You are the radio amateur, not the page. It only transmits while “Enable Tx” is on; Auto Seq moves a running standard QSO along and switches off after the first 73. The Tx watchdog (6 min without operator input by default) switches Enable Tx off. Your computer's clock has to be right to within ±1 s (NTP).
Station
Tx macros (Free msg, one per line, 13 characters at most)
Show up as choices in the Tx 5 field. Placeholders: <DX> other station, <MY> your callsign, <GRID> your locator, <RPT> report.
Here on the remote station audio, frequency and PTT come from the station, so you need no sound card or cable. It only transmits while you are operating the station and are allowed to transmit there; the station's dead man's switch and transmit time limit apply as always. The clock is the station's.
Audio
Input (from the radio)
Default
Output (to the radio)
Default
The device list fills after “Start audio”. On Windows: Sound settings › USB codec input without effects; the page switches off echo cancellation and noise suppression itself.
Radio
CAT protocol
PTT
Baud
4800 9600 19200
38400 57600 115200
CI-V address hex
Typical: Digirig or sound card interface → PTT “RTS”; Icom → “Icom CI-V” with the radio's CI-V address (IC-7300: 94); Yaesu and Kenwood → PTT “CAT command” or “RTS”, depending on the cable. When the port opens, RTS and DTR are switched off at once so nothing keys up.
Apply radio settings
Automation
Auto Seq only moves on while “Enable Tx” is on, and after the first 73 or RR73 sent it switches Enable Tx off and sets Tx6 (CQ) next. Call 1st only takes replies to your own CQ.
Auto mode
Choose it under Auto in the button row. Auto CQ calls CQ and takes the best of the replies, Auto Call calls stations on its own that are calling CQ and bring you something new, Auto decides by itself after every period: call, reply or CQ. The ranking runs from top to bottom: continent, CQ zone, ITU zone, DXCC entity, locator, callsign. New means: not in your log (this page and, when signed in, also the logbook and Wavelog); “Highlight by Mode” under Colours applies here too. The page spots rare entities from the Most Wanted list of the German DX Foundation and the afu.tools calculation (as on /dx ). In auto mode it always logs without the log window. You stay responsible: the watchdog always runs (if it is set to 0, 6 min apply) and only your own input resets it; Halt Tx and Enable Tx off end auto mode.
Fox/Hound (DXpeditions)
Many DXpeditions work FT8 using Fox/Hound: the Fox transmits in the first period (0/30 s) below 1000 Hz, often to several stations at once (“K1ABC RR73; W9XYZ <H49A> -12”). With the Hound switch it works like this: the Fox's callsign goes into the Fox field, “Enable Tx”, then the page calls in the second period between 1000 and 4000 Hz (“FOX ME LOC4”, nothing below that). When your report comes, it replies with “R-xx” on the Fox's frequency and repeats that for up to 165 s (300 Hz to the side each time) until the RR73 arrives; then Halt Tx and a log entry. If you call for 5 min without anything coming back, it switches off (Hound watchdog, “HWD” in the status line). The page can't do SuperFox (the wide waveform of newer DXpeditions) yet.
Report spots
The browser can't do UDP; the page collects for two minutes and sends the spots to afu.tools/api/v1/js8/spots, which passes them on as PSKReporter datagrams (nothing is stored).
Colours
Without “Show DXCC …” only CQ lines turn green; with the switch on, the highest matching kind (new country, new zone, new locator, new callsign …) sets the colour and its name appears at the end. “New” counts against your log here and your account's logbook. My Call colours every line with your callsign, Transmitted your own transmissions. Stations you have already worked stay uncoloured (no CQ green either).
Default colours
Display and alerts