Ashley Wilson81

had almost this exact problem last year. for me it turned out to be the PTT timing -- VARA was keying up but my radio needed a little more delay before it actually started transmitting clean audio. there's a setting in the VARA modem config for PTT delay, i bumped mine up to like 150ms and sessions stopped dropping immediately. might be worth a shot before you go chasing audio levels, though honestly doing both at the same time probably makes sense

so ive been messing with APRS for a few months now and i think i finally have my station somewhat dialed in but im getting weird results with my path settings and cant figure out if its a config problem or just how the network works in my area. running a TM-D710G with a homebrew vertical on the roof, using WIDE1-1,WIDE2-1 which i thought was pretty standard. but when i check aprs.fi i sometimes see my packets showing up with like 6 or 7 hops listed and other times barely any. my buddy who lives about 8 miles away says he sees my beacons fine direct sometimes but sometimes not at all. also tried reducing to just WIDE2-2 based on something i read on a mailing list but honestly im not sure i understand the difference well enough to know which is better for my situation. im in a semi-rural area, not super dense with digipeaters but theres a few around. is there a good way to actually test this without just guessing?

oh yeah been there, and honestly it's almost always technique before equipment at that stage. the paddle is probably fine. what happens when you speed up is your muscle memory hasn't caught up yet and you start squeezing too hard or anticipating the next element before you've finished the current one. iambic mode especially will bite you if your timing is slightly off because it'll insert elements you didn't mean to. what really helped me was the K7QO code course — it builds speed gradually and forces you to hear the whole character before you move on. the other thing i'd say is don't chase speed for its own sake right now, focus on clean spacing. a 15 wpm signal with good spacing is way more readable than a sloppy 20. and yeah mess with the paddle tension a little, some people like it lighter than the factory setting, but go one thing at a time or you'll drive yourself crazy.

yeah so I went through exactly this like 3 years ago. the honest answer is that a scrappy SO2R setup CAN work but you will spend at least one contest troubleshooting RFI problems instead of actually contesting, so calibrate expectations accordingly. the bandpass filters are not optional if your antennas are anywhere close together. I tried to skip that step with just some ferrites on the coax and it was a disaster — 40m was getting into everything on 20 and my audio was a mess. ended up grabbing a used set of Dunestar 600 filters off QRZ classifieds and that fixed like 90% of the issues. the other 10% was feedline routing and getting the rigs a bit further apart in the rack. for the actual SO2R control, I started with just the N1MM SO2R basic stuff and manually handled the radio switching which is tedious but functional. the microHAM or YCCC SO2R box type stuff makes it way smoother but you can limp through a contest without it while you figure out if you actually like SO2R before spending the money. honestly the bigger skill issue is just training your brain to S&P on radio 2 while you're running on radio 1 — took me probably two or three contests before that stopped feeling completely overwhelming.

yeah i just passed my tech like two months ago so im basically in the same boat you were in. i used hamstudy mostly and also watched some youtube videos when i didnt understand a concept, there was a channel i found that did a good job explaining the electrical stuff which i had no background in at all. the test itself was 35 questions and i thought it was going to be way harder than it was. the math questions looked scary but theres only like 3 or 4 of them and they repeat from the pool so if you practice them enough its fine. one thing i wish i knew was to check arrl.org for where the actual testing sessions are in your area because some areas have a lot and some dont, you might have to drive a bit or do an online session.

so ive been trying to get Winlink Express working for the past few weekends and im at the point where i can connect to an RMS gateway, start the session, it does the handshake and everything looks fine, then about 30-40 seconds in it just drops. no error message that makes any sense, just disconnects and the software acts like nothing happened. my message never actually goes through. im running it on VHF, 144.990 in my area, using a Kenwood TM-V71A into a Signalink USB. the Signalink levels seem fine, ive got the dial set around 40% and i can see the waterfall activity in Vara FM when the session is trying to establish. its not a weak signal thing, the gateway is maybe 8 miles away and im running 50w into a decent vertical. what i cant figure out is if this is a timing issue on my end, a problem with how the RMS gateway handles partial sessions, or something in my Vara FM settings. the session log shows the initial WINLINK handshake completing but then it falls apart during what looks like the proposal phase? or whatever that part is called. anyone run into this before

Your microphone defines the character of your transmitted audio. Although stock hand microphones work, they rarely deliver broadcast-style clarity. Therefore, upgrading to a quality dynamic or condenser microphone significantly improves results. I'm considering upgrading from my stock HM-151 to either a Heil PR-781 or Audio-Technica condenser mic for my FT-991A. Most HF SSB signals occupy roughly 2.4 to 3 kHz depending on radio settings. Therefore, you must shape audio intelligently within that space. Which type offers better performance within the SSB bandwidth limitations?

