To build an FT8 modulator I need to resume the FT8 message format. All the details come from FT4_FT8
The 174 bits message
A single 174 bits TX message is composed by:
- 77 bits the message content
- 14 bits Cyclic Redundancy Code
- 83 bits Forward Error Correction
77 bits | 14 bits | 83 bits |
message | CRC | FEC |
The 81 symbols
- The 174 bits are grouped 3 by 3 obtaining 58 symbols
- Each symbol lasts 0,16 seconds
- The 58 symbols are interposed (beginning, middle and end) by 7 grey coded symbols to ease synchronization
- a single initial symbol (3) increases the amplitude with a ramp up to max amplitude
- a single final symbol (2) decreases the amplitude with a ramp down to 0
ramp up 1 sym (*) | grey code preamble 7 syms | First half 29 syms | grey code 7 middle syms | Second half 29 syms | grey code queue 7 symbols | ramp down 1 sym |
3 | 3 1 4 0 6 5 2 | S0....S28 | 3 1 4 0 6 5 2 | S29.....S57 | 3 1 4 0 6 5 2 | 2 |
The total message lasts 160 milliseconds x 81 symbols = 12,96 seconds
8FSK modulation
Each symbol, which lasts 160 milliseconds, generates 1 of 8 frequencies shifted by 6,25 Hz i.e.
- sym: frequency shift
- 0 : 0 Hz
- 1 : 6,25 Hz
- 2 : 12,50 Hz
- 3 : 18,75 Hz
- 4 : 25 Hz
- 5 : 31,25 Hz
- 6 : 37,50 Hz
- 7 : 43,75 Hz
The frequency doesn't shift immediately between a symbol and the next, but it is smoothed with a Gaussian function (see Figure 2 in the article FT4_FT8).
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