An Almost Fairy-Tale JS8

Have you ever caught yourself thinking: I would like to take a break from contesting for a while, but I would still like to remain, in some way, part of radio communication? To slow down a little and ease off the relentless chase for stations in pursuit of the best possible results.

I must admit that it happened to me too. So I decided to try something new again and explore slightly less-charted waters. About half a year ago, I discovered a very interesting mode called JS8Call, or simply JS8. I should probably first explain what JS8 or JS8Call actually is. It is a solution built on the same principle as FT8, but with one small difference. The whole character of communication is based on sending messages — in other words, a chat, or if you prefer, keyboard-to-keyboard communication. And not only that.

What JS8Call Is and How It Works

It truly is a solution that allows smooth keyboard-based communication. Some of you certainly know, or have at least tried, RTTY. This type of operation suffers from so-called “ghost characters,” where letters appear on your screen that the other station never actually sent. That is because RTTY does not have the error-correction mechanisms found in some newer digital modes. But that does not happen here. You only see what the other station really sent you.

The entire communication is divided into fifteen-second blocks, similar to FT8, with the difference that text which does not fit into one block continues in the next directly following block. Not like FT8, where communication alternates in even and odd time slots. There is also the option to speed the communication up or slow it down. It is almost as if you were switching between FT8, FT4, and FT2. The advantage of this mode is, of course, its robustness and very good reach.

Everything takes place in the JS8Call program, which is very similar in setup to what is used in WSJT-X.

First Experiences and Testing

After learning all the details and technicalities, I decided to step into this world. I asked my colleague OK2VB, Varan, to act as my sparring partner while testing and discovering it. My colleague is very good on VHF, and the distance between us is not so great that we would necessarily have to communicate on HF. And indeed, contact was established without much difficulty, and within a short while we were exchanging messages much like you might know from WhatsApp and similar applications. Of course, on a PC.

It must be said, however, that the program does not look especially polished. But by now we are already used to that in the amateur radio world.

After some time, we moved to HF, where even more possibilities opened up for us. Not that they were somehow locked on VHF, but HF is simply a bit livelier. One of the first interesting things is the way you can find out whether anyone hears you. With a single click, you can send a so-called Heartbeat. The program sends a special tone through the transceiver which, put simply, says: “Those who can hear me, please send me your callsign and a report on how you receive me.”

And at that moment, on 40 meters and with 10 watts of power, a whole range of stations from different parts of Europe begins to answer you completely automatically. This means that the station sending the report does not have to do anything at all — it only needs to be listening. In this way, you get an idea of who can hear you and with whom a contact might be possible. Then you click the CQ button and a message with your callsign and an invitation to contact anyone who can hear you is sent automatically.

Of course, you can also directly call a specific station by its callsign, but because this mode resembles normal communication more closely, people usually send CQ first and only then start a contact — unless, of course, they already know the other station.

Heartbeat, Inbox, and Message Relaying

I will move straight to what is probably one of the most interesting features: the ability to send someone a message that is stored in their inbox after reception, much like e-mail. The other station can then pick up that message at any time later, and it will not disappear. You might think that this is nothing revolutionary, because that is completely normal in the world of the internet and other applications. But here, at the same time, you can also see other people chatting with each other.

In other words, you could step away to make yourself a coffee, and by the time you came back, your window might be full of messages completely unrelated to you. Then you would have no choice but to search through them to find out whether somebody had sent you something. That is exactly why the inbox is so useful.

Another feature consists of predefined buttons and texts for sending information about the station or the conditions at your QTH, such as the weather, your antenna, and so on. The potential of this program is so great that I could write about it for hours and it would probably turn into a whole new manual in Czech. But there is one more very interesting feature worth mentioning, and that is the message relay mode.

Let us say you want to send a message to someone in the Canary Islands, you are operating portable, and you only have 10 watts available. And the target station cannot hear you. In such a case, it is possible to send the message to someone you can hear and who is closer to your target station, so there is a greater chance that the target station will hear that station’s transmission — for example, someone in Spain. In this way, you define your own callsign, a special symbol, the callsign of the station that will serve as a repeater, and the callsign of the destination station. For example: OK2USB>EA2ABC>A1ABC.

Without any human intervention, the first station receives the message and then automatically forwards it to the target station. Of course, everything is automatically supplemented with the information that the content of the message originally came from you. And all this happens without any special infrastructure setup or similar complications. If you try it, I would recommend using only one relay station and avoiding long back-and-forth conversations. After all, the station that you briefly used as a repeater would probably also like to communicate with someone.

Besides, you would not really be able to log such a contact in your logbook anyway. In any case, this feature can also be turned off.

Practical On-Air Experiments

Armed with this knowledge, my colleague and I went out to do some practical testing. My colleague OK2VB exchanged messages with a German, a Dane, a Dutchman, and also a Croatian station. My own experience was more or less similar, except that I have not yet got the Croatian one. However, late at night I managed to chat briefly with an American, and so I decided to try the repeater function.

I knew that between me and the station in the USA there was a Spanish station that I had heard sending reports, and I knew it was coming in fairly strong at my location. I reduced my power and sent a short message through the Spanish station to the destination station in the USA. It worked. Everything then took place completely automatically after I had sent the message. I felt good about it, but I did not continue experimenting in that direction and switched back to direct operation. It is better to agree with the other station first before launching into an hour-long conversation.

On top of that, it doubles the time needed to send a single message. The whole world around JS8Call can do much more than this, but that would be more a subject for a ten-part continuation.

I should also note that among radio amateurs, the 40 m and 20 m bands are popular, and for shorter contacts also 6 m. But what surprised me the most is that in Europe, JS8 is also widely used on 11 m. Yes, you guessed correctly — this means the CB band. And the largest number of JS8Call users in the CB world is in Germany.

A Conversation Not Easily Forgotten

In the end, I will reveal that I managed to have a very pleasant conversation with Claus from Sweden. We talked for about an hour, and he told me that he lives on a small island 90 km south of the Arctic Circle. There is no shop on the island, no road, and no bridge. During the season when the sea ice melts, they travel by small motorboat, and in winter they go shopping by snowmobile.

He also described how, this winter, the sea ice reached a thickness of 80 cm. From time to time, they are even able to visit their grandchildren in Gothenburg, which is just a little way away from where they live — only 1,100 km as the crow flies, yet still within Sweden. But he was content. He described how, three years ago, the Swedish government brought electricity to the island. He is retired and lives there with his wife. And as he himself said: “I am happy, and my wife and I wanted a calm and simple life without any more rushing around.” And I have to say, there is definitely something to that.

Life is varied, just like our amateur radio world. You never know where it may take you, as long as you are not afraid to explore.

In Conclusion

So, what about you? When you feel like slowing down someday, while still remaining part of the amateur radio world, give this mode a try. It certainly has a great deal to offer, but its greatest value lies in the people you meet there and the places they can take you to in your own thoughts. Just as Claus and his almost fairy-tale Nordic way of life did for me.

Jirka OK2USB / OK9USB