Do you Have Blinders On? Getting More From FT8

Are you giving yourself the opportunity to make as many QSOs as possible when operating FT8? K4VBM points out an often-ignored setting on your radio that might help broaden your horizons.

BOB HENSEY

Many people operate the FT8 digital mode. It has its detractors and a few negative aspects, but it does quite well during poor propagation and band conditions. Unfortunately, many FT8 operators are not getting the best FT8 experience because they have blinders on. I believe this to be a widespread problem. What do I mean by that? Let me explain. Most radios today have a 3-kilohertz passband capability. The passband is the range of frequencies that can pass through a filter. The passband is basically the spectrum coming into your radio from your antenna that you can actually hear when you are tuned to a particular frequency. So, if your radio is set for a 3-kHz passband and tuned to 21200 kHz, you are actually hearing everything between 21198.5 and…

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CQ Amateur Radio (Digital) - 1 Issue, December 2022

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