Saturday, March 09, 2013

JT on JT9

I had an all-day session on the JT modes today. Actually, almost all of today's contacts were on JT65A. I did listen for JT9-1 signals a few times but most of the time I only saw stations I had already worked before.


I put out a CQ call on 15m JT9-1 and Joe Taylor K1JT came back to me. I've decoded Joe's WSPR signals numerous times and I've exchanged several emails with him but I had never had a radio contact with him until now, so that was a nice surprise.

Then it was back to JT65A. The contrast in activity was extreme. There were so many stations active I couldn't find a space to call CQ, so I had to wait and pounce on new stations that called.

I must say that when using JT9 I miss the infrastructure that has been built up around the JT65A mode - the reverse beacons, the auto-spotting to PSK Reporter so you can see how far your signals have got, the JT-Alerts when you decode someone you've worked before. I especially need the B4 alerts. My memory is so bad I can't remember the calls of stations I've worked before so I have often called people who I have worked only a couple of days earlier. I guess that due to the lack of new stations they probably don't mind too much!

8 comments:

  1. Hello Julian, that was a nice contact. A familiar call for every JT and WSPR user. I don't care if I work a station every day in whatever mode. It's just the fun you have. And always nice to work a new one once and a while of course, but not neccessary. If time allows I'll give it another try for JT9 next few weeks. 73, Bas

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  2. I haven't found any JT9-1 signals yet, what are the best frequencies to listen on?

    73, Colin.

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  3. 2kHz above the JT65A frequencies, so 14.078, 21.078 and so on.

    Julian, G4ILO

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  4. Thanks Julian, I have tried those (I thought I read that somewhere), obviously listening at the wrong times. I'll try longer spells on 21.078 since you had success there recently.

    73, Colin.

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  5. 20m has the most activity but 15m may have some activity now as it's the weekend.

    Julian, G4ILO

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  6. Not much chance of working JT modes today, bands are overrun with PSK63 contesters. :(

    Julian, G4ILO

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  7. Also mentioning the 30m frequency for JT9-1...10130kHz..quite some activity there too. I do prefer JT9 at the moment...as you mentioned Julian, JT65 frequencies can be very crowded lately...the mode is getting more and more popular.

    73 de ON4CDJ Patrick

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  8. Thanks for that, Patrick. I didn't know what the 30m frequency was.

    Julian, G4ILO

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