Mike Thompson

so i've been chasing 3Y0 for years obviously and when the recent dxpedition went up i was not gonna let it slip again. spent probably 3 solid hours on 20m before i finally got through and wanted to write up what actually seemed to make a difference because i wasted a lot of that time doing stuff that just doesnt work. first thing i learned the hard way — calling on top of everyone else when they're already in QSO is completely pointless. i know everyone does it but you're just adding to the noise. what actually started working was listening to where the DX was *ending* their QSOs, the rhythm they use, how many seconds before they come back. once i got the timing down i was able to drop my call right in that window instead of just blasting continuously. i also switched from using the full 100w on my IC-7300 to actually backing off a little and working on my audio. cleaned up the mic settings, dropped some of the bass, and i think that helped me cut through because a lot of the pileup is just a wall of low-end mush. running a dipole so no antenna tricks available to me unfortunately. the split operation thing took me forever to figure out tbh — i was transmitting on the wrong side of their listed split for a while because i misread how they were working the pile. once i figured out they were actually listening about 3-5 up from where i thought, it came together pretty quick. anyone else have techniques that actually work? curious what the vfo-b crowd is doing different than me

yeah the 44 QSO thing got me too on my first couple activations, i was basically refreshing my log count every few contacts toward the end. one tip someone gave me was to try and get on earlier in the day when more hunters in europe are active if youre in north america or vice versa, makes hitting the threshold way less stressful. also dont forget you can combine modes if youre set up for it, mixed ssb and ft8 counts fine i think as long as the reference is logged correctly on each contact

yeah the FCC band plan chart is really what you want, ARRL has a pretty readable version on their website that color codes it by license class. the part 97 language is written for lawyers basically, not for people who just want to get on the air. for 40 meters specifically, technicians only get CW privileges on a small slice down at the bottom, like 7.025 to 7.125 i think, something like that. as a general you have a much bigger chunk for phone, i want to say it starts around 7.175 going up. the key thing to just burn into your head is that extra class ops have the lower parts of most bands and general/tech are pushed a bit higher. once you know that pattern it starts to make more sense. just keep the chart open on your phone for a while until it clicks

yeah the click moment is real, it does happen. cant tell you exactly when but one day you'll realize you copied a whole sentence without thinking about it and it kind of blows your mind one thing i dont see mentioned enough is just listening to actual QSOs on the air even when you cant copy them yet. tune to 40m around 7.050 or so in the evenings and just let it wash over you. your brain starts to recognize rhythms and common words like CQ and 73 and signal reports before you even consciously learn them. also the RufzXP program is great once youre a bit further along for building speed but maybe not quite yet at 5wpm

so ive been playing around with a few different cluster spotting tools lately and wondering what other people actually use day to day. i started out just using the cluster on QRZ which is convenient since im already on there looking stuff up anyway, but then someone in my local club mentioned DXwatch and i checked it out and it seems like a lot of the same spots show up but not always at the same time. my question is basically whether theres any real advantage to running both or checking both regularly or if one consistently has fresher spots than the other. i know some of the big contest guys have like 5 things open at once but for casual DX chasing on HF is that overkill. also has anyone used the DX toolkit app on android, saw it mentioned somewhere and curious if mobile cluster apps are even worth the trouble compared to just using a browser.

so ive had my general for about 4 months now and i keep hearing people talk about checking into nets but honestly i still dont fully understand how it all works. like i know you listen for the net control station and give your callsign but thats about it. are there certain nets that are better for newer hams? i tried listening to what i think was a traffic net on 40m last week and it felt really formal and i wasnt sure if it was appropriate to just jump in as someone with nothing to pass. also saw something about a special event station for some kind of historical anniversary coming up and wondered if thats something totally different or if it works the same way as a regular net check-in. any pointers would be really appreciated, still trying to figure out what counts as a good time to transmit vs just listen

yeah the 10m opening you're talking about I think hit pretty wide, I was working the east coast from out here in Colorado and signals were genuinely loud, like S7-S9 on some of them. One guy from Brazil was absolutely booming in, had a nice little ragchew with him for maybe 15 minutes before it started fading. We're definitely climbing toward the solar max so expect more of that. On the IC-905 I havent seen one in person but a buddy who went to Dayton last year said Icom had one on display and it looked seriously impressive for the upper bands. The modular design thing is what gets me, being able to add different RF units for different band ranges is clever. Price wise I think its sitting around $2500 depending on configuration which yeah thats a lot but for what it does on 1.2 gig and above its probably fair if you're into that weak signal microwave stuff. I'm not rich enough to find out personally lol

the rhythm thing is real and most people completely ignore it. i spent years just firing my callsign into the void before someone told me to shut up and listen first. embarrassing in hindsight but thats how you learn i guess. one thing i'd add is tail-ending. when the DX comes back to someone and that station sends their report, theres a tiny window right as they finish where the pileup hasnt fully spun back up yet. if you send your call clean and confident in that gap you sometimes slip through. doesnt always work and honestly annoys some operators if you do it wrong but when you nail the timing its surprisingly effective. also worth noting that some DXpeditions post their operating patterns on the cluster or their own website. T32C i think had a blog going during the operation. reading that stuff tells you a lot about where theyre listening and what time of day they favor certain bands. people sleep on that resource completely.

I've recently started operating QRP with my new QCX+ and I'm loving the challenge, but I'm struggling to break into conversations or get answers to my CQ calls. One of the key skills for any QRP operator is to select the right moment to call - being quick to start to transmit, but not calling all the time and causing nuisance. Often jumping in just after the end of a contact or just at the end of a CQ call can help. Calling other stations rather than calling CQ works is one of the major operating approaches that should virtually always be used. Calling other stations works far, far better. Any other advice for successful QRP operation?