Thank you for a really comprehensive review series on HF digital modes and comparisons on their benefits and drawbacks. I agree with other commenters in that FT8 is great if all you want is to rack up meaningless contacts and get an idea of the reach of your system. But for actually communicating, FSQ, VARA/AC, JS8 are very usable. I had never tried FSQ until after watching your video and I really like using it. Thanks again for doing some hard research on this particular subject. You really are making a huge contribution for all of our benefit and I truly appreciate you and your work. If you are not subscribed, please do so and share this video series out to other hams, new and old.
I'm seeing stellar performance with this mode on 2 meter. Dozens of miles, up and over multiple 3000' mountains, and still can talk consistently. I have a very simple rig; is it normal to leave the radio squelch off and adjust squelch with FLdigi only? With full open squelch from the radio, is the goal still to adjust audio levels until the signal level diamond turns green? (It's pegged red currently). Thanks.
MJ, Wow, thank you for the great information and explaining it in a way that I can understand and apply. I was wondering what antennae were used and the power output of the signals? Thank you, Dan KD2ZTX
Thanks Daniel. For the demo Steve lives across town. HOWEVER, when he was up in PA a while back, we used FSQ successfully with a portable wire antenna (not sure what he used). Raleigh to Western PA on 40M with my NVIS worked well on my end. Power on his side was 20 Watts and I was at 25 Watts.
Excellent presentation on FSQ. I experimented with this node after the QST article by the late Murray Greenman in 2015. I had a lot of fun with it until 2017. After FT8 was introduced, interest in this mode declined. I am glad to see renewed interest in FSQ and I think it is an excellent and efficient grid-down mode...it is well designed. Thanks for your presentation! BTW. 73 Bob WB0VGD Arvada, Colorado
Thanks for sharing! I love this mode but only issue is having others know how to set up their rig, software to make it work correctly. IF they can do this correctly, it is amazing.
My experience with HF digital modes is that you call CQ and get zero responses 90% of the time, even on popular modes like JS8. Everyone is on FT8, which I find about as interesting as watching paint dry. If the grid goes down, maybe people will suddenly get interested in keyboard-to-keyboard communications.
As Far As CQ on Digital Modes, there are a few Data Modes you are more likely to get a response. PSK31 is one of those. Time of day matters too but for the most part, I would say you are right! When SHTF, it will explode and many will get on. For me, I'm looking to communicate directly with someone which is a whole different path to take. Now, I have to find a mode that is NOT crowded, which may cause interference or is just too busy on that frequency. I hope you are able to practice on HF Digital Modes. I live in Raleigh, NC. Perhaps you want to test your equipment and we can set a time to do this?? Thanks for posting this. Very keen insight 🙂
@@hamradiomadesimple I recently moved back into my house in Alpine UT from a place I was renting in Incline Village NV. In my old place, I was using a EFHW antenna off the 2nd floor balcony of my unit, going down to the corner of the yard and then along the fence. Now I'm back in Utah, I have nothing. I now primarily do SOTA activations and I'm very interested in putting together a digital HF system that I can use portable, since I am often in areas with no cell coverage doing my job as COO of a lithium exploration company. I recently got APRS (AX.25 and Robust Packet modems) working on 30m with a (tr)uSDX QRP radio - had position beacon and SMS packets gated through HF i-gates in Washington and Wisconsin from summits in Utah and Arizona. And I want to start using JS8 in the field as well. I pack a MS Surface Go 2 in my backpack with two QRP radios (FX-4C and (tr)uSDX) and a 41' random wire and a 40m EFHW antenna. One of these days, I'd like to arrange to try a QSO with you on a couple of modes while I'm set up on a summit. Might have to wait until the weather warms up. Don't like spending too much time on summits in Utah in winter.
I don't blame you David. From what I am seeing it looks like a ton of snow is about to hit your peaks (seeing this in the Sierra Mountains). The Pineapple Express is on its way... When you get better weather and get your gear together, reach out and lets see if we can reach each other. Band depending of course! Thanks for sharing your journey and the new direction you are heading. You sound like a very fascinating person and would love to hear more about your story!
