David Parker

JS8Call is legit if you find the right groups using it. the activity problem is real - its not like you can just spin the dial and find a pileup. but there are some nets running on it pretty regularly, there's a few EMCOMM oriented groups that have adopted it specifically because of the store and forward stuff. basically a message can get relayed through other stations that are just sitting there even if theyre not actively watching, which for emergency comms is actually a pretty big deal if you think about it. for timing i usually check 40m around 7.078 in the evening and there's usually something going on. mornings on 20m can work too depending on where you are. its definitely more like actual ham radio than FT8 in terms of feeling like a conversation. the tradeoff is its slower and yeah way less activity. PSK31 is another option but honestly even that feels kind of dead these days compared to what it was 10-15 years ago. i ran a lot of PSK31 back around 2010 and it was hopping, now not so much. worth putting time into JS8Call if the conversational aspect matters to you. just dont expect it to feel like FT8 in terms of instant gratification.

yeah the listening thing is huge and most people skip it entirely because theyre too eager. the DXpedition ops have patterns, they work a certain portion of the spread for a while then move, and if you can figure that out youre way ahead of the pile. i spent a good 20 min once just watching the waterfall on my 7300 and you could literally see where the op was fishing. on the power question — more power helps to a point but its not what most people think. if youre already at 100w going to a kw can help pull you above the noise floor on the other end but if youre one of 400 stations all running a kw it doesnt do a whole lot. antenna is almost always the bigger variable. ive broken pileups with 100w and a decent yagi that i couldnt crack with 500w and a dipole, so. tail-ending is legit if you do it right, basically you time your transmission to start right as the DX finishes their last dit, before they even send QRZ or start listening. takes some practice to not just cause a mess but when it clicks it really does work. prob easier on CW than phone honestly.

so ive been running ft8 for about two years now and i love it for the contacts but honestly its starting to feel like a slot machine. you spin the dial, watch the decodes, click the callsign, exchange signal reports and grid squares, done. its efficient i guess but theres nothing really happening between two humans. a buddy at the club mentioned js8call and how its basically ft8 under the hood but you can actually type messages back and forth, relay stuff, store and forward when someone isnt on frequency, that kind of thing. sounds interesting but every time i try to fire it up the interface confuses me and i cant figure out if anyone is actually using it or if its just a ghost town on whatever frequency i land on. for context im running an ic-7300 into a fan dipole up about 35 feet, wsjt-x for ft8 and ft4, and i use fldigi sometimes for psk31 when i want to feel like im actually talking to someone. so its not like im new to digital. just cant tell if js8call is worth putting the time in or if ill just end up back on 14.074 clicking contacts again. anyone actually use it regularly and have an opinion either way?

yeah the pi plus arduino combo is actually pretty common for exactly this reason. the pi is great for the heavy lifting but its a pain for anything real-time or analog. i use an Arduino nano as basically a sensor front end — it reads a handful of analog inputs and sends the data over serial to the pi every second or so. been rock solid for like two years now running WSPR beacon monitoring in my garage shack. the ADS1115 i2c adc is fine too and saves you a whole extra board if you only need a few channels but honestly for what your describing the nano approach gives you more flexibility and you can add stuff later without rewiring everything. just watch your ground loops if your SWR bridge is anywhere near rf, took me a while to figure out why my readings were going nuts on 40m transmit.

so i've been kind of half paying attention to space weather stuff for a while now but yesterday something clicked and i actually worked 14 countries on 10 meters in like two hours which honestly blew my mind because the band has been pretty dead every time i checked it the last few months. had a few european stations coming in so loud it sounded like they were next door and even caught what i think was a JA station calling CQ around noon local time. anyway i went and looked at the solar flux index after and it was sitting around 178 which apparently is pretty high? i dont really have a great feel for what the numbers mean in terms of actual band conditions. like i know higher flux generally means better HF but is there a rough rule of thumb for when 10m actually starts getting useful vs just being noise? and does the SFI have to stay elevated for a few days before the bands really open up or can it happen pretty fast also noticed the K index was pretty low which i assume helped. still learning all this stuff so any pointers appreciated

so ive been licensed for about 6 years now and done a fair amount of HF work, some 2m ssb tropo stuff, even a little satellite with the Funcube but EME has always seemed like this completely unreachable thing that only guys with giant yagi farms in their backyard could do. but ive been reading more about it lately and apparently the weak signal digital modes have kind of changed the game? like JT65 and now Q65 making it possible with way less antenna than the old CW days? anyway my current 2m setup is a single 9el yagi and a pretty mediocre preamp situation, probably around 100w out from the amp. i know thats nowhere near enough for CW EME but im wondering if Q65 would make something like that workable or if im still just dreaming. also curious what people actually use for receive sensitivity — i keep seeing LNA4ALL and the Septum feeds mentioned but im not totally sure how the whole chain works together on a dedicated EME station. any pointers appreciated, even just pointing me at the right reading material would help

this is the kind of post i needed to read today honestly. im still pretty new to ARES, only been involved about 8 months and i've been nervous about whether i'd actually be useful in a real event. its reassuring in a weird way to hear that even experienced operators run into problems during exercises because i was starting to feel like everyone else had it all figured out except me one thing i'm curious about is how you handled the prioritization issue after the fact, like did the EC change up the operating procedures for how a single operator handles multiple traffic types simultaneously or is that just something that comes with more reps

yeah my first one was a disaster too, forgot my coax adapter and had to just use a random wire tossed over a branch with alligator clips. somehow still made contacts which was honestly kind of amazing. it gets way easier once you figure out your own little system for packing and setting up. i bring everything pre-rigged now, antenna rolled up a certain way, feedline coiled separately, that kind of thing. saves so much time on summit. also get a battery pack for the phone situation, a small 10000mah one doesnt weigh much and its saved me a bunch of times for spotting and checking the cluster. the spotting really does make a huge difference for getting chasers.

