Differences

This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.

--- js8 [2023/06/27 18:37] – m7tws
+++ js8 [2026/08/07 20:58] (current) – Mort upgrade: tighten emphasis markers so they parse again 0.0.0.0
@@ Line 17: / Line 17: @@
 ==== The Settings Menu ====
   - Open the settings with **F2** or the **File, Settings...** drop down menu.
-  - On the **General - Station ** tab
+  - On the **General - Station** tab
     - Set your Callsign, e.g., M7ABC
     - Set your Maidenhead Grid Locator, e.g., IO94
@@ Line 47: / Line 47: @@
 | Turbo  | 160Hz     | 6s,  ~40PWM | This is the fastest mode JS8 offers, providing high speed messaging between stations. The high bandwidth will make it much harder for some stations to hear you. |
-** When should you switch modes? **
+**When should you switch modes?**
 It may be preferable to start QSOs using **Slow** or **Normal** modes, once a QSO has been established and signal reports sent, you may wish to change to a faster or slower mode based on your report and any other information provided by the other station such as if they are suffering from QSB.
@@ Line 78: / Line 78: @@
 ==== Autoreply (AUTO) ====
-JS8 has a set of standard Query Messages which an operator may send to your station, enabling Autoreply will allow your station to reply to these message automatically.
+JS8 has a set of standard Query Messages which an operator may send to your station, enabling Autoreply will allow your station to reply to these message automatically. Auto mode can be enabled and disabled under the **Mode** menu.
 ^ Query message ^ Purpose ^ Response ^
@@ Line 87: / Line 87: @@
 | HEARING? | Request a list of stations that M7ABC can hear | Responds with the 4 (Four) most recently heard stations |
 | QUERY MSGS | Query the stations mailbox, do they have a message for you stored? | If a message is stored, the message ID is returned |
-| QUERY MSG <ID> | Query the station for a message with <ID> | Responds with the content of the message |
+| QUERY MSG <ID> | Query the station for a message with <ID>  [e.g, QUERY MSG X replace the X with the message number ] | Responds with the content of the message |
 ==== HEARTBEAT (HB) ====
-Heartbeats are a "Networking" mode for JS8, a station sends a HB and any station configured to Autoreply with Heartbeats enabled will respond with a signal report. Heartbeats can be sent manually or automatically every N minutes. Heartbeats are opt-in so you may see that stations on PSKReporter (and similar) are reporting they can hear you, but they may not be setup to respond to a HB.
+Heartbeats are a "Networking" mode for JS8, a station sends a HB and any station configured to Autoreply with Heartbeats enabled will respond with a signal report. Heartbeats can be sent manually or automatically every N minutes. Heartbeats are opt-in so you may see that stations on PSKReporter (and similar) are reporting they can hear you, but they may not be setup to respond to a HB. Hearbeats can be enabled/disabled under the **Mode** menu.
 Stations that respond to HB requests may be suitable for other Autoreply messages such as those listed above.
@@ Line 110: / Line 110: @@
 Similar to the store and forward mailbox feature, stations can also act as relays, where a message is sent immediately to the destination as opposed to stored and sent on request. This would allow a QSO to take place using a middle man station, note that this method of communication would be very slow.
+A relay message will look like this
+  M7ABC: 2E0XYZ>M0XXX Hello M0XXX I am talking to you VIA 2E0XYZ
 ==== Sending messages ====
@@ Line 140: / Line 144: @@
 | WX      | Weather |
 | Q??     | This is a standard Q Code [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q_code#Amateur_radio|https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q_code#Amateur_radio]] |
+----
+===== Troubleshooting =====
+==== Empty spectrum ====
+If your spectrum is showing up completely black or with a constant stream of fixed vertical lines try the following:
+  - Ensure your sound card settings are correct in the **Settings > Audio** section
+  - Try restarting JS8, sometimes it glitches if something has gone wrong
+  - Check that you are in the correct Sideband, you should be using USB
+  - Ensure you're plugged into the radio and have the audio levels set appropriately
+==== I can see activity but it won't decode ====
+  - One common issue is accidentally moving to the wrong frequency, JS8 looks very similar to FT8 and FT4, check you're in a JS8 frequency band.
+  - If you're in band and the activity is above 2500Hz, it may be FT4 activity, there is some over lap with the common frequencies used.
+  - Check you're in USB mode
+  - Is the signal starting before/after the horizontal lines that get drawn every N seconds? If so your stations clock is out of alignment, JS8 is dependent on the system clock similar to FT8. Try fixing your system clock using NTP or using the offset control in the **View > Waterfall Time Drift controls** menu.
+==== I can't find my issue or none of the above have resolved my issue ====
+Hop into Discord, I'm sure someone can point you in the right direction.