David Davis

so ive been interested in ham radio for a while now, my neighbor has a big antenna setup and it got me curious. i looked it up and apparently you have to take a test to get a license which i didnt realize. i dont really know anyone who does this hobby so im kind of going in blind here. is there like a standard way people study for the technician exam or is it just memorizing the question pool? i downloaded something called hamstudy but im not sure if thats the main thing people use or if theres better options. also how hard is the test actually, like if you dont have any electronics background does that put you way behind sorry if this is a dumb question im just not sure where to start

so ive been at this for a while now and I honestly dont know what im doing wrong. Started learning morse back in the spring, got up to about 13wpm pretty comfortably and then just... hit a wall. Every resource I read says to just listen to faster code but when i bump it up to 15 or 16 it all turns to mush and I cant copy anything. Then i drop back down and feel fine again. A buddy at the club said something about the Farnsworth method where you keep the character speed high but slow the spacing, which I had been doing, but maybe not long enough? My characters are set at 18wpm with 5wpm spacing and i practice maybe 20-30 minutes a day with the LCWO site. Is that enough time or do I need to be doing more sessions? Starting to wonder if some people just have a ceiling and 13wpm is mine lol For context im trying to get to 20wpm eventually so I can actually have real QSOs without panicking. Right now anything faster than about 12 and i start missing stuff and then i lose the whole sentence trying to catch up.

the inverted V is probably your best bet for that lot size honestly. yeah 30 feet isnt ideal for 40m but an inverted V at that height is going to outperform a vertical with a mediocre radial system almost every time, especially for domestic stuff. the low angle radiation people love about verticals only really shows up when you have a serious ground system under it, and on a small suburban lot thats just not happening unless you want to spend a weekend laying out 32 radials and your neighbors are cool with that. i ran an inverted V at about 28 feet for a few years on 40 and worked plenty of stateside stations, even managed a few EU contacts during good openings. the apex angle matters more than people think — try to keep it above 90 degrees if you can, so dont pull the ends down too steeply. and if you can slope it slightly off-center to fit the yard that usually doesnt hurt much. just make sure your coax has a decent choke balun at the feedpoint or youll have rf on the shield and wonder why your audio sounds weird on certain bands.

Band-pass filters and automatic antenna switching will be your key to success. I'd also suggest adding some low-pass filters on the transmit side to further reduce harmonics. LP BPFs before amplifiers help get harmonic levels down and can be controlled automatically.

not a dumb question at all, honestly most of us fumbled through our first few net check-ins and nobody's born knowing this stuff. the format really does vary net to net which makes it confusing at first. most directed nets -- which is what you were probably on -- the net control is running the show and you basically only transmit when they call on you or specifically ask for something. so after you check in you just listen until net control either calls your callsign directly or opens it up for general discussion. the check-in format is usually just callsign, name, and location but some nets want you to say if you have traffic or announcements right when you check in so they can work that into the flow. best thing honestly is just listen to the net a few more times and watch how the regulars do it, you'll pick it up pretty fast. and dont worry about the off-frequency thing, happens to everyone with a new radio, some of those repeaters have a slightly different input than what you'd expect.

so ive been putting together a go-kit style setup for emcomm stuff and also just general portable ops and i keep going back and forth on the power situation. right now i have a 100ah lifepo4 that i built up last year and its been great for day trips but we're talking about a potential 3-4 day activation where we'd be running a couple HF stations plus maybe a 2m/70cm setup for local coordination and i just don't know if i want to haul a generator or commit to solar + battery bank the site we'd be at has decent sun exposure but its late october so we're not talking peak solar hours obviously. the genny option is a honda eu2200i which i can borrow, it's quiet enough that it wont drive everyone crazy, but then you've got fuel logistics and the noise is still there even if its reduced on the antenna side i'm leaning toward an EFHW for 40/20 with a 9:1 unun, throw it up in an inverted L configuration if there's a tree nearby. maybe a hamstick on a mag mount for the truck if we need to move around. anyone done extended field deployments like this and found a setup that didnt cause headaches? specifically the power stuff, the antenna part i feel pretty ok about

so ive been a ham for about 3 years now and i keep telling myself im going to put together a real go-kit and then never actually do it. after the storms we had last month knocked out power here for almost 4 days i figured i really need to stop procrastinating on this. right now i have a yaesu ft-857d that i was thinking of making the centerpiece of it, runs HF/VHF/UHF which seems like a good all-arounder for emergency use. ive got a 40ah lifepo4 battery i picked up last year, a basic antenna tuner, and a handful of random coax jumpers. i was going to throw it all in a pelican case but honestly im not sure if thats the right move or if i should use something more like a backpack setup depending on what kind of deployment im thinking about. what do i actually need that im probably not thinking about? i feel like there are a dozen little things that people forget until they really need them. spare fuses, power connectors, that kind of thing. anyone been through a real activation and can share what you wished you had packed?

