Every now and then I tend to do some QSOs in FT8/FT4 mode. And sometimes I even do that on the transponder of QO-100 Es’Hail2 satellite although there is more interesting modes for sure. For SSB/CW QSOs I use the satellite mode of the rig. But this causes issues in combination with WSJT-X software as it cannot read the frequencies off the radio in sat mode. I guess this is an issue with using the correct hamlib/rigctl commands.
After I had a QSO with Nina I2/DL2GRC/P she told me that she is using an ICOM IC-705 in split mode. I tried this with my IC-9700 also but I cannot use two bands in split mode but this would be required as I use the VHF band IF for uplink and UHF for downlink. So back then I filed the issue away without a solution. But after this QSO I digged deeper into this and found a very simple solution:
You just need to enable both VFOs and data modes. The TX band is the one in the upper part of the display (2m in my case). This way WSJT-X just controls one of the VFOs and doesn’t care about the second. In addition to that I configured the uplink band in WSJT-X with an offset so that the QSOs get logged with correct frequencies and band (13cm, 2,400.040 MHz in my case). The offset is 2,256.000 MHz here for the QO-100 uplink.
This way WSJT-X operates without any hiccups and struggeling because of the SAT mode. Luckily SAT mode is not required here because in FT8 you normally do not need to change frequencies too often. And if it is the case you will have to adjust both VFOs in this case.
