FT8Decoder - A Library for the Parsing and Enrichment of FT8 Radio Messages

Posted by rabidmonkeyz54@reddit | Python | View on Reddit | 10 comments

Hey everyone! I just released my first Python package, FT8Decoder.

Earlier this summer I got into amateur radio as a hobby and stumbled across FT8 transmissions while exploring WebSDR. I was intrigued by the spooky alien sounding tones and wanted to know what they meant. I installed WSJT-X, which decodes them in real time, but as a newcomer, “CQ ABDCE FN41” or “KWB8R KCQ4N R-08” didn’t really give me the clarity I was looking for.

So, I went looking for a Python library that could translate these into readable messages in a fun little script. I couldn’t find one, so I decided to build one myself. From there my little library grew into a full FT8 logging and enrichment tool.

What my Project Does:

Parses WSJT-X UDP packets into clean Python objects
Classifies all FT8 message types (CQ calls, QSOs, signal reports, acknowledgments, etc.)
Tracks and organizes the state of every FT8 QSO from CQ to 73
Translates messages such as "KWB8R KCQ4N R-08" into readable text: "KCQ4N says Roger and reports a signal report of -08 to KWB8R."
Enriches data with frequency offset, MHz conversion, band detection, and more
Performs Grid square lookups with lat/lon output and interactive map support (Folium)
Exports organized FT8 data to JSON for easy integration into other tools
Offers a light CLI interface for easy use

Target Audience:

This is a tool for ham radio hobbyists, researchers, or developers! It's also useful for anyone looking to understand how FT8 communications are structured and gain a deeper understanding of FT8 as a whole.

Comparison:

From what I could find, there isn't really a direct comparison to this project. While there are a few other FT8 PyPi libraries out there, they are mostly in the neighborhood of signal processing and working with raw audio, while FT8Decoder is more of a post-processing tool that works with already decoded messages.

You can easily install ft8decoder by running `pip install ft8decoder`

PyPi: https://pypi.org/project/ft8decoder/

Docs: https://zappathehackka.github.io/ft8decoder/

Source: https://github.com/ZappatheHackka/ft8decoder

Would love any feedback anyone has to share. Wondering if "FT8Logger" or something similar would be a better name for this.

Thank you! :)

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wysiatilmao@reddit

If you're considering a rename, FT8Logger could reflect its functionality better, emphasizing the logging aspect. Anyone using it might find it easier to identify the library's core purpose at a glance. Have you thought about features like real-time translation? Could help users engage more dynamically.

rabidmonkeyz54@reddit (OP)

Agree on both points. That would be a good feature for the next update and not too difficult to implement

andrewthetechie@reddit

Dude this is badass. I needed something like this not that long ago. Bookmarked for when I get back to my project!

Happy to hear it man! Let me know if you have any questions when you get around to it :)

Some quick feedback: You need to remove pycache from github and clean up your .gitignore a bit to make sure you're not checking in stuff you don't want to. Could also use some linters (Check out Ruff) and would really benefit from a more modern packaging setup (poetry, uv, etc).

Thanks for the feedback! Ill clean up the GitHub a bit. Will definitely look into linters and a better packaging system too.

Tritium02@reddit

This is great, I just got my General and will be taking a look at this when I start working FT8.

Awesome!

_aleph31@reddit

Really cool, kudos!!!

Thank you!