Digital Modes
FT8, PSK31, RTTY, and packet — getting on the air with weak-signal digital modes.
Digital modes let a modest station work the world. FT8 decodes signals well below the audible noise floor, which is why it fills the waterfall on almost every band. But the digital world is wider than FT8: PSK31 and RTTY support real keyboard conversations, JS8Call adds messaging to weak-signal operating, and VARA brings modern Winlink email to HF.
Almost every digital-mode problem comes back to the same three things: the interface between radio and computer, audio levels, and accurate time on the PC. Get those right once and the rest is software settings.
The guides below take you from a first FT8 contact to reading the waterfall properly and on to the modes that allow a real conversation.