The FT-65R is more rugged with better build quality and accessory options for around $120. Sometimes simple is better for learning - once you've used it awhile, you'll know what features you really want in your next radio.

yeah that last part is your answer probably — not all digipeaters are connected to the internet. a digi just retransmits RF packets, it doesnt have to have any APRS-IS connection at all. whoever set that digi up may have it running totally standalone. you'd need an igate that can actually hear you (either directly or after the digi hops) to get onto the internet side of things. check aprs.fi and click on the digi callsign, see if it shows any igate activity or an internet connection listed. also you can try messaging W2 or looking at findu.com to see what path your packets are actually taking. if the igate is hearing the digipeated version of your packet it should still upload it, but if the igate's antenna is pointed wrong or it's got RF issues of its own nothing gets through. WIDE1-1,WIDE2-1 is fine for your area, thats not the problem.

been thinking about moonbounce for years but keep getting sticker shock when i look at what it takes. my current station is just a 100w rig with a 9el yagi up about 40ft and im pretty sure thats not gonna cut it. been reading about needing like 4 big yagis and a kw amp minimum just to work the big guns those of you doing eme regularly, what did you spend to get on and was it worth it? also wondering if there's any entry level approach or if you really do need the full monty right away. heard some folks saying you can work the really big stations with less but not sure if thats realistic

oh man i remember my first activation being exactly like that, kind of chaotic but fun. i was so focused on making contacts i completely forgot to update my spot frequency when i QSYd and then nobody could find me for like half an hour. felt dumb but you live and learn i guess. one thing that helped me was using the WWFF logger app to auto-spot, i think it has a button that pushes your current frequency and reference to the network. not sure if it works with GPS issues though. also some people set up a basic macro on their radio or logging software so spotting is literally one button. anyway welcome to the addiction, there are some really cool references out there once you start looking at the maps.

so ive been using a baofeng uv-5r for about two years now and honestly it served me well as a first radio, got my tech license and used it to check into the local repeater and all that. but lately ive been noticing the audio is kind of muddy and i dropped it once too many times i think because the battery doesnt seat right anymore. anyway im thinking about upgrading and i dont really know where to start. i keep hearing people talk about the yaesu ft-60 and also the ft-70d but i dont fully understand what the D stands for or if that matters for just hitting local repeaters and maybe doing some simplex on 2m. someone at my club mentioned the kenwood th-d74 but that seems like way overkill for what i do, like that thing has aprs and all this stuff i havent even learned yet. what would you guys actually buy if you were starting fresh? budget is somewhere around 100-150 bucks but i could stretch it if something is really worth it

not sure if this is the same thing but my buddys 7300 had a dropout issue and it ended up being the PA protection circuit triggering for no obvious reason, like a component in the protection circuit itself was drifting and falsely flagging an overcurrent condition. icom service center found it pretty quick apparently but it wasnt something you'd easily see without the right test gear hooked up during a live fault. yours sounds more heat-related tho given the warmup time. does it recover on its own if you stop transmitting for a few minutes and then try again, or does it stay faulted until you power cycle?

Power off the battery directly, do NOT tap into existing vehicle wiring. Ham rigs draw 7 to 10 amps on transmit and need that clean, direct power connection. As for antennas, the center of a vehicle's roof is a very good place to mount a VHF/UHF antenna for best performance.

