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Reviews For: WSJT by K1JT

Category: Ham Software/Apps - Other than logging

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Review Summary For : WSJT by K1JT
Reviews: 16MSRP: free
Description:
Soundcard based free program that contains FSK441 mode, used for high speed meteor scatter, and JT44 used for tropo
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.pingjockey.net
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00165
W1AJT Rating: 2016-03-17
Great and easy to use Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I am mostly a contester however, I enjoy digital modes and new areas of our hobby. I have been dabbling in JT65 since September 2011 with JT65-HF. JT65-HF is a very good program and made the relatively new mode easy to participate in. Then I tried WSJT-X two weeks ago. Great program, it provides me with things that I wanted from JT65-HF like azimuth numbers, easy identification of new DXCC, sophisticated rig control and frequency reporting, and what new calls are available to work. There is also a free add-on, JTAlertX, with a number of additional alerting and interfacing capabilities.
I compared the two program's decoding abilities side-by-side and found that under average conditions they were about equal. The equality ends when the conditions are crowded and stations are overlapping then WSJT-X really shines. WSJT-X covers a wider segment of the band allowing me to try another mode JT9 while monitoring both simultaneously. I can easily make one QSO with JT9 and the next with JT65.
I see there is a review noting mistakes from the program. In about 60 mixed JT65 and JT9 QSOs, it has been flawless. I tried WSPR in band hopping mode for 72 hours and it performed flawlessly also. It is amazing when you see reports from thousands of miles away hearing you with one watt or less and what stations it is hearing.
In all, the program is more sophisticated and as easy to setup and use as JT65-HF. Give it a try. Thanks Joe, K1JT for another hobby expanding program.
WB0FDJ Rating: 2010-12-13
Fantastic software Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Update: This software suite, specifically JT65a mode, is changing my operating technique. I live on a very small city lot, surrounded by power lines and no decent antenna supports (trees). My antenna is a Gap Challenger. Using this software on 40, 20 and 15 mtrs I work all three coasts and considerable DX with 1-5 watts, no sweat. I have several stateside QSO's running 800 mW. Everyone who knows the Challenger knows its, at best, "OK" for 80. If you read the reviews on these pages, lots of hams refer to the Challenger as a "dummy load" on 80. Well.... Running JT65 I've logged a lot of 80 mtr contacts, out to Vancouver and the east coast from MN, having cranked the power way up to, well.....20 watts. If you are in a similar situation and are restricted by antenna considerations or lower power this software can allow you to make some nice contacts. I'm not giving up CW but this has a very nice place in a hams toolkit. And you can't beat the price!

We've all heard the old saying, oft repeated in these review pages (usually about antennas), "if I can hear them I can work them". Well...welcome to the new world of...I can't hear them but I work them anyway. Yeah, really.

This is, as others have said, the, as in "THE" cutting edge of ham radio software applications. The software suite is made for a whole host of needs, meteor scatter, moonbounce, the stuff that, for most hams is "out there". But it puts these activities into the hams of relatively modest stations and allows them to do things that, not many years ago, the average guy would think about.

I am mostly using the JT65a mode for hard core QRP hamming. Yeah theres a learning curve, there always is for the good stuff, but after reading the "Bozo's guide to WSJT" a few times the software is not at all hard to use. From MN I am working coast to coast running 2 watts with ease. On a day when the solar flux was 76 and I didn't hear squat down on the CW freqs I worked an MM0. If you at all interested in QRP HF, you should look at this. If you are interested in the other modes, i.e. moonbounce, you already know about it.

Also I note that this is available for those of us who run Linux. Joe makes a .deb file available on his website of both the WSJT suite and also a WSPR app. The hams who support this software are superb. I joined the WSJT group on Yahoo and have found the support there fantastic.

----------------------
Earlier 5-star review posted by WB0FDJ on 2010-09-09

We've all heard the old saying, oft repeated in these review pages (usually about antennas), "if I can hear them I can work them". Well...welcome to the new world of...I can't hear them but I work them anyway. Yeah, really.

This is, as others have said, the, as in "THE" cutting edge of ham radio software applications. The software suite is made for a whole host of needs, meteor scatter, moonbounce, the stuff that, for most hams is "out there". But it puts these activities into the hams of relatively modest stations and allows them to do things that, not many years ago, the average guy would think about.

I am mostly using the JT65a mode for hard core QRP hamming. Yeah theres a learning curve, there always is for the good stuff, but after reading the "Bozo's guide to WSJT" a few times the software is not at all hard to use. From MN I am working coast to coast running 2 watts with ease. On a day when the solar flux was 76 and I didn't hear squat down on the CW freqs I worked an MM0. If you at all interested in QRP HF, you should look at this. If you are interested in the other modes, i.e. moonbounce, you already know about it.

Also I note that this is available for those of us who run Linux. Joe makes a .deb file available on his website of both the WSJT suite and also a WSPR app. The hams who support this software are superb. I joined the WSJT group on Yahoo and have found the support there fantastic.

