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jtdx

WSJT-X derivative tuned for DX working and crowded FT8 conditions

What it does

Decodes and transmits FT8, FT4, JT65 and JT9, with a decoder and a set of operating aids aimed at DX work: more aggressive multi-pass decoding, filtering by whether an entity or grid is new to you, and automation for working a station that is calling elsewhere in the passband.

Why you would want it

On a crowded band its decoder finds signals that others miss, and the new-entity filtering is the difference between reading four hundred decodes a minute and seeing the six that matter. Operators chasing DXCC on FT8 tend to prefer it for exactly those two reasons.

Before it will work

An accurate clock -- FT8 transmits in 15-second windows and a clock more than about a second out will decode nothing while appearing to work. Run NTP or chrony. Rig control and audio in and out, as with any of the family.

How it installs

  • apt: jtdx

Known problems

Development has been comparatively quiet against WSJT-X, wsjtx-improved and MSHV -- that is the reason this manifest does not claim the default, and it is a maintenance observation rather than a verdict on the software, which has a devoted user base. Its automation can transmit without a human in the loop, which is legal in most places and is still worth understanding before switching on. Running several of the FT8 family at once contends for the same sound device and the same rig.

Keeping it current

  • probe: apt policy
  • strategy: apt_upgrade

Where to get help with the software itself

Debian packages the jtdx-improved fork, which is the actively packaged line; the original jtdx.tech project is separate.

Source: catalog/packages/jtdx.yaml