MJ, I have a question... at about 25:24 in the video your talking about relay I've not had the opportunity to try this, but from what I have read, I would need to add a trigger to the call of a ; to get the relay to work, you say they system will auto send if you send to someone who can not hear you someone else will pick up the msg and it will auto relay on the the person you sent the msg to, did I miss understand or will the system actually detect and send with out adding a trigger? Great video it was very helpful...
Great video. I notice that your heard list is populated with upper case callsigns. In my FSQ community, we always use lower case callsigns. Upper case letters take twice as long to transmit, so we try to avoid them.
In the previous video you said that RxID was a great feature and you had it on. In this one you have it turned off. What is the reason to have it off and to have TxID on?
With FSQ you need TXId on only. With most of all the other Fldigi Modes, you enable both TXId & RXId. When both operators have this enabled, the sender's opp mode speed with automatically change the other operators mode speed to theirs. This allows for a QSO to take place. If I said something contrary to this, my mistake!! Thanks for pointing this out.
Hi MJ…hope this finds you well - and busy. I have a new antenna being delivered in 2 weeks that should allow me to operate in both DX and NVIS. I am looking forward to trying FSQ as my first digital mode and this video is extremely helpful. You do a great job explaining subjects that can be complicated for some of us. Thanks for taking the time. Jim
Thanks for the kind words. Great app to use when connecting with friends. IF looking for random contacts, try JS8Call. Very busy and can almost always find someone to have a QSO.
Thanks Neil for the kind words!! I would love to get your insights on how you are using it. Let me know if I can reach out to you and hear your perspective. Thanks!
KE2KN is less than 15 miles, just using Steve to help me demo FSQ. Like always, propagation, location and Antenna types are the determining factors for the most part. Thanks for letting me know it made sense to you! After a period of time, I wonder if I am explaining in a way that others can follow and remember.
I will be going back to your FLDIGI video and others. Meanwhile, is my understanding correct that: I would run FLDIGI on a computer hooked to my transceiver. After setup, messages are typed into the computer, sent to the transceiver and transmitted over the air at the specified frequency with no internet requirement. Receiving stations send the info from their transceiver to their local computer for viewing. If my designated message recipient isn't reachable, other stations will attempt to forward to the intended recipient in background with no local operator interaction required. I gather one or more stations will hold the message and attempt repeat forwarding attempts periodically? For how long or how many attempts? Are we only able to reach folks who are part of our "local" mesh network by prearrangement, or can we input radio call signs of operators 10 states away and let the system track down a route to them? It seems like we would need a national or international directory and registration process to make dx connections. Are we limited to text and image files? If you get a chance to demo high and low res color and B/W images that would be very interesting. Images could be helpful in shtf scenarios, but the extremely slow baud employed would be painful. Thanks for all your time and effort! 73, John KK7JBZ PS: Can we send a .PDF file or MS Word file, or only ASCII? Would a protected PDF or Word file work, and would it be legal? It is legal to email such files as attachments, but IDK if such files would violate the FCC rule against encrypted transmissions? Thanks again & HNY!
@@hamradiomadesimple Hi M.J., I haven't received a reply AFAIK. Usually, but not always YT sends a notice when someone replies. I don't know a secure way to provide you with my contact info or I would. Sorry for such a long message with so many questions. 73, John KK7JBZ
Hope you enjoy it! Fun app IF you already have friends to use it with. If not, use JS8Call to make contacts. VERY busy and easy to pick up other operators.
