Steve Anderson

I've owned both radios for contesting. The FT-991A has better tools to fight QRM/QRN, and when you want to dig out a small signal from the noise, the 991A will be better. The 7300's display is prettier, but I buy transceivers for performance, not displays.

so ive been messing around with this idea for a few months now and finally starting to put it together. basically i want the arduino to read SWR from my MFJ meter via its analog output and then drive a stepper motor to tune my screwdriver antenna automatically. like a proper auto-tuner but one i built myself because i learn better that way and also the commercial ones for mobile HF are kinda expensive for what they are. i have an uno right now but honestly thinking about switching to a nano for the final build since space in the car is tight. the SWR sensing part seems straightforward enough, im using a directional coupler and just feeding the forward and reflected voltages into A0 and A1, dividing them down with a voltage divider so i dont fry the ADC pins. the stepper control is where it gets a bit messy because i need to know absolute position and the motor doesnt have feedback so im thinking a rotary encoder on the antenna shaft itself. has anyone done anything like this or ran into problems with noise from the RF getting into the arduino while transmitting? thats the part that worries me the most honestly. my shack is a mess of grounds and i have a feeling its gonna be a nightmare to debug.

so ive been trying to get more into DX chasing lately and everyone keeps mentioning different cluster spotting tools and im honestly a bit confused about which ones are worth my time. i've been using the spot list on QRZ which is fine i guess but i keep seeing people mention DXwatch and also DX Summit and a few others and i dont really know if they're all pulling from the same data or what. like does it matter which one you use or are they basically showing the same spots with a different coat of paint? i'm running mostly 20 and 40m SSB if that matters, nothing fancy, just a dipole in the attic and a Yaesu FT-891. would love to know what apps or websites people actually have open when they're sitting at the rig.

i went through the same thing when i upgraded, part 97 reads like stereo instructions from 1987 honestly. one thing that helped me was just downloading the actual ARRL privileges chart as a PDF and comparing it side by side with what 97.301 says. they match up but the ARRL version is way less painful to parse. also dont stress too much about accidentally stepping on an extra-class-only segment right away, people will generally just let you know if you're in the wrong spot, at least on 40m. just be aware and you'll be fine.

You don't have to choose - Koch and Farnsworth aren't alternatives, you can use them together! Koch learning order with Farnsworth spacing is a great combination. Many successful learners combine both methods - start with Koch for the first 10-15 characters to build a strong foundation, then switch to Farnsworth to learn the remaining characters more quickly.

I run COMP-2 on my 7300 for contesting and see similar ALC patterns. Some rigs start splattering with even small ALC indication - suspect poor bias voltages on finals. Check your signal on waterfall to verify no splatter despite the meter swing.

ok so i just upgraded to general a few weeks ago and im still trying to wrap my head around the frequency allocations. i know generals get more privileges but every time i look at the band plan chart it just kind of blurs together for me. specifically on 40 meters, like i know there's a phone portion and a cw portion but where does one actually start and the other end? and how close to the band edge is too close? i've heard people say you should never transmit right at the edge but nobody really explains why or how far away you should stay. is 7.125 ok for ssb or is that still too low? i feel like i keep second guessing myself before i even key up