KENTUCKY PORTABLE CLUB • DIGITAL MODES
FT8, JS8Call, Winlink, APRS, SSTV and digital voice — what each one is for, where to find it on the dial, and how to get on the air from a park.
Tap a goal to see the modes that fit. Every mode here works with a computer (or phone) and your radio's audio.
The most popular mode on HF. Fully automated 15-second transmissions that get through when you can barely hear anything. Contacts are short: calls, grid, signal report.
FT8's faster sibling: 7.5-second transmissions, built for contests. A little less sensitive, but twice the contact rate when a pileup builds.
FT8's weak-signal modulation turned into a real conversation mode. Type messages, relay through other stations, leave messages in inboxes. Popular with preparedness groups.
The original keyboard-to-keyboard sound card mode. Live typing at about the speed of a good typist, with a lot of narrow signals sharing one slice of the band.
Radioteletype — the oldest digital mode, still huge in contests and DXpeditions. Wider and louder than the newer modes, and fun to work in a contest.
Slow but almost unbreakable keyboard mode — it copies through static, fading and interference that wipes out PSK. Used by some nets and preparedness groups.
Real email over radio, with attachments and forms. Connect to a gateway station on HF (VARA HF or ARDOP) or VHF (VARA FM or packet). The backbone of a lot of ARES and emergency work.
Automatic Packet Reporting System — beacons your position, weather and short text messages to a nationwide network. Track your activation trip or a fox-hunt team on a map.
Slow-scan TV — send and receive pictures, about a minute each. Fun from a park ("here's my view") and during the Space Station's SSTV events on 145.800 MHz.
Open-source digital voice for HF SSB rigs — no hiss, no static, as long as the signal holds. A computer (or a small FreeDV box) does the codec.
Digital Mobile Radio — cheap radios, lots of repeaters and worldwide "talkgroups" (Brandmeister). You need a free radio ID and a code-plug for your radio. A hotspot puts you on the network from home or camp.
The two other big digital voice systems. D-STAR is Icom's; System Fusion (C4FM) is Yaesu's and often shares repeaters with regular FM. Both link repeaters over the internet (reflectors, WIRES-X).
No modes match that.
Dial frequencies in MHz, USB. Tap a frequency to copy it. These are activity centers, not rules — move off a little if it's busy.
FT8 and FT4 only decode if your computer's clock is within about a second of everyone else's. Check it here before you head out.
In the field without internet? A GPS time-sync app on your laptop or phone keeps you on time. "1st" (even) periods start at :00 and :30, "2nd" (odd) at :15 and :45.
Check them off as you go — your checks are saved on this device.
FT8 counts as a data contact for POTA. Low power, quiet campsites and automatic logging make it a great way to get your 10.
CQ POTA KZ4CP EM78KZ4CP W8ABC EN81W8ABC KZ4CP -12KZ4CP W8ABC R-08W8ABC KZ4CP RR73KZ4CP W8ABC 73Each line is one 15-second transmission. WSJT-X sends these for you once you double-click a caller.
Related KPC tools: Band Plan by License · Grid & County Lookup · Radio Conditions
DIGITAL, CW OR PHONE — EVERY CONTACT COUNTS
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