been running FT8 for about 6 months now and love how it pulls signals out of the noise but lately ive been hearing about JS8Call and wondering if its worth switching over or adding to my setup. seems like JS8 might be better for actual conversations instead of just grid square collecting? anyone made the jump and can compare the two for weak signal stuff

running a 100w rig with a dipole at about 30ft if that matters

JS8 is great but its a different animal than FT8. FT8 is all about maximizing weak signal contacts - you get your callsign exchange and grid square and thats it. JS8Call lets you have real conversations but the protocol isnt quite as sensitive as FT8 for pulling signals out of the mud. I run both depending on what im trying to do. if you want to ragchew with weak signals JS8 is fantastic, but for DX hunting and quick contacts FT8 still wins

yeah what he said. also dont forget JS8 takes up more bandwidth and the transmit cycles are longer so its not as efficient for contest type operation. but man when you can have a 20 minute conversation with someone running 5w to a random wire antenna its pretty amazing. try it out - you can run both programs just not at the same time obviously