For those of you who have dived into the crowded but fun pool of FT8 operation--or one of the other Joe Taylor modes (such as JT65, FT8, or JT9)--and now are excited about digital modes, here's something you might enjoy exploring, as well. Unlike the JT/FT digital modes--modes that do an incredible job under marginal propagation conditions--there are other modes that offer keyboard-tokeyboard conversational QSO opportunities that can overcome rough shortwave radio propagation conditions.

(The meaning of QSO on Wikipedia: An amateur radio contact, more commonly referred to as simply a "contact", is an exchange of information between two amateur radio stations.)

While making quick work of getting DX stations into your logbook by exchanging callsigns, a signal report, and a grid square, the JT/FT modes (JT stands for Joe Taylor, the fellow that pioneered these modes) are limited. They cannot handle any additional communications beyond a callsign, a signal report, a gridsquare, and a very limited set of acknowledgements and sign-off messages.

When you desire to get to know people from other areas...