KD7RDZI2 Rating: 2010-09-10
1W*WSJT=100W*SSB Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Ok... the qso requires a little while. It's not a super fast way of communication, but surely it is reliable. 1W and a piece of wire and work the world! The computer clock has to be precisely set and go to the automatic modes.
K1QN Rating: 2010-03-01
Sunspots - Who needs them? Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
A couple days ago I wrote a flame review, which may have been rejected. Anyway, at the time, I was using "Flatten Spectrum" setting, and the receive audio, which worked fine with WSPR and Digipan, was seriously overloaded. Anyway, it works totally as advertised. I throttled-down to 10 watts and worked transatlantic easily. Around sunset, I heard a couple of Japanese stations very clearly, but didn't connect. Not this time. This isn't a rag chew mode, but if you work DX, this is pretty much "it".
KB2HSH Rating: 2009-12-11
The Great Equalizer! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
WSJT, and the modes contained therein (JT65/WSPR/JT2/JT4/PSK441), are with little doubt, the most cutting edge weak signal modes afforded to us as Amateurs. JT65 makes it possible to work DX that I never thought was possible with a compromise antenna and a QRP-only rig (FT-817ND) as my main/only radio.

With that same 817, I have been able to participate in HSMS using FSK441, as well.

JT2 ans JT4 promise EME QSOs with very modest equipment.

The software suite itself is a bit confusing at first. Granted, the documentation is sparse. However, a surf over to the Ping Jockey's website will result in MANY weak signal afficiandos quite eager to help a newcomer.

The software is great. The DX is tasty. Jump in!
WD4ELG Rating: 2009-05-12
You gotta try it Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
The background of Joe Taylor, who wrote the software, is the subject of an entire column in itself (see QST magazine from 2002 and forward).

I got interested in this software through weak signal work as a recent spark to my amateur radio experience. It's pretty thrilling to work 6 meter meteor scatter with this software.

Now I am hooked on weak signal HF prop using WSJT and mode JT65A. This is a lot of fun and some very surprising results: with a dipole and 25 watts, I have easily worked into Asia and Australia on 20 meters.

The software is free, it's not complicated, there is an excellent and supportive group of hams out there to help understanding weak signal work (including me, a newbie), and a WSJT Yahoo group.

If you have not tried this software yet, I strongly recommend it. Fascinating stuff. It has put another element of enjoyment into the hobby for me.

Mark, WD4ELG
K4MSG Rating: 2005-08-09
Greatest VHF breakthrough since the Yagi-Uda antenna Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
After years of putzing along with a very modest VHF station, waiting for aurora or Es or tropo enhancement to appear (and missing a lot of band openings because of other activities) I can now, thanks to WSJT, simply "wait until tomorrow morning" at worst in order to make 500-1200 mile 2-meter QSOs via the common, everyday random meteors. A major meteor shower makes 1500-mile QSOs a reality and is just icing on the cake. Joe Taylor, K1JT, has made a phenomenal leap forward in making VHF DX more accessible to people without KW amps and huge towers stacked with multiple antennas. I run 170w to a 10-element Yagi on 144 MHz and routinely work stations 1100 miles away via meteor scatter on a daily basis - unbelievable! If you haven't tried WSJT you are REALLY missing out on an absolute blast!
SP9TTG Rating: 2004-01-10
Milestone in digital VHF-DXing ! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
This is real masterpiece software. Joe, K1JT made the dreams of small VHF stations to come real and true. The code is under continuous debug. I'm observing this evolution and so far Joe is adding 3dB of gain every month. If the things will go as they going 100W/LY will become a standard EME setup :) This genuine software can copy W5UN and other big-guns on 4 ele Yagi fixed at my balcony:

http://republika.pl/sparker/w5un_4ele2.jpg

When first heard about WSJT did not believed all those revelations, but now I can experience this on my own. WSJT is great tool for ocassional and serious MS fans too. Once You use it, there will be no flat band since this moment - ever !

73!
Peter
SP9TTG
W4NBO Rating: 2003-04-12
Meteor Scatter Made Easy Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
What a Great Fun Program. I am up to 70+ grids confirmed in less than a year mostly on weekends on 2 meters. (6 meters soon)

With WSJT and its modes FSK441, JT44, and now JT6 you can complete exciting vhf/uhf contacts.

This is just about the best ham activity I have ever pursued.

Try It. After a few practice runs you will be hooked.

See my article for eham at: www.qsl.net/af4o/msarticle.html

73
Chuck
AF4O
WB4ECR Rating: 2003-04-10
A Paragon of Innovation Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I've been a ham for 29 years and never had much interest in VHF. This program has sure changed that!

Joe, K1JT, has done a phenomenal job with this program. His software allows even a modest station to enjoy several weak signal modes.

The JT44 mode allows copy with signals well below the threshold required for CW QSOs. FSK441 and JT6M work to an exceptional degree with the burst type of signals found with meteor scatter.

Although Joe provides the software free of charge, it does not come without cost. His program is so addictive that you will find yourself spending hours in the shack exploring the fascinating world of weak signals above 50MHz!

QST had a review of the software in the June 2002 issue.