The FT8 station
Most digital-mode set-ups are a chain: an SDR program, a virtual audio cable, a digital-mode program, a CAT bridge so the two agree on frequency, and a logger at the end. Every link is a place for something to go quietly wrong.
DX Pro's answer is to decode inside the application, straight off the receiver. The FT8 decoder is written in-house from the published protocol and is in today's builds. The station automation around it — reply list, auto-sequence, automated run and auto-log — is being written now. This page shows the layout it is being built for, and is clear about which parts are ready.
Waterfall left, conversation right
Solid boxes are available widgets. Dashed amber boxes are widgets in development, drawn where they are meant to sit.
newest first
TX watchdog · ADIF log
MON: headphones
TX timer 0:13
What each piece does
FT8 decoder In development
Written in-house; the decoder engine is built and tested, and its window in the application is being built now. On a test set of 140 real off-air signals it decodes 91 % with no false decodes. It works in several passes, subtracting each decoded signal so weaker ones underneath can be read, and keeps a callsign hash table so shortened callsigns resolve.
FT8 decode list and reply list In development
Every decode in one list, and who is calling you in another — the two views a busy FT8 operator lives in.
Auto-sequence and automated run In development
CQ → report → RR73 → 73 stepped for you, and a run mode with a TX watchdog. Because the decoder lives in the same application as the radio, none of this has to go through CAT.
ADIF auto-log In development
Completed contacts written to an ADIF file that your logbook program can import.
FT4 decoder In development
Decoding cleanly to about −14 dB SNR so far; work continues before it is called finished.
Panadapter and Band Ribbon Available
The FT8 window on the waterfall, and the Band Ribbon to see which digital sub-bands are busy before you move.
TX audio source Available
Transmit audio from your microphone or from a virtual cable for digital modes, with a separate monitor output.
Transmit and TX Monitor Scope Available
Drive, SWR, ALC, a TX timer and lockout; the scope shows the transmitted spectrum and 30 seconds of power and ALC — exactly what you want to keep an FT8 signal clean.
Today, and when the automation lands
TodayYou tune RX1 to the 20 m FT8 window and the in-house decoder reads the band off the receiver itself — no audio cable to the decoder, no second program to start. The panadapter shows the familiar ladder of signals; the Band Ribbon shows whether 17 metres has more going on. On the transmit side, the Transmit console and the TX Monitor Scope let you set Drive low enough that ALC stays quiet and the spectrum shows one clean tone.
TodayIf you want to transmit a digital mode from another program in the meantime, the TX audio source widget will take a virtual cable as its input. Frequency control from other programs needs the CAT link, which is Planned.
ComingWhen the station widgets arrive In development, the session is meant to look like this: a CQ appears in the decode list from a country you need; you tap it; auto-sequence sends your call, the report goes back and forth, RR73 arrives, 73 goes out, and the contact is in the ADIF log. A second station calls you while the first is finishing — it shows in the reply list, ready for the next slot.
ComingLater in the evening you set an automated run on a clear frequency, with the TX watchdog standing guard. All of it on the same canvas as your panadapter, because the decoder and the radio are the same program.
Want to see the flow now? The browser demo runs a simulated FT8 contact so you can judge the layout before the automation ships.
Hardware is the easy part
One cable to the radio
With a Hermes-class radio the receiver audio never leaves DX Pro on its way to the decoder — nothing to route through a sound card.
A single monitor
This layout fits one screen. A second monitor is useful for popping the decode list out larger once it lands.
Stream Deck Available
Works with Elgato Stream Deck: band keys and TUNE on physical buttons make band-hopping between FT8 windows quick.
- FT8 decoder In development — engine tested at 91 % of a 140-signal off-air set, no false decodes; decode window being built.
- FT4 decoder In development — clean to about −14 dB SNR so far.
- Decode list, reply list, auto-sequence, automated run, ADIF auto-log In development
- PSKReporter upload and more digital modes In development
- CAT / rigctld for other programs Planned
Run an FT8 contact in your browser
The live demo walks you through an FT8 exchange on a simulated band. One licence, £99, perpetual, for one machine.