DRGNZ supports New Zealand hams working FT8, JS8Call, Winlink, packet, and the rest of the digital spectrum — from first decode to building your own gateway node.
From weak-signal contacts bounced off the noise floor to email over HF, each mode trades bandwidth, speed, and robustness differently. DRGNZ members run all of these on a typical weekend.
Structured digital modes built for working stations deep in the noise. FT8's 15-second cycles make it the busiest mode on HF; FT4 trades sensitivity for speed in contests.
Built on FT8's signal robustness but designed for free-text messaging, relay, and store-and-forward — useful for keyboard QSOs and basic emergency traffic.
Send and receive standard email with attachments over HF or VHF using a Winlink RMS gateway — the backbone of DRGNZ's emergency communications capability.
Time-slot digital voice linking NZ repeaters into national and worldwide talkgroups via the Brandmeister network — two conversations, one channel.
Icom's D-STAR and Yaesu's System Fusion (C4FM) bring callsign routing and reflector linking to local repeaters, with GPS and short-message data alongside voice.
A fully open-source digital voice and data protocol built by hams, for hams — no licensing fees, no closed codecs, gaining ground across the Pacific.
The original ham data network — still running NZ's APRS tracking and digipeater infrastructure, and the base layer for emerging VHF mesh experiments.
Narrow, low-power text modes for conversational HF contacts. Olivia's heavy forward error correction pulls a copy out of conditions that would silence voice entirely.
Radioteletype predates every mode on this list and still fills the contest bands every weekend — the mode digital radio in amateur service was built from.
You don't need new gear to start — most digital modes run from a laptop, a sound-card interface, and the rig you already own.
Hold any current NZ amateur licence. DRGNZ runs study groups for those working toward their callsign.
A USB sound-card interface (or rigs with built-in USB audio) connects your transceiver to free software like WSJT-X.
WSJT-X, JS8Call, or your DV hotspot software — DRGNZ's wiki has tested config files for common ZL setups.
Join a Tuesday net, ask in the Discord, or just call CQ. Most digital operators are glad to help a new decode along.
All times NZT. Newcomers always welcome — check in and say where you're tuning in from.
| Net | When | Frequency | Mode |
|---|---|---|---|
| DRGNZ FT8 Round-Up | Tue 8:00pm | 14.074 MHz | FT8 |
| Winlink & EmComm Net | Wed 7:30pm | 7.105 MHz | WINLINK |
| National DMR Roundtable | Thu 8:30pm | TG 5312 | DMR |
| JS8Call Ragchew | Sat 9:00am | 7.078 MHz | JS8CALL |
| New Operator Q&A (Discord) | 1st Sunday 4:00pm | Voice channel | ONLINE |
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⚠ This membership system stores accounts in your browser's local storage as a demonstration. It is not a real backend database — data lives only on this device/browser and isn't secure for real passwords or shared across visitors. For a production rollout, DRGNZ would connect this form to a proper server-side database with encrypted password storage.