10,555 miles

My FT8 signal was heard in Australia -- 10,555 miles away! 

I think I figured out the high ALC issue

Adjusted RF PWR to 50 watts. Turned SignaLink TX knob to slightly below the 9 o clock position. Checking the PO meter shows an output of 10 watts. FT-891 is set in Data mode (which used to be in SSB per page 65 in the advanced manual from Yaesu) and this does better. Width is set to 3000Hz. The ALC is no longer visible in the meter!

Reception Test

Rx at Sat, 30 Dec 2017 17:24:14 GMT

From KG7WBW by EC1AJL Loc IN73
Frequency: 14.075.258 MHz (20m), FT8, -20dB
Distance: 4608 miles bearing 52°
Using: WSJT-X v1.8.0-rc2 r8069

 

 

WSJT-X, Yaesu FT-891, SignaLink

Setting the application gain on WSJT-X to 50% (per the instructions of SignaLink) brings it right back to 100% on TX. It looks like this causes a higher ALC on the 891. I'm not sure at this time how this can be reduced, but it looks like the FT8 signal is getting out there. SignaLink set at 50% for both TX and RX knobs:





High ALC? It is unfortunate there isn't any values associated with this meter.