OscarWatch FT4
FT4 through linear satellites, without the juggling.
OscarWatch FT4 is our own FT4 modem, made for satellites like RS-44. It listens, sends, keys your radio and keeps you on frequency through the whole pass. It lives inside OscarWatch Tracker under Tools, so there is no WSJT-X to install and no Doppler bridge to set up.
Who is it for?
Satellite operators who want short digital contacts through linear transponders without running three programs at once. If you have tried FT4 on RS-44 and spent the pass chasing your own signal, this is for you. New to FT4? OscarWatch FT4 explains the abbreviations as you go, so the exchange makes sense from your first contact.
Built for the pass
Everything that makes satellite FT4 hard is handled for you, so you can concentrate on making the contact.
Doppler that respects the slot
The radio is retuned at each 7.5 second slot boundary, and any drift inside the slot is corrected in the audio. Your signal stays put while you transmit.
Echo calibration
OscarWatch FT4 decodes your own echo from the satellite and nudges your uplink until you land where you meant to be.
Auto-sequence
Click a station to answer, or press CQ. The exchange runs itself from call to 73, so a short pass still gets you a complete contact.
Straight into your logbook
Finished contacts save automatically to the OscarWatch Logbook, queue for Cloudlog if you use it, and go out over Satellite link to your other apps.
PTT your way
Key the radio with VOX, CAT, RTS or DTR, a separate COM port, or manually. Whatever your station uses, it fits.
Kind to the transponder
A 30 W limit is enforced on supported radios, and transmitting is blocked on FO-29, AO-7 and FM satellites.
Accurate slot timing
FT4 needs your clock to be right. OscarWatch FT4 can take its time from GPS, which is handy when you operate portable.
Friendly for first-timers
The FT4 abbreviations are explained in plain words, so you know what each message means and what comes next.
See who heard you
Connect OscarWatch Tracker to a free OscarWatch account and OscarWatch FT4 can send the stations it decodes to OscarWatch.org, tagged with the satellite. Everyone gets a live picture of who is active, which grids are on the air, and who heard whom on each pass. Reporting to PSK Reporter is available too.
Get on the air
- 1 Download and install OscarWatch Tracker. It is free.
- 2 Connect your radio, then open Tools and choose OscarWatch FT4.
- 3 Pick a linear satellite such as RS-44 and set how your radio keys PTT.
- 4 Wait for the pass, then press CQ or click a station to answer.