The short answer is there's no hard rule that says you MUST use NATO phonetics every single time, but it's considered good practice especially on nets or when conditions are anything less than perfect. Net controls often ask for phonetics because it just makes logging easier and reduces repeats, has nothing to do with you doing something wrong. As for the non-standard phonetics, yeah that's a thing. Some older ops grew up using a different set before NATO got standardized and they just never switched. You'll hear "sugar" for S or "king" for K sometimes, especially from guys who've been doing this for decades. It's not technically wrong in the sense that it'll still get the message across, but if you're ever doing anything formal like emcomm or a directed net the NATO set is what you want to stick with. Easier for everyone and especially for anyone who might not have English as their first language since the NATO words were kind of picked with that in mind.

hamstudy.org is honestly probably the best thing you can do, just use that every day for like 20 minutes and you'll be ready in a few weeks. the question pool is public and the actual exam questions come directly from it so there's no shame in studying it. that's literally what its there for. the ARRL book is good for context but don't stress about understanding every single concept deeply before you test. you'll pick up the theory stuff naturally once you're actually on the air and playing around. i knew basically nothing about radio when i got my tech and now a few years later i actually understand most of the electrical stuff just from doing it. pass the test first, learn forever after.

ok so i just upgraded to general last month and im trying to figure out where i can actually operate on 40 meters. ive been reading the band plan stuff on the arrl website but honestly its a bit confusing because theres the actual fcc allocation and then theres like the "gentlemans agreement" stuff that people follow and i dont know which one i actually have to follow vs which one is just convention. like i understand the fcc part is the legal thing but then people in my local club keep mentioning not to go below 7.125 or whatever and i dont know if thats a rule or just what people do. also heard something about the band edge being dangerous to operate near and i dont really understand what that means technically. sorry if this is a dumb question im still figuring all this out

been running EME on 144 for about two years, can confirm what the other guy said about the preamp being critical. i actually ruined a solid week of attempts early on because i had like 8 feet of coax between the antenna and the preamp and didn't realize how much that was killing my noise figure. moved it to the mast and it was night and day one thing nobody really warns you about is the patience aspect. like even with a decent station you can sit through a whole moonpass and get maybe one or two complete QSOs if youre lucky depending on who else is up. the JT65B mode on EME is a bit different from the terrestrial stuff, the timing and sequencing takes a little getting used to. there's also stuff like libration fading that'll drive you nuts until you understand whats happening also random thought but have you looked at the EME2 system for scheduling - a lot of operators post their activity windows there and it makes finding someone to work way less random than just calling CQ into the void

yeah that feeling you're describing after the first QRP contact is real and it honestly never totally goes away, at least it hasnt for me in like 15 years of doing it. theres something about knowing you're getting out on basically a flashlight battery worth of power that just changes how you think about the whole radio thing. the EFHW is a great idea for portable, i run a 49:1 unun with about 66 feet of wire and it loads up really nicely on 40 20 and 15 without a tuner which is huge when you're trying to keep things simple in the field. just watch your matching on the QCX since those finals are not super forgiving if the SWR gets ugly. on the FT8 question, i go back and forth on this honestly. i do run QRP FT8 sometimes and ive worked some genuinely impressive stuff, but i think for the pure satisfaction thing CW or even SSB QRP hits different. that said getting a new entity or a tough state with 5 watts on FT8 is still pretty cool. dont let anyone tell you its cheating, you still need a decent antenna and you still have to actually make the contact.

yeah what he said about the inverted V, that's basically what we do for every deployment. honestly for a 12 hour exercise the bigger headache in my experience isnt the antenna its keeping everyone's equipment from draining the battery bank faster than you planned. someone always shows up with a laptop that hasnt been charged and a phone they want to run off the system and suddenly your load calculations are out the window. id put a clamp meter on the whole system early in the exercise just to see what your actual draw is vs what you estimated. also the eu2200i is fine but bring an extra 5 gallons of gas minimum, those things are efficient but 12 hours is 12 hours and youll probably run it more than you think.

so i finally did my first activation last weekend at a state park about 45 minutes from my house. been putting it off for months because honestly i was nervous about the whole thing, setting up in public, people walking by asking what you're doing, all that. but man it was actually really fun. i ran about 87 QSOs in just under 3 hours on 40m SSB with my KX2 and a random wire up in a tree. the pile wasn't crazy but there were definitely moments where people were calling over each other and i had to slow down and work them one at a time. first time i've ever had anyone actually want to talk to me on radio lol. couple things i'm not sure about though. when i log, do i need to put the park reference in every single log entry or just somewhere in the header? i was using HAMRS on my phone and i think it does it automatically but i want to make sure the upload to the POTA website is right. also is there a standard way to announce your park reference on air? i was just saying the park number after my callsign each time but i heard another activator doing it differently. also one random thing — a guy came up to me while i was operating and asked if i was a spy. so that was fun.