3 Apr 2013

JT9 mode on HF

Julian G4ILO has been having some good success on HF with JT9 mode, so I am encouraged to have a go too. This afternoon I'll be firing up on HF, probably 20m.

Results with this mode on MF were very encouraging giving me my first international 2-way QSO (as opposed to WSPR report) some months back. The slower JT9 modes are similar to WSPR in terms of weak signal performance, but allow basic real 2-way QSOs similar to JT65 mode QSOs.

PSK reporter now shows JT9 spots, so it is possible to see where your signal is reaching even if a QSO does not result from a CQ call.  The new JT9 Yahoo group is rapidly gaining members and is worth joining if interested in this new mode.

Recommended JT9 mode frequencies are:

10m  28.078MHz
15m 21.078
17m  18.104
20m 14.078
30m 10.130
40m 7.078
60m 5.2872
80m 3.578
160m 1.838

JT9 software can be downloaded from http://physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/K1JT/ As updates are still occurring it is best to check the site for later versions regularly.  The user guide for all WSJT modes is worth reading.

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