2020-09-24 10:42:39 -04:00
										 
									 
								 
							 | 
							
								
									
										
									
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
							
								Do not confuse FST4 with FT4, which has a very different purpose!
							 | 
						
					
						
							
								
									
										
										
										
											2021-02-15 14:38:02 -06:00
										 
									 
								 
							 | 
							
								
									
										
									
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
							
								FST4 is designed primarily for making weak-signal 2-way QSOs on the 
							 | 
						
					
						
							
								
									
										
										
										
											2021-02-19 09:16:27 -06:00
										 
									 
								 
							 | 
							
								
									
										
									
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
							
								LF and MF bands. T/R periods from 15 s up to 1800 s are 
							 | 
						
					
						
							| 
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
							
								available. Longer T/R periods provide better sensitivity only if 
							 | 
						
					
						
							| 
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
							
								Tx and Rx frequency instability and channel Doppler spread
							 | 
						
					
						
							| 
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
							
								are small enough so that received signals 
							 | 
						
					
						
							| 
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
							
								remain phase coherent over periods spanning several transmitted symbols.
							 | 
						
					
						
							| 
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
							
								Generally speaking, Rx and Tx frequency changes 
							 | 
						
					
						
							
								
									
										
										
										
											2021-02-15 14:38:02 -06:00
										 
									 
								 
							 | 
							
								
									
										
									
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
							
								during the transmission and channel Doppler spread should each be small compared
							 | 
						
					
						
							| 
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
							
								to the symbol keying rate shown for each T/R duration in Table 7 within section
							 | 
						
					
						
							
								
									
										
										
										
											2021-02-19 09:16:27 -06:00
										 
									 
								 
							 | 
							
								
									
										
									
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
							
								<<PROTOCOL_OVERVIEW,Protocol Specifications>>. For example, the keying rate for 
							 | 
						
					
						
							| 
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
							
								the 1800 s T/R period is 0.089 Baud, so
							 | 
						
					
						
							
								
									
										
										
										
											2021-02-15 14:38:02 -06:00
										 
									 
								 
							 | 
							
								
									
										
									
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
							
								successful operation using this T/R length requires Tx and Rx frequency
							 | 
						
					
						
							
								
									
										
										
										
											2021-02-19 09:16:27 -06:00
										 
									 
								 
							 | 
							
								
									
										
									
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
							
								stability better than 0.089 Hz over the duration of the 1800 s transmission in 
							 | 
						
					
						
							
								
									
										
										
										
											2021-02-15 14:38:02 -06:00
										 
									 
								 
							 | 
							
								
									
										
									
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
							
								addition to channel Doppler spread smaller than 0.089 Hz. 
							 | 
						
					
						
							| 
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
							
								
							 | 
						
					
						
							
								
									
										
										
										
											2020-09-24 10:42:39 -04:00
										 
									 
								 
							 | 
							
								
									
										
									
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
							
								Operation with FST4 is similar to that with other _WSJT-X_ modes: most
							 | 
						
					
						
							| 
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
							
								on-screen controls, auto-sequencing, and other features behave in
							 | 
						
					
						
							| 
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
							
								familiar ways.  However, operating conventions on the 2200 and 630 m
							 | 
						
					
						
							| 
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
							
								bands have made some additional user controls desirable.  Spin boxes
							 | 
						
					
						
							| 
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
							
								labeled *F Low* and *F High* set lower and upper frequency limits used
							 | 
						
					
						
							| 
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
							
								by the FST4 decoder, and these limits are marked by dark green
							 | 
						
					
						
							| 
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
							
								angle-bracket symbols *< >* on the Wide Graph frequency scale:
							 | 
						
					
						
							
								
									
										
										
										
											2020-09-23 15:03:33 -04:00
										 
									 
								 
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
							
								
							 | 
						
					
						
							| 
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
							
								image::FST4_Decoding_Limits.png[align="center"]
							 | 
						
					
						
							| 
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
							
								
							 | 
						
					
						
							
								
									
										
										
										
											2020-09-24 10:42:39 -04:00
										 
									 
								 
							 | 
							
								
									
										
									
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
							
								{empty} +
							 | 
						
					
						
							| 
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
							
								
							 | 
						
					
						
							| 
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
							
								image::FST4_center.png[align="center"]
							 | 
						
					
						
							
								
									
										
										
										
											2020-09-23 15:03:33 -04:00
										 
									 
								 
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
							
								
							 | 
						
					
						
							
								
									
										
										
										
											2020-09-24 10:42:39 -04:00
										 
									 
								 
							 | 
							
								
									
										
									
