WSJTX(1)

📦
version 3.0.2 · 14 versions
, in ubuntu stonking

🌸 WSJTX — bestie, it's giving weak signal comms 💅

okay so welcome to the wsjtx(1) manual page (and it brought its friend jt9 along too, they're a package deal 🫶). Buckle up, we're decoding signals from the literal void.

✨ NAME ✨

wsjtx, jt9 — the weak signal communications program. That's it, that's the name, short and iconic 👑

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

wsjtx [OPTIONS]

no cap, that's the whole thing. you just run it with some options and go 📡

✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

so wsjtx is a weak signal communications program, and she supports several operating modes: JT65, JT9, JT4 and WSPR. but listen — lowkey important lore — wsjtx version 1 supported JT9 only. glow-up confirmed 💖

WSJT-X home page — http://www.physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/K1JT/wsjtx.html

WSJT-X User's Guide — http://www.physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/K1JT/wsjtx-doc/wsjtx-main-3.0.2-devel.html

also there's an alternative JT65 decoder executable called kvasd for i386 Ubuntu that lives at http://www.physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/K1JT/kvasd. girly is not open-source, is not included in the wsjtx package, and is not required for JT65 decoding. so like, optional side quest, not a main quest 🌈

✨ OPTIONS ✨

  • -r, --rig-name[=RIGNAME] — lets you run multiple instances of the wsjtx(1) application at the same time. every single RIGNAME has to be unique — no twinning, bestie 🙅. exactly one instance may go without a RIGNAME. and if you don't pass this option at all? then literally only one instance of wsjtx(1) can run at any time. periodt.
  • -v, --version — shows you the application version ✨
  • -h,--help — spills the usage information 🫶
  • --test-mode — when you pass this, all writable files get dropped into a special test location, ~/.qttest. heads up tho: this option is only for application testing and is not designed for normal operations. use with caution. 💀

✨ FILES ✨

okay so most of these files live in a directory path that contains the directory name WSJT-X[ - RIGNAME] — that bracket bit indicates the value of the command line option --rig-name=RIGNAME, which is how you signal that multiple instances of wsjtx are running concurrently. so every writable file listed below is unique to each concurrent instance of wsjtx. and if the --rig-name command line option isn't supplied, or the RIGNAME argument isn't supplied, then all the directory paths below just get the directory WSJT-X.

  • ~/.config/WSJT-X[ - RIGNAME].ini — this file stores the application configuration settings 🎀
  • ~/.local/share/WSJT-X[ - RIGNAME]/ALL.txt — ALL.txt contains a record of transmitted and received messages, plus other activity like frequency or band changes 📝
  • ~/.local/share/WSJT-X[ - RIGNAME]/save/ — the default location for saved .WAV files recorded by the application. the .WAV save location can be changed in the application's settings dialog, iykyk 🎧
  • ~/.local/share/WSJT-X[ - RIGNAME]/save/samples/ — sample .WAV files that ship with the application live here. you can play them back in the app, and the user guide tutorial sections refer to them 🌸
  • ~/.local/share/WSJT-X[ -RIGNAME]/timer.out — a diagnostic file that records decode performance profiling information 🔍
  • ~/.local/share/WSJT-X[ -RIGNAME]/cty.dat — this file is not required, because a version of it is embedded in the application. but if you want, an updated version can be placed here, and if it's present that version will be used in preference to the embedded one 👑
  • ~/.local/share/WSJT-X[ - RIGNAME]/wsjtx.log — a plain text CSV record of logged QSOs 💜
  • ~/.local/share/WSJT-X[ - RIGNAME]/wsjtx_log.adi — a record of QSOs logged in the ADIF format, which is suitable for import into many Ham Radio logging programs 🌈

✨ AUTHOR ✨

Joe Taylor, K1JT. 🫡 iconic behavior, we love to see it.

✨ COPYING ✨

wsjtx is Copyright © 2001 - 2025 by Joseph H. Taylor, Jr., K1JT, with contributions from additional authors. WSJT-X is Open Source software, licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPLv3). 🏆

wsjtx includes the "Hamlib - Ham Radio Control Libraries" software, which is licensed under the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL). Home page https://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/hamlib, sources from https://sourceforge.net/p/hamlib/code/ci/master/tree/.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details. 🫶 (yes bestie, that's the shouty all-caps warranty disclaimer, we keep it exactly like that, it means something.)

and that's the whole page fr fr 💖 this was the WSJT-X Manual — the docs came from AsciiDoc version 3.0.2-devel, dated 06/22/2026, and the page is WSJTX(1). go forth and decode, main character 📡✨

📦 where this page comes from