I actually just use N1MM for everything including daily logging and FT8 integration. People sleep on it for general use but it handles WSJT-X via the UDP port just fine and logs everything automatically. Took me an afternoon to get the UDP setup dialed in but once it was working i stopped thinking about it. The log format isnt as pretty as Log4OM and the interface is clearly designed around contesting but for me its not worth managing two programs and two databases honestly.

Been running extended SSB (eSSB) at 50Hz-4kHz for local ragchewing and it sounds fantastic. But I switch back to standard 300-2700Hz for DX work - SSB audio sounds thinner than AM but remains quite intelligible for weak signal communications.

the winlink thing is so real, ive seen that happen at almost every drill i've been to. someone always has a Winlink issue and it eats up everyone's time. our group actually made a rule after one particularly rough exercise that you have to do a successful Winlink check-in the week before any activation or drill just to prove your setup is actually working. helped a lot. for keeping sharp between drills — i dunno i kind of just stay active on the local nets and try to actually talk to people rather than just doing a quick check-in and disappearing. there's also some online simulated emergency exercises you can join remotely which are surprisingly useful for practicing message handling without needing everyone to physically show up somewhere.

75-80% on practice tests is actually not bad at a starting point, the passing score is 74% so youre already close but yeah you want some buffer. the math stuff on general honestly isnt that bad, most of it is just ohms law variations and a little bit of resonance formula stuff. if you can just memorize the formulas and plug in numbers you'll be fine, they arent trying to make you derive anything from scratch. as for bands, general opens up a big chunk of HF. you get access to 80, 40, 20, 15, and 10 meters with some segment restrictions, plus 17 and 12 meters i think. tech already gives you the top part of 10m for HF but honestly nobody really works that. 40 and 20 meters are where most of the action is and general gets you in there. extra class opens up the lower portions of some bands where the DX tends to pile up but general is totally usable, i worked over 60 countries before i upgraded to extra. just keep hammering the practice tests and read the explanations for the ones you get wrong. the ARRL general class book is decent if you want actual context for why the answers are what they are rather than just memorizing.

ok so i just upgraded to general last month and im trying to figure out where i can actually transmit on 40 meters. i looked up the FCC part 97 stuff and also the ARRL band plan and they dont totally match up and now im more confused than before lol like i know generals get 7.175 to 7.300 for phone but then i see people say dont operate right at the band edge and i dont really understand why. is 7.300 off limits or what? and whats the deal with the lower part of the band, i see CW down there but someone told me digital modes are in there too. just trying to figure out where i can actually park without stepping on someone or doing something wrong

wait 10 meters is actually open right now?? im still pretty new (got my general like 8 months ago) and ive mostly just been on 40m because thats where all the activity seemed to be when i was learning. i have a dipole that should cover 10m i just never really tried it. gonna have to get on there this weekend and see what happens, didnt realize we were near solar max or whatever.

im kind of in the same boat honestly, been at cw maybe 5 months. what helped me more than anything was slowing way down and just sending single characters over and over while actually listening to what came out. like i thought i was sending clean C's but when i really paid attention i was clipping the last dit half the time. also someone told me to try sending with my whole forearm relaxed on the desk, not just the wrist floating. made a weird difference for me. anyway G4FON is great for receiving, still using it myself.

not dumb questions at all, everyone starts exactly where you are. the question pool is public so everything on the test comes straight from it, no surprises. HamStudy.org is honestly where i'd send anyone starting out, just make flashcards and grind through them, it tracks your weak spots too which helps. the gordon west book is popular but i personally just used the website and passed fine. you need 26 out of 35 correct which is pretty doable once you've gone through the pool a few times. for the actual exam you want to find a VE session near you, ARRL has a search tool on their site, most are run by clubs and some are walk-in but a lot want you to register beforehand so definitely check that. bring two forms of ID and your FCC FRN number which you get for free off the FCC website before you go, dont wait till the day of to do that part