Here are the links and sorry about my mess up on stating the links in the right order. Overview Of All The Fldigi Op Modes: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ijvDIEt5eVQ.html Fldigi / Flrig Software Setup From A to Z - For Ham Radio Digital Modes: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-aBzqACjQJDU.html Windows & Rig Setup For Ham Radio Digital Modes: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-zKuk6f-HSnI.html
I would watch in this order: Fldigi / Flrig Software Setup From A to Z - For Ham Radio Digital Modes: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-aBzqACjQJDU.html Windows & Rig Setup For Ham Radio Digital Modes: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-zKuk6f-HSnI.html Grid Down" Best Ham Radio HF Digital Mode For COMM's: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ovWRIxH9k10.html Overview Of All The Fldigi Op Modes: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ijvDIEt5eVQ.html
New prepper, ham, and general (one year is still super green). Have antennas, hf transceiver, HT UHf, Vhf, GMRS for just hubby and me. No one in my family is prepping, or are hams, or are interested. I travel in an RV full-time, so frequently in different remote areas, which gives me lots of antenna practice. I am not yet part of any practice groups. If SHTF tomorrow, I would need to cast a wide net to gather information and perhaps contact a stranger to get information - I only have one person I have practiced Winlink, so that's not enough. I'm interested in weak signal digital over HF, and since I have nobody to contact, I will focus on PSK, RTTY, and JS8call. Am I going in the right direction? I am interested in many modes and means but I have to pick one or two first, those that will be the most helpful.
Yes, JS8 has the most digital activity to track. PSK31 will be next. Evenings are the best time to find someone to connect with. I would suggest PrepperNet as a group to join: preppernet.com This way you can practice with a group at set times and different modes. They like Contestia and JS8Call. You will be vindicated soon but unfortunately you hear of your family waiting in lines for food and water. Make sure to focus on solar backup. Power will be going out for long periods of time depending on where you live.
The offset allows you to change within the frequency you selected. Most of the time others are NOT transmitting on the exact frequency you are set on. By changing the offset, it moves your frequency to theirs quickly.
Is fsqcall the same as fsq? Is fldigi with fsq better? Fsqcall won't let me select yaesu 991a. Got a link to the proper software? And what is the US edition? Thanks
Thanks for your videos, they’ve sparked an interest for me. Even got me to find info on the backspace character in the fldigi user manual under fsq heading. Great demo!
Glad I could help! It a lot of fun using. If you want to make contacts, I would recommend JS8Call. More people using it. I just released a video on JS8 from A-Z. Have fun!!
Glad it was helpful and I hope you grow to appreciate this digital mode. Working with Vara AC now and still can't come close to the speed and ease with FSQ. Thanks for letting me know.
I am currently digging into VARA AC with direct contacts only. So far I am really liking what I am seeing. With so many updates on this, it seems I have to keep learning all the cool stuff on each new release. Hope to have a video out in May on this.
Yes, and in this video I break out all the OpModes and show which ones work even better for 2M FM: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ijvDIEt5eVQ.html
Glad I could help you get interested in Digital. It opens a whole new world especially when many (like me) don't have expensive towers / antennas and 1,500W of power to use. Just a 100W radio and EFHW & ODF Dipole antenna.
YES on 2M FM. "FSQ is a Fast Simple QSO mode designed specifically for HF. It works well under NVIS and sunrise/sunset conditions on the lower bands, and also works well for short skip and grey-line on higher bands. It can also be used on VHF FM, and clearly has a much wider useful range of operating conditions that other more conventional digital modes."
Good luck and let me know if you have any questions. Remember, many times when you FIRST open up FSQ, you need to change the bandwidth speed (Fldigi glitch). If you see on the Monitor Bandwidth 0, just change the speed and it will reset to 290. Do you have someone to practice with?
@@hamradiomadesimple Actually spent the day trying to get it working. I have two systems to work and test with. I have my base station and laptop. Then I have a QRP station and laptop. Both work great and being working well with FT-8. But I could not get the two to talk together with FLdigi? Not sure what is happening. Maybe we could chat off line. Email etc.
One of my top 3 for sure. Only issue I have is the time sync that requires internet connection for the apps that sync the time between the rig and software. VERY ROBUST!! Can't argue like I said, I will have that one up and ready to go for sure!!
Absolutely and I plan on going over this when I produce my video on JS8Call. I can tell you are a proficient user of JS8Call. What kind of success have you had on relaying messages? Thanks for your great insights!!
