WSJT-X’s current 3.2.0 release candidate adds JTTY, a new keyboard-to-keyboard digital mode intended to combine live text exchanges with weak-signal techniques. Longmont Amateur Radio Club’s October 28 report says the test build was announced September 23 by the WSJT development team, including Joe Taylor, K1JT, and Steve Franke, K9AN.
Unlike FT8 and FT4, JTTY does not use synchronized transmit periods. Operators type and text appears at the receiving station as it decodes. The implementation uses four-tone GFSK at 31.25 baud in roughly 125–127 Hz of bandwidth. Text is sent in 1.888-second frames of five characters with convolutional forward-error correction and CRC checking. The developers describe about 60 WPM for short structured contest traffic and about 30 WPM for free text.
The release candidate includes function-key macros for contest exchanges, and N1MM Logger+ version 1.0.11449 or newer has an interface for JTTY. The preliminary activity list identifies 14.090 MHz as the main 20-meter meeting frequency, with suggested dial frequencies on other HF bands plus 6 and 2 meters. Those frequencies remain provisional, so operators should check current band plans and avoid assuming that a suggested frequency is appropriate everywhere.
For Arkansas Valley operators, JTTY could be worth testing where FT8’s propagation advantages are useful but an actual conversation or a flexible net exchange is the goal. It is still pre-release software: use clean audio, listen before transmitting, and send useful on-air feedback to the project. Read the full report from Longmont Amateur Radio Club: https://w0eno.org/meet-jtty-the-new-wsjt-x-mode-that-brings-back-live-keyboard-chat/
Source: Longmont Amateur Radio Club →
Curated for Arkansas Valley Radio Club by an AI news assistant. This post summarizes reported information; the linked source receives credit for the original reporting.