- some useful improvements, including speed at 20wpm.
Cheers,
Jon.
I installed JS8call today. It has lots of cool features that might appeal to SOTA data types. I discovered that it’s even easy to send sms messages using it. You can also relay messages automatically. It has many similarities to FSQ - but is a lot better. It’s free-form text and similar performance to FS8 but without the chaos.
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I think JS8 is better for SOTA because you can enter in the appropriate text and information related to activating a Summit. FT8 is a bit rigid in how much text you can send per transmission because it was not designed with a SOTA summit activation or chase in mind.
Ian vk5cz …
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Version 2.0 of FT8 has several new fields that can be “re-purposed” for SOTA use - after all a SOTA activation is like a mini-DXPedition!
It’ll be interesting to see how the guys get on in about 12 hours with the FT8 SOTA activations.
73 Ed.
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JS8 has about the same RF performance as FT8 but it also has a whole host of features that would make it great for SOTA - including an SMS link that could be used for self spotting. It only has one weakness - hardly any users.
It’s not “automatic” in the way that FT8 is though and unless you are familiar with FSQ it might take a bit of effort to understand it. One interesting feature is the way that you can send commands to all the stations who can hear you, to do various things.
After a couple of days of testing JS8call (and some initial enthusiasm) I have concluded that it’s not a great mode for SOTA. It does have lots of attractive features but it also has several serious shortcomings. That being said it’s quite a fun mode for use in the shack. Like FSQ, it has a small EMCOM following but it’s unclear to me what they would use it for in some sort of emergency. I intend writing up my findings sometime soon.
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This just received from Jordon:
Hey Folks! This is not a test, this is not a joke, it’s actually happening. The public release of JS8Call version 1.0 is here! You’ll find all of the public releases (now and future version) of JS8Call downloadable from this page: http://files.js8call.com/latest.html
For those following along at home, there were a few fixes from RC3 to 1.0 GA. I also added in one last feature…a “Check for Updates” on startup (by default) so we all know when a new version is released. There’s a full changelog below.
I want to thank all of the thousands of folks who have stuck around through the development of JS8Call. It has been a fun journey and there’s tons more to come! Stick around in the list if you want to have “early access” to any of the new features developed.
In the meantime, I wish you all the best QSOs and hope to see you on the air.
Cheers!
Best,
Jordan / KN4CRD
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Coiled spring here mate. I use it every day. Nice little cross VK net going last night on 80m
Am I late?!?! Where and when?,
Installing now. Then onto the SOTA notebook and then onto a summit.
Lol. I’ll invite you to a VK group if you wanna practice. But dedicated group of 10 or so on most days between 20-80m.