Re: [wsjt-devel] Hints for MSK144 operation

[Marco C. <PY...@ou...>]

Thanks Reino,

Yes, I read the User Guide relatively to MSK144, but I like to have 
direct experience sharing with other users too.

Both my HW are not so kind of new products: radio is a Yaesu FT-100 and 
computer is a Lenovo Ideapad Core i5, with 8G and 1T SSD disk.

I've been able to do a MSK144 QSO with a station which is about 250 Km 
away from my QTH, then it has not been a meteor scatter QSO.

But what let me more doubtful about MSK144 are the lack of decoding 
during reception of local transmissions by nearby stations:

I mean is it caused by some wrong settings in WSJTX?

And the other is related to the antenna requirements, since my antenna 
is a small 2 elements not steerable Moxon.

73's de Marco PY1ZRJ


Il 10/05/25 12:41, Reino Talarmo ha scritto:
>
> Hello Marco,
>
> User Guide 9.5 MSK144 gives answers to most of your questions. Please 
> note that MSK144 is a totally different protocol than e.g. FT8. It 
> uses the whole audio bandwidth and, in that sense, there is only a 
> single ‘correct’ audio transmit and reception frequency, in most if 
> not all rigs it is 1500 Hz. Your receiver bandwidth should be 300 Hz 
> to 2400 Hz or more. If possible, I would set it wider as the then the 
> receiver should perform better. Also a symmetric bandwidth around 1500 
> Hz should be a good selection on the decoding point of view.
>
> The selection of the Decode level and Ftol depends on your computer 
> capabilities. A modern one should manage Deep and 200 Hz.
>
> You may try Tx even/1^st selection, but I don’t know whether in your 
> region has a rule how to select it depending on the antenna direction.
>
> 73, Reino OH3mA
>
> *From:*Marco Calistri via wsjt-devel <wsj...@li...>
> *Sent:* Saturday, May 10, 2025 2:57 PM
> *To:* 'WSJT software development' <wsj...@li...>
> *Cc:* Marco Calistri <PY...@ou...>
> *Subject:* [wsjt-devel] Hints for MSK144 operation
>
> Hello,
>
>     I'm totally new to MSK world and I would like to get some hints by 
> experienced users about right settings to use with WSJT-X, as well as 
> additional directions.
>
>     Let's see the settings first:
>
>
>
>  1. *Decoding*: FAST, NORMAL, DEEP (what is the format used normally?)
>  2. *F Tol: *I let this always to 200
>  3. *RX*: here I would like to ask: why program start with 160 Hz if
>     the majority of ham operators use 1500 Hz?
>  4. *T/R*: here we have to set to 15 or 30 seconds?
>
> Other doubt is related to monitoring local stations that are not 
> coming trough scatter reflection, in this case (direct propagation to 
> nearby station) normally the decoding fails and WSJT-X         doesn't 
> show any message, is this normal?
>
>   * What are the best hours to expect a possible MSK144 propagation
>     (of course considering the availability of a meteor shower), I
>     mean during the day or during the night?
>
>   * Is it necessary to use an AZ/EL antenna to operate MSK or not?
>
>
>     Many thanks for your kindest attention!
>
> ---
> *73 de Marco, PY1ZRJ (former IK5BCU)
> ***
>