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
							
								It's best to keep the decoding range fairly small, since QRM and
							 | 
						
					
						
							| 
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
							
								transmissions in other modes or sequence lengths will slow down the
							 | 
						
					
						
							| 
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
							
								decoding process (and of course will be undecodable).  By checking 
							 | 
						
					
						
							
								
									
										
										
										
											2021-10-25 09:41:29 -04:00
										 
									 
								 
							 | 
							
								
									
										
									
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
							
								*Single decode* on the *File | Settings | General* tab, you can
							 | 
						
					
						
							
								
									
										
										
										
											2020-09-24 10:42:39 -04:00
										 
									 
								 
							 | 
							
								
									
										
									
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
							
								further limit the decoding range to the setting of *F Tol* on
							 | 
						
					
						
							| 
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
							
								either side of *Rx Freq*.
							 | 
						
					
						
							
								
									
										
										
										
											2020-09-23 15:03:33 -04:00
										 
									 
								 
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
							
								
							 | 
						
					
						
							
								
									
										
										
										
											2021-02-19 09:16:27 -06:00
										 
									 
								 
							 | 
							
								
									
										
									
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
							
								A noise blanker can be enabled by setting the *NB* percentage to a non-zero value. 
							 | 
						
					
						
							| 
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
							
								This setting determines how many of the largest-amplitude samples will be 
							 | 
						
					
						
							| 
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
							
								blanked (zeroed) before the data is submitted to the decoder. Most users find
							 | 
						
					
						
							| 
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
							
								that settings between 0% (no blanking) and 10% work best. If the noise 
							 | 
						
					
						
							| 
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
							
								blanker percentage is set to -1%, then the decoder will try 0, 5, 10, 15, and 20 %
							 | 
						
					
						
							| 
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
							
								in succession. Similarly, a setting of -2% causes the decoder to loop over
							 | 
						
					
						
							| 
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
							
								blanking percentages 0, 2, 4, ... 20 %. To save time, the multiple blanking 
							 | 
						
					
						
							| 
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
							
								percentages triggered by negative *NB* settings are tried only for signal 
							 | 
						
					
						
							| 
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
							
								candidates located near (within +/- 20 Hz) of the *Rx* frequency setting.
							 | 
						
					
						
							| 
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
							
								
							 | 
						
					
						
							| 
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
							
								.Open a sample Wave File:
							 | 
						
					
						
							
								
									
										
										
										
											2021-02-15 14:38:02 -06:00
										 
									 
								 
							 | 
							
								
									
										
									
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
							
								
							 | 
						
					
						
							| 
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
							
								- Select *FST4* on the *Mode* menu. Set *T/R* to 60 s and *Decode | Deep*.
							 | 
						
					
						
							
								
									
										
										
										
											2021-02-19 09:16:27 -06:00
										 
									 
								 
							 | 
							
								
									
										
									
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
							
								- Set *NB* (noise blanker) to 0%.
							 | 
						
					
						
							| 
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
							
								- Set up the Wide Graph display with settings appropriate for the FST4-60 mode. 
							 | 
						
					
						
							
								
									
										
										
										
											2021-02-16 11:34:55 -06:00
										 
									 
								 
							 | 
							
								
									
										
									
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
							
								For example, try *Bins/Pixel* 2 and *N Avg* 4. Set the *Start* frequency and the width of 
							 | 
						
					
						
							
								
									
										
										
										
											2021-02-19 09:16:27 -06:00
										 
									 
								 
							 | 
							
								
									
										
									
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
							
								the Wide Graph to include the frequency range that you want to decode. For this
							 | 
						
					
						
							
								
									
										
										
										
											2021-02-16 11:34:55 -06:00
										 
									 
								 
							 | 
							
								
									
										
									
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
							
								example, make sure that *Start* is less than 1000 Hz and that the Wide Graph extends to above 1400 Hz.
							 | 
						
					
						
							| 
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
							
								- Set *F Low* 1000, *F High* 1400. These settings define the decoder's frequency search range.
							 | 
						
					
						
							
								
									
										
										
										
											2021-02-15 14:38:02 -06:00
										 
									 
								 
							 | 
							
								
									
										
									
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
							
								- Open a sample Wave file using *File | Open* and select the file
							 | 
						
					
						
							
								
									
										
										
										
											2021-02-19 09:16:27 -06:00
										 
									 
								 
							 | 
							
								
									
										
									
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
							
								...\save\samples\FST4+FST4W\210115_0058.wav. After _WSJT-X_ has processed the file you should see something similar to the following screen shot:
							 | 
						
					
						
							
								
									
										
										
										
											2021-02-15 14:38:02 -06:00
										 
									 
								 
							 | 
							
								
									
										
									
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
							
								
							 | 
						
					
						
							| 
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
								
							 | 
							
							
								image::FST4-1.png[align="left"]
							 |