Hi Ron.
Totally agree with every word you wrote!
I don’t remember if it was here or somewhere else. But I do remember very well reading a ham from Taiwan who felt very disappointed and sad about the destructive and ill-intentioned criticism of FT8. The reason was very simple: He had declared that he had Parkinson’s disease and that the only thing he could do on the radio until the disease prevented him was FT8. After reading his comment I felt so bad and for this reason I decided to take what he had said and say it to every person who spoke negatively about Digitals.
And you won’t believe me! 100% of those serial haters of digital modes were not interested in what I told them and continued and continue with their destructive criticism. Many “Human” modes but 0 “Humanism”
73
Takeo, JP3PPL
I don´t know about Android but if you use iPhone there is a very nice and simple app ¨iFTx¨ works really well. In my last 3 activations I used it without cables or connectors. Just put the phone beside the speaker of the FT857 during the RX and when TX put the mic very close to the phone mic 
as you can see ¨VERY ARTISANAL¨ but it worked!
Interesting that some see this as a zero sum game: somebody has to lose in order to win.
Best SOTA advice I ever received: activate in a manner that suits you and don’t worry about everybody else. I mean as long as you follow the fine print on your license and the more reasonable etiquette dictated by common decency just don’t sweat the other noise.
Another country heard from,
73 Eric KG6MZS
Hi Elliott,
Yes,that’s the man. Apologies to Reinartz.
73
Ron
VK3AFW
Hi Takeo,
I have the FT8CN app on my Android phone but I need a screen that is three times larger to be able to read all the stuff on the screen that I need to read. I suppose if after an hour of calling on CW and SSB I still desperately needed one more contact I might try the app. I have used it, it works, but it’s a bit dinky.
Probably fine for younger brains and more nimble fingers and sharper eyes.
73
Ron
VK3AFW
I’ve just tried several times to find this app on the Google Play store to install it, but the Google Play store shows me only sponsored trash, and the FT8CN app is nowhere to be found in the list of possible matches to “FT8CN”. Gave up trying to install via that route after the 2nd attempt.
Then I remembered the alternative method of installing Android apps, by searching for them by name online in a browser window. Found N0BOY’s site and installed the app by downloading the apk file there - job done.
Now, in order to try it out, I just have to get my radio fixed after a minor accident two days ago with a chair-lift which, at the top of the lift, dragged me along bodily until my leg happened to hit the dead-switch which stopped the entire lift. No major problems, except my rucksack (and radio in plastic lunchbox) hitting the ground heavily, a big bruise on my right leg, and a bunch of very loud cursing on my part.
Hi Rob,
Ouch. Not good.
There is an Android app for FT8 in the store, written by a VU.
But it costs $15.
73
Ron
VK3AFW
Well yesterday Paul W6PNG and myself had driven from Lyon to near Besançon, walked up a 20m ascent in 31C temps and found the sky bugg^w broken, K index was 5. I struggled to get 5cw QSOs then Paul connected up his Surface and rattled off 5 or 6 QSOs on 10m FT8. He said conditions were bad as it took 30mins. He passed the tablet to me and I worked EA5 and ZS6 in 2mins.
10m FT8 seemed to be trivial compared with CW at that time.
EDIT: And F/JU-102 was unique #500 too 
Andy,.
Well if you look at the relative signal levels required for a QSO you would understand why ZS seemed easy. You friend had already got the system working so that’s a lot of the work avoided
I saw you changing bands, as I was, I figured that you must have been finding it as hard as I was to get a QSO. I ended up with 6 QSOs from G/NP-028 on CW. Seems like propagation is particularly broken this year.
I only managed three contacts on 10m yesterday afternoon from g/wb-015, ZS on ssb, EA and CT on cw. All good signals, but propagation came and went over the hour or so that I was operating and tuning around, bursts of other qso’s heard mostly from southern europe.
I qualified the summit on 40m, which didn’t seem in good shape either.
Fingers crossed that the seasonal “downer” in Summer goes away and Autumn gives us conditions like we had earlier this year!
73 Ed.
I agree, it was, yesterday afternoon. I made ten QSOs on 10m FT8 (over a 60 minute period I hasten to add). Nothing doing at all on 10m CW or 10m SSB.
I saw several working F/W6PNG/P but I didn’t get any RX decodes from him myself.
Anyway Andy, fear not, the soundchecks are returning! Cavern Club, Liverpool tonight, then gigs in GW/NW Friday and Saturday. Summits pretty much decided for today (time permitting) and tomorrow, but not decided for Saturday yet.
I was frustrated - I was listening on the frequency of OY/KK7BCO/P for over an hour, I heard him weakly several times in short bursts, I don’t know if it was Es or MS, but there was no chance of a contact! I also heard chasers in EA and F calling activations that I could not hear, I think there was east-west propagation over southern EU but nothing much further north.
I never thought I’d be complaining about too many sunspots.
Think I was there; Monterey Bay Radio Club.
Was he the guy from Eimac that had a KW mobile?
He was from Eimac, but the KW mobile was W6AM.
EL