Struggling to find time to play radios?

Time is precious. Even in retirement! When you finally find the time to get on air, the last thing you want to do is to waste it unproductively. Especially if you are a DX chaser. “Have I worked 5H3 on 20m? Is the EL2 an all-time new one? Which US state do I need to complete WAS?” Keeping a good logbook record is essential, but not enough, especially in a fast-paced environment like FT8 where dozens of signals are decoded every 15 seconds.

Luckily, help comes in the form of an application called JT Alert, written by Laurie, VK3AMA. JT Alert compares incoming decodes with your logbook entries practically in real time. It can be set to tell you which DXCC countries, zones, states you’ve worked (or not), it monitors your log for duplicate contacts, and alerts you by voice and pop-up messages when a new one shows up. Again, all that in real time. Plus, much more! Quite frankly, once you install it and use it for 10 minutes, you will never again run FT8 without it.

JT Alert makes your life easier, makes operating on air fun and helps you work all those rare ones you really want in your log.

Integration: JT Alert ‘talks to’ your FT8 decoding software as well as your logbook. The data is exchanged via UDP which means straight forward setup and reliable communication. Again, as said before: if you are running an SDR radio like SunSDR2DX, the setup is well documented, and you can be fully integrated and running in no time.

Here is a quick screen shot of the JT Alert window showing a number of callsigns decoded as well as a ‘new one’ to chase; Z61DX from Kosovo in the yellow box. Once the alert pops up, the focus is on that callsign only. Super easy!

There is also tracking by band: I need 13 more US states and 7 WAZ zones. Absolutely priceless.

Of course, most of you are fully aware of JT Alert and its benefits. However, there are a number of subscribers here who are not; who are yet to try FT8 mode or, amateurs who are returning to the hobby after many years of inactivity, and who may benefit from ‘being alerted about JT Alert’.