Part of our Getting On The Air: Modes, Operations, and Making Contacts guide.
Running FT8 in WSJT-X is great, but the WSJT-X screen is a bit spartan. GridTracker is the free companion app that makes the whole experience visual and fun. It plots everything you and others are hearing onto a live map and helps you chase the awards and milestones that keep digital operating interesting. Here is what it does.
What GridTracker is
GridTracker is a free program that connects to WSJT-X (and some other digital software) and displays the decoded activity on a map in real time. “Grid” refers to Maidenhead grid squares, the location system hams use to describe where they are, and GridTracker is built around visualizing those grids. As stations are decoded, they pop up on the map at their grid location, color-coded and labeled.
It listens to what WSJT-X is decoding, so you do not have to do anything special once it is connected. Get on FT8, and GridTracker fills in with a living picture of the band.
What it does for you
- A live map of activity. See every station you are decoding plotted geographically, which makes propagation and band openings obvious at a glance.
- Award and “needed” tracking. GridTracker can highlight stations you still need for awards, whether that is a new grid square, a new state for Worked All States, or a new country (DXCC). At a glance you can see who is worth calling.
- Alerts. It can alert you when something you need appears, or when a specific call sign or friend shows up.
- Logging integration. It works with your logbook and services to know what you have already worked and confirmed, so its “needed” highlighting is accurate.
- A nicer view of FT8. Even setting the award-chasing aside, it simply makes digital operating more visual and enjoyable than staring at the plain WSJT-X list.
How it fits with everything else
GridTracker sits on top of WSJT-X, not in place of it. WSJT-X does the actual decoding and transmitting; GridTracker visualizes it and adds the mapping, alerts, and award tracking. It overlaps a bit with JTAlert (another WSJT-X companion), and many operators pick one or the other based on preference, though they solve similar problems in different styles. GridTracker leans heavily into the map-based, visual approach.
It is free, it runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux, and if you are chasing grids, states, or countries on FT8, it turns a fairly plain activity into a genuinely engaging pursuit. Fire up WSJT-X, connect GridTracker, and watch your map fill in.
For the full walkthrough on installing GridTracker alongside WSJT-X, HRD, and TQSL, and getting them all pushing to LoTW, QRZ, and PSK Reporter automatically, see Setting Up WSJT-X, GridTracker, HRD, and TQSL.