so ive been running FT8 for about a year now and yeah its great for contacts and all that but honestly it feels like a glorified signal report machine. you get a grid square and thats it. started looking into JS8Call because i actually want to talk to people, like have a back and forth, and it seems interesting but im not sure if the tradeoffs are worth it. the mode is slower and needs a bit better SNR from what ive read, or maybe its the other way around, i dont remember now.

my setup is an IC-7300 into a trapped vertical, so not exactly a big gun station. i can usually pull -15 or -16 on FT8 without too much trouble on 40m. does JS8Call fall apart at those signal levels or does it hold up ok? and is anyone actually using it regularly, like is there a community there or is it kind of dead compared to FT8?

also vaguely curious about PSK31 again, used to run it ages ago before FT8 took over everything. feels like there might still be a few people on it but i have no idea if thats true anymore or just nostalgia.

JS8Call is genuinely worth trying if you want actual QSOs. it runs on top of FT8 basically so the RF performance is similar but not quite as deep into the noise as pure FT8 since its sending text in longer bursts. i run it on 40 and 80m and theres usually activity if you know where to look, 7.078 is the main hangout. its not huge but the people who use it actually want to talk which is refreshing. your IC-7300 will handle it fine, just make sure your audio levels are dialed in same as you would for FT8 and dont overdrive the tx, same deal.

PSK31 is still kinda alive but honestly its like finding a payphone. some people use it but you have to hunt around. 14.070 on 20m is where i check occasionally and sometimes theres someone there, sometimes not. if you want to chat digitally and not just exchange grid squares JS8Call is your best bet right now in my opinion.

i had the same frustration with FT8 tbh. felt like i was just clicking buttons and the radio was doing everything. switched to JS8Call maybe 6 months ago and while the bands feel less crowded in terms of activity, the contacts i do make feel like actual contacts. had a guy in scotland last week and we went back and forth for like 20 minutes which you literally cannot do on FT8.

one thing i'll say is the weak signal performance is still pretty solid even if its not quite at -20dB territory. on a trapped vertical you might notice a slight difference from FT8 on marginal days but most of the time it holds up fine. the WSPR-style propagation awareness built in is also kinda neat for seeing whats open without committing to a full QSO. RTTY is another one that still has a following especially during contests if you ever want to try something different, the contest activity keeps it alive.