Lisa Rodriguez

yeah the full ITU Q code list is massive and most of it is maritime or commercial stuff from like a hundred years ago, ham radio only really uses a subset of them regularly. the ones youll hear constantly are QTH (your location), QSL (confirming receipt, or the card you send), QRM (interference from other stations), QRN (static/natural noise), QSB (signal fading), QRP (low power operation), QRZ (whos calling), QSY (change frequency), QRX (standby or wait), and maybe QRO for high power. theres a few more that come up in specific contexts like QNI for nets and stuff but honestly if you know those ten or so youre covered for most everyday operating. 73 and 88 are not Q codes, theyre just traditional numeric abbreviations that came from old telegraph codes, 73 means best regards basically and 88 is love and kisses which is why you mainly hear it between certain operators, not something you just throw at strangers on a net or whatever. some old timers get a bit funny about 88 being used casually. 72 is one some QRP guys use instead of 73 but thats more of a subculture thing.

yeah the UDP thing is the classic headache with this setup. WSJT-X can only send to one UDP port at a time natively but theres a workaround using a UDP repeater/forwarder utility — i forget the exact name, there's a few floating around but one called WSJT-X Log Fwd or something similar, basically it listens on the WSJT-X port and rebroadcasts to multiple destinations. that way both N1MM and Log4OM can each get their own copy of the data i ran something like this during last years ARRL DX CW and it mostly worked although i had one instance where N1MM missed a couple QSOs and i had to manually reconcile after. wasnt a huge deal but annoying. for serious contest operating id probably still just kill Log4OM entirely and run N1MM standalone, then import the ADIF into Log4OM after the contest wraps up. way less moving parts to go wrong on a Saturday night when youre tired and trying to run a pileup

so i finally did my first activation last weekend, W6/NC-437, not the most impressive summit in the world but its close to home and i figured it was a good starter. took about 45 min to hike up, not bad. brought my KX2 and a random wire up a tree and managed to get 12 contacts in maybe 30 minutes which i know is enough to qualify but i stayed for another hour just because it was so nice up there honestly. couple things i wasnt sure about though. when i was logging i had a few chasers call me back after id already moved on to the next caller and i felt bad just not responding but i didnt know if i was supposed to go back to them or just keep moving. is there a standard way people handle that in a pileup situation on sota? also i posted my spots through the sotawatch app but i noticed some activators post like 15 minutes before they start, is there a reason for that or just personal preference? also someone called in with a /QRP suffix and i couldnt quite copy their callsign, asked twice and still wasnt sure so i just moved on. felt wrong. anyway the whole thing was a blast and im already looking at W6/NC-442 for next month if the weather holds.

so ive been meaning to ask if anyone here is planning on hitting the Tri-County hamfest on the 14th. i went last year and picked up a pretty decent MFJ tuner for like 20 bucks so im hoping to find some more deals this time around. my buddy said the swap meet tables have been getting better the past couple years, more HF stuff showing up instead of just old CB radios and random connectors lol. anyway if anyones going maybe we could meet up at the tailgate area, i'll be the guy with the red hat probably dragging around way too much stuff to look at

welcome to the addiction, seriously. okay so first thing -- dont stress about the antenna situation. ive worked CQ WW with a dipole hung between two trees at like 25 feet and made contacts all over the place, especially if conditions cooperate. the guys with the big beams will always have an advantage but thats not the point when youre just starting out, the point is to get on and make some noise and see whats possible. for N1MM just download the manual and honestly just ignore 90% of it at first. you really only need to know how to log a contact and how the dupe checking works. set it up for the contest category, plug in your callsign and get going. youll figure out the rest as questions come up. i remember my first contest i had the wrong exchange programmed for like the first hour and didnt notice, nobody really cares that much when youre learning. SOTA is a completely separate world yeah but honestly a great one, i do a couple activations a year when the weather is good. start with the contesting first and get your feet wet, then look at SOTA later. Field Day next june will also be a great chance to operate with a club if theres one near you, much more relaxed than CQ WW and great for learning.

yeah the pi plus arduino combo is actually pretty common for exactly this kind of thing. the pi handles the heavy lifting — networking, running python scripts, talking to logging software — and the arduino is better for anything that needs to respond fast or deal with physical inputs without latency. I2C works fine for that if they're close together, SPI if you need faster, but for button presses and relay control I2C is totally fine. one thing to watch out for is the voltage levels. pi GPIO is 3.3v and most arduino boards are 5v so if you're sending signals from the arduino back to the pi you want a level shifter in there or you'll eventually fry a pin. the other direction, pi to arduino, is usually okay since 3.3v is high enough to register as logic high on the arduino side but check your specific board. i did something similar for antenna switching last year. used an arduino mega because i had one and needed more GPIO than the nano offered. pi sends a simple serial command like 'ANT2' and the arduino toggles the right relay. been rock solid, no issues. the hardest part honestly was just boxing it up neatly so it doesnt look like a rats nest on the desk.

ok so i just upgraded to general last month and im trying to figure out where i can actually transmit on 40 meters. i know there are band edges but i keep reading conflicting stuff online. like some sites say phone starts at 7.175 and others say 7.200 and i dont know if thats a US thing or a different region thing or what. also whats the deal with operating near the band edge, ive heard people say you should stay like 3 or 5 khz away from the edge but i dont understand why exactly. is it a legal thing or just kind of an unwritten rule? my radio shows my dial frequency but someone told me thats not the same as where i'm actually transmitting when using SSB which now has me paranoid im doing something wrong sorry if this is a dumb question just trying to make sure im not causing problems for anyone

Started with Direwolf, now use TNC4 for everything mobile. The downside is dedicating a radio specifically to APRS unlike a dual VFO radio with built-in TNC like the Kenwood D-74/75, but for the price you're basically into it for the cost of the Kenwood.

We've run both for 5 years. IRLP's use of CTCSS/COS signalling instead of VOX is one of its greatest innovations. EchoLink can get chatty during nets when multiple nodes ping-pong. IRLP is rock solid for emergency communications.

ok so ive been licensed about 8 months now and i keep hearing about all these different ways to confirm contacts and im honestly a bit lost. like i understand the basic idea of QSL cards from when i was studying for my tech, you confirm the contact happened, great. but then theres LoTW which my elmer keeps telling me i need to set up, and eQSL which seems easier to use, and apparently some people still mail paper cards to each other or go through the bureau? my main question is which of these actually count for awards. like if i want to work toward DXCC someday do i need LoTW specifically or will eQSL work too? and is there a reason to bother with paper cards anymore or is that just a nostalgia thing at this point. not trying to offend anyone who likes paper cards i just want to understand the practical side of all this before i invest a lot of time setting everything up also the LoTW setup looks really intimidating with the certificate stuff, is it actually as complicated as it looks or am i overthinking it