call first" when it should be labeled "first call" but it is labeled what it is labeled.

Well, it’s obvious that not everyone checks “call first” as preference is occasionally given to DX or other needed calls, rather than a lowly K6 call. Kinda like answering JA’s here in California - you have to be in a generous mood. ;-)