Steve Wilson

so ive been licensed for about 3 years now mostly just doing HF and some local 2m FM stuff but i finally decided to try working through one of the linear transponder birds, specifically AO-73 since everyone seems to say its a good starter sat. got gpredict set up on the laptop and i can see the pass predictions fine, that parts working. the problem is when i actually try to tune during a pass i feel like im chasing my tail. i understand the concept of doppler correction, like the uplink and downlink shift in opposite directions on a linear transponder, but actually doing it in real time while also trying to point the antenna and find a signal is just... a lot. im running an FT-818 with a cheap arrow antenna and i know thats a capable setup, people work sats with way less. is there a trick to it or do you just kind of get a feel after a few passes? i managed to hear what i think was SSB downstairs on 145.950 area during one pass but couldnt tell if it was the sat or just some random terrestrial signal. the pass was only like 7 minutes and by the time i figured out what i was hearing it was already heading back down. any tips appreciated

Consider reducing exciter output power to drive amplifiers - this greatly reduces phase noise and interference. I run my rigs at 20W output into external amps and the interference dropped dramatically. Much cheaper solution than buying commercial filters initially.

same boat here, just got my technician a few months ago and put a UV-5R in the car first then upgraded to a proper mobile. the external speaker thing is real, my elmer told me about it right away. i think i paid like $30 for some random one off amazon and it works fine mounted on the a-pillar. one thing i noticed too is the mag mount placement makes a difference for noise, like if its too close to the cab you get more wind buffeting around it. i moved mine back a few inches and it got a little better but yeah external speaker fixed most of my issues

yeah i made basically this same switch about 18 months ago and honestly dont regret it. Log4OM for everything day to day, N1MM only comes out when im doing a serious contest where i actually care about rate and need the dedicated contest features. the two can share the same ADIF file or you can just import after the contest, little bit of cleanup sometimes but nothing terrible. the WSJT-X integration with Log4OM has been rock solid for me, more reliable than when i had it going into N1MM actually. you set up the UDP port in WSJT-X pointing at Log4OM and it just works, dupes get flagged, the QSO data comes in clean. only gotcha is make sure you're on a recent version of Log4OM because the older 1.x stuff had some quirks with the WSJT-X handshake. version 2 is way better. SS exchange in Log4OM is fine, you can customize the exchange fields. its not as slick as N1MM during the actual contest but if youre just doing it casually and not trying to win your section or anything it gets the job done.

the end fed can work fine but the 9:1 unun thing kind of bugs me — a lot of those homebrew and cheap commercial ones are lossy and people dont realize it. what you actually want for a true EFHW is a 49:1 transformer, not 9:1, the 9:1 is more for random wires. if youre going end fed halfwave for 40 you need about 66 feet of wire and a good 49:1 matchbox and then yeah the SWR flattens out pretty nicely. i built one with an FT240-43 core and it honestly works great, maybe a dB or two behind my dipole but nothing that would stop a QSO that said your sad shaped dipole probably isnt as bad as you think. 25 feet center on 40 is low but workable, and if the coax and that connector are suspect thats where id start before changing the whole antenna. resolder that PL-259 or better yet put an N connector on there and see if anything changes first

congrats on the first activation, 12 contacts is solid especially on 5w with a wire. the respotting thing is totally normal, a lot of activators will respot every 20-30 minutes or if the pile dies down, some people even change bands and spot again on 40 after working 20 for a while. there's no hard rule on it, just kind of feel it out. once you get the hang of it you'll also start noticing that mornings tend to be better for hunters on 40m and afternoons can open up nicely on 20 depending on the band. the guy calling off frequency happens all the time, dont worry about it. sometimes its a split thing where they didnt realize, sometimes its just a radio setup issue on their end. you handled it fine by moving on.

If you use antennas that aren't specifically tuned for your frequencies, an antenna tuner can help match impedance and improve efficiency. For beginners, we recommend starting with a no-tune antenna to simplify setup. With that 8-band end-fed you mentioned, the no-tune design means you can be on the air in minutes - might not even need a tuner at all!

I'm in the same boat - lesson 18 on LCWO and feeling stuck! Good ops hear whole words not individual characters. Maybe we need to push through the alphabet first before worrying about speed?

honestly i just memorized most of it and passed first try last month. sure its better to understand the theory but if you just want the license there's nothing wrong with using the practice tests until you're consistently getting 80%+. the privileges are totally worth it especially on 20 and 40 meters

so i finally worked up the nerve to check into a local 2m net last tuesday and im still not sure if i handled it right. the net control called for check-ins and i just said my callsign like i heard someone else do the week before, and the net control acknowledged me and moved on which i think means it was fine? but then a few minutes later someone else checked in and gave their callsign, name, location AND mentioned they had traffic, and i started wondering if i was supposed to say all that too or if it just depends on the net. also when the net control asked if anyone had comments or announcements near the end i wasnt sure if it was okay for me to just say something or if theres like a protocol for that too. i keyed up and gave my call and waited and he did come back to me so i guess that was right. just feels like there's an unwritten rulebook that everyone else already has and nobody told me about it lol anyway not a huge deal but would love to hear from people who run nets or check in regularly about what the actual expectations usually are