The hidden power of FT8

The new fascinating digital mode FT8 took off like a rocket. But do people know the real power of FT8? To be honest, I didn't. Today I was in the mobile and the band was absolutely dead. I mean really, not a single station heard on 20m SSB. But what about FT8? I tuned to 14.074. Nothing. Maybe there is something. A really quiet tone in the noise. Not sure. I gave it a try. Turned decode mode to "deep" (usually I am on "fast") and... surprise!

South America showed up. Remember: I was in the car with the 30bucks antenna. Nearly nothing to hear from the speaker but W-SJTX was decoding like hell!! 

And then... tada! KC4AAA from Antarctica showed up. For those who don't know: That's the Amundsen-Scott South Pole station. That's 14500km from my position!

I gave it a try and he confirmed me immediately. Fantastic.. Remember: From the car, cheap antenna and a windows tablet :) 

Conclusion: With the right propagation FT8 rocks. With bad propagation FT8 rocks even more! 

If you didn't try it yet, go to https://physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/k1jt/wsjtx.html and start NOW!!