I finally got around to installing latest WSJT-X, both on my Windows10 laptop and also on my Linux Mint laptop, these are old hand-me-down laptops, the Linux Mint laptop is an old ASUS N550J 2015 model I think, it was my XYL's MS Windows10 laptop which became unbearably slow and useless, so I took it and installed Linux on it, I tried a few different versions, but settled on LinuxMint as it is derived from Ubuntu and Ubuntu derived from Debian. Anyway, the old ASUS has a new lease on life, it is fast again. I have in the past ran WSJT on various Linux platforms, on old Dell servers, I had deliberately gone about compiling and testing WSJT on the various Linux derivations and documenting it. Anyway, I finally put some antennas up at home, since moving house, I thought lets try some actual weak signal radio activities.
Next, I downloaded the .deb files for WSJT-X 2.5.4 and installed on Linux Mint 20.3 this was just too easy, much easier than the old days of manually compiling against different version of Linux, now days it is as easy installing on Linux, (since it based on QT5,) as it is for installing on a MS-Windows 10 laptop.
Next step, connect the TigerTronics USB SignalLink interface to my IC-756PROII transceiver and the other end into the USB of the Linux Mint laptop, to make sure it was found and defined as a linux device, I ran a couple commands from terminal window, such as lsusb command to show the USB devices, and used the Sound application in Linux Mint to see the input and output sound devices were identified and could see it displayed and I could test the interface.
I read some forums, I can see quite a few hams complaining that they could not get their SignalLink devices to work on LinuxMint, I can't understand it, as I found it so easy. I can't imagine what the hell they were doing, (or not doing), to make it work, it was just so damned easy. Maybe they just using some old crappy PC or laptop.
Anyway, I had it all installed and configured and plugged into the transceiver and before I even realised it, the thing was decoding FT8 on 50.313MHz, which blew me away, as I couldn't even hear anything like a signal coming from the radio, yet, I was decoding callsigns and messages from other hams. This is what I call weak signal Dxing!
Next step, I better read the WSJT-X documentation to see how I start replying to people on FT8. A few years I was at Dave VK2JDS's place watching JT65 on 23cm EME, which was impressive as it is, but FT8 is pushing the boundaries even further.