22 QSOs on your first activation is honestly pretty solid, dont be too hard on yourself. the spotting thing trips everybody up at least once. what i do now is set a reminder on my phone the night before to pre-spot on the POTA website and then re-spot when i actually get on the air since the pre-spot kind of acts like an alert for hunters who are watching the schedule. for logging in the sun i switched to just carrying a small clipboard with pre-printed log sheets, old school but it works and i can read it no matter how bright it is. then i upload it to the POTA site later using ADIF from HAMRS when im back home in the shade. once you get a few activations under your belt the pileup thing gets way more manageable, you sort of develop a rhythm for working them. the main thing is just slow down and dont be afraid to say QRZ when you lose a callsign.

nice work getting out there, 16 contacts for a first outing is totally respectable. yeah the 44 QSO threshold to fully activate a reference trips up a lot of new folks but once you get the hang of spotting yourself and maybe posting on the relevant facebook groups beforehand the pileups come pretty quick. POTA and WWFF overlap a bit but they're separate programs with separate databases. a lot of operators log for both at the same time though since you can submit the same log to each, just gotta make sure you're in a reference that's registered in both systems. some parks are in both, some arent. worth checking wwff.cc and the pota.app site side by side before you go out. 40m is solid especially in the afternoon and evening, but 20m during the day gets you a much wider footprint if you're after contacts from further afield. some activators run both bands back to back once they hit their 44 on 40. good luck with the next one

Be careful with your radio's satellite mode settings! It's important to note this is a setting in many satellite-ready radios that can be easily mis-configured. I've seen many operators get confused when their radio is set for non-inverting but they're working an inverting transponder. Always double-check your transponder type before transmitting.

so ive been a tech for about 8 months now and i keep reading that learning CW is worth it but every time i sit down to actually try i just feel completely lost. like do i learn the alphabet first and then try to listen or do i just listen to actual QSOs and hope my brain figures it out eventually? ive tried a few apps but i cant tell if im doing it right or just memorizing patterns wrong. also not sure if i should be aiming for a certain WPM to start or just not worry about speed at all. any advice would be appreciated, especially from people who came to it late cause im in my 40s and not sure if thats going to make it harder

I'd run braided ground wire along the same path as coax and connect to a good chassis ground - certainly shouldn't hurt. Ground at the source for best results. Also consider an NMO roof mount - would lower your antenna height about 5-6 inches too.

the MFJ keyers can be a little finicky with the weight adjustment, i had one years ago and ended up just leaving the weight at noon (straight center position) and forgetting about it until i had enough hours on the paddle to even notice a difference. dont overthink the settings early on honestly. one thing that helped me a ton was finding a slow CW net — like the Straight Key Century Club has stuff going on and people there are super patient. actually copying real QSOs even slow ones is way different than copying computer generated stuff and worth doing sooner than you think.

I've used RemoteHams software with my FT-991A while traveling for work - works great but you're limited to their available radios and locations. DIY gives you complete control over your own gear and no time restrictions.

being nervous is completely normal and honestly a good sign — means you're taking it seriously. ive seen new operators show up totally overconfident and those are usually the ones who talk too much on the radio or start offering opinions to the served agency when nobody asked. just be the quiet professional in the corner doing your job and youll be remembered as someone worth calling again. one thing i'd add is know your gear cold before you walk in that door. nothing worse than fumbling with your radio settings in front of people. and if you dont know something just say so, dont guess on message traffic ever.

congrats on getting it up on 10 GHz, thats not trivial. ive been running a 905 since late last year and yeah the documentation for the external unit setup is kind of rough in places. the GPS lock thing threw me off too at first — took me a bit to realize i had the antenna cable slightly loose and it was causing intermittent issues i blamed on the radio for like a week before i found it. for activity in the midwest, check out the ARRL microwave activity weekends, theres usually a decent cluster of guys on in the Chicago and KC areas during those. also the VHF contests bring out some 10 GHz activity even from people who dont normally operate up there. September VHF contest especially seems to wake people up. might also be worth posting on the weak signals reflector to see if anyone in your grid is interested in a sked.