Rebecca Martinez

the short answer is no, JS8Call doesn't actually decode weaker signals than FT8 does. FT8 uses LDPC coding which is really well optimized for that -24dB floor and JS8Call uses a different variant of the JS8 waveform that trades some of that raw sensitivity for the ability to have longer message exchanges. so they're kind of solving different problems. FT8 is basically a contest mode whether people admit that or not, and JS8Call is more like a text messaging system that happens to work when conditions are rough. the community question is real though. JS8Call definitely thinned out after the first couple years. you'll find decent activity on 40m in the evenings, some guys running it portable or from SOTA peaks where the conversational aspect actually matters. if you just want to see how far your signal reaches, FT8 is still the answer. if you want to actually type words to a person, JS8Call is genuinely useful for that. theyre not really competitors in my opinion

yeah 40m in the evening is something else. i do the same thing honestly, theres always something going on. heard a guy last week doing a mobile from his truck on a long drive, just chatting with a buddy back home. real slice of life stuff. sometimes i forget thats what this hobby was always supposed to feel like before everyone got obsessed with FT8 and chasing awards

so i passed my technician exam last tuesday and just got my callsign assigned yesterday, KD9 something something i wont bore you with the whole thing. anyway i was so nervous to key up on the local 2m repeater but i did it this morning while driving to work and this older guy came back to me right away and we talked for like 10 minutes about nothing really, just signal reports and where i was located and stuff. honestly felt kind of surreal after studying all those questions for weeks. my HT is just a baofeng uv-5r which i know everyone has opinions about but it worked fine and the guy said my audio was decent so im happy. not sure what i do next honestly, maybe try to find a local club or something. just wanted to share because i feel like nobody in my regular life understands why this is a big deal lol

so ive been licensed for about 8 years now mostly doing HF stuff, some 2m weak signal occasionally, and ive had this itch to try moonbounce for probably the last two years. finally decided to actually look into it seriously instead of just watching videos about it. my current 2m setup is a single 9el yagi and an IC-9700 which i know is not going to cut it for EME at all, at least not for any serious attempts. ive been reading that most people run big yagi arrays or dish antennas and the math on the path loss alone is kind of staggering when you think about it, like 252 dB on 2m is just... a lot. so the question is what is actually the minimum viable setup to make a JT65 contact these days. i know the mode helps a ton compared to old school CW EME but there has to still be a floor somewhere right. ive seen people claim they worked EME with a single yagi and 100w but that seems optimistic unless they got lucky with conditions or the other station was running a monster array. anyone actually done it with modest gear or is this one of those things where you really need to invest heavily before you hear anything back

Working on optimizing my FT8 setup and wondering about interface modifications beyond the basic USB sound card approach. Currently using a SignaLink USB but getting occasional decode issues during heavy band activity. Considering either the Digimaster interface or building a custom isolation transformer setup to eliminate ground loops. Also interested in any mods to improve the audio response curve - seems like the factory response rolls off around 2.8kHz which might be impacting weak signal copy. Anyone experimented with different op-amp configurations in their interface circuits? Looking for that extra 2-3dB improvement in SNR for those marginal FT8 contacts.