Recently we felt that the internal resources of the Kenwood HF TS890 transceiver were not enough to operate FT8/FT4, and the internal sound card was too primitive for this. In this regard, we used an external sound card (Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround 5.1 Pro) and a small adapter on two 200 Ohm audio transformers.

Early versions of this external sound card had shortcomings that were eliminated by the modification described here (Thanks to IW3AUT)

After detailed analysis and study of the topic, we realized that this sound card is one of the best in its class for use in HAMRADIO digital communications.

As a result, in FT8/FT4 we began to receive signals with a level significantly lower than with the internal sound card of the transceiver.

Most weak signal levels were from -20 to -24 dB. (even -25 dB !)

Over the past 7 years, we have conducted more than 75,000 QSOs in digital mode with more 300 DXCC countries.