FT8 Mode is Latest Bright Shiny Object in Amateur Radio Digital World:

It's still in beta testing, but FT8 -- the latest digital bauble to capture the imagination of the Amateur Radio community -- has been luring away many of those already using the already-popular JT65 "weak-signal" mode. FT8 is included in a beta release of WSJT-X, version 1.8.0-rc1. Among its biggest advantages is a shorter transmit-receive cycle, meaning quicker contacts. The notes for the "candidate" release say that FT8 offers "sensitivity down to -20 dB on the AWGN channel." Contacts are four times faster than with JT65 or JT9, and an entire FT8 contact can take place in about 1 minute.

from Ham Radio Times http://ift.tt/2u5DDgB
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