okay so i just passed my general exam last week (finally) and i've been reading about vanity callsigns but honestly the FCC website makes my head spin. i currently have a sequential call that got assigned to me automatically when my tech license came through a couple years ago and its a 2x3 in the 4th district even though i live in the 5th district which has always kind of bugged me. anyway i want to apply for something shorter or at least in my actual district but i have no idea where to start. i know theres a 60 day waiting period or something after someone dies before their call goes available? or is it after the license cancels? and do you just apply through the FCC ULS directly or is there a third party site that helps track when specific calls become available. i saw someone mention lotw but that seems like for logging contacts not callsigns. someone at my club mentioned ae7net or something like that but i wasnt sure if it was legit or just some sketchy site also can i apply for any district or does it have to match where i live now. i feel like ive seen guys with 1x2 calls in states that dont even start with that number so im guessing its pretty open. just want a clean shorter call if possible without spending a ton of time figuring out the bureaucracy lol

so ive been interested in ham radio for a while now, my neighbor has a big antenna setup and he let me listen in on some stuff last summer and i got hooked. anyway i decided i want to actually get licensed but honestly i dont even know what the difference is between technician and general and all that. do i have to take them in order or can i just jump to one of the higher ones? and whats the best way to study, i saw there are apps and websites but i dont know which ones are actually useful vs just garbage. i work full time so i dont have a ton of time to sit down with a book or whatever. any advice from people who went through this recently would be really helpful

so i finally did my first activation last weekend at a state park about 45 minutes from my house, K-4801 if anyone knows it, and man i was not prepared for how different it feels operating in the field vs from your shack. like everything takes twice as long when youre setting up outside and your antenna is a random wire thrown over a tree branch. i brought my KX3 and a 40m EFHW and a little folding table and thought id be set up in like 20 minutes. took me almost an hour because i kept second guessing the feedpoint height and then the wind picked up and yeah. anyway eventually got on 40m and started calling CQ POTA and... nothing for like 8 minutes. i was starting to wonder if my rig was even transmitting. then all of a sudden i got spotted on the network i guess and the pile started and i had 12 contacts in about 15 minutes which was honestly a rush. ended up with 22 contacts total before a thunderstorm rolled in and i had to pack up fast. got my activation count but barely. anyone have tips for setting up faster or what to bring that i might be missing? feels like there has to be a better system than what i did

did the NMO on my Tacoma a few years back and honestly yeah it made a noticeable difference, not night and day but the feedline loss alone from a good low-loss coax run beats whatever youre losing with a mag mount and its sketchy contact patch. the bigger deal for me was just the peace of mind knowing its not going anywhere at highway speeds. drilling the roof on a newer truck is annoying but its not that scary if you take your time. just make sure you seal it properly with the NMO gasket and a little self-etching primer on the bare metal before you put everything together. ive seen guys skip that step and have rust rings under the mount within a year. run your coax through the door weatherstrip or the rear pillar depending on where your radio sits, most of the time you can tuck it in without any real modification. i used LMR-400 for my run and terminated it myself, overkill for VHF maybe but it was what i had.

so i just passed my general last month and im still running my technician call which is fine but its a pretty long sequential one and i was thinking about applying for a vanity call to get something shorter or maybe get a 1x2 or 2x1 if thats even possible for a general class. i went to the FCC ULS and honestly the whole thing is a little confusing. like i get that you apply during a filing window and then if multiple people apply for the same call it goes to some kind of random selection? or is it not random, ive heard conflicting things. a guy at my club said it basically is luck after a certain point but another guy said there are ways to increase your odds by applying for less popular calls. also can someone explain the sequential process a bit — when i got my tech call it was just assigned to me automatically, does that still happen if i dont want to bother with vanity? and if i upgrade to extra later does my call change automatically or do i have to do something. sorry if these are dumb questions just trying to wrap my head around it before i do anything

congrats on passing the test. so yeah you basically have to wait until your license is actually in the ULS database before you can file for a vanity call, and what your club friend said about 10 days is a bit old school - these days it usually shows up within a day or two, sometimes even same day if you applied through a VEC that does electronic filing. just keep checking the ULS license search with your name until you see it pop up with your sequential callsign assigned. once its there, you can go ahead and file the vanity application. the FCC charges like $35 for it now I think, or maybe its changed, worth double checking on their site. and heads up - if your grandfather's old call is available you can absolutely apply for it, but 1x2 calls are pretty sought after so there might be other applicants. the FCC has this whole lottery-style system when multiple people apply for the same call in the same application window. dont let that discourage you though, lots of people do get the call they want especially if its been sitting unused for a while

yeah the missing balun is almost certainly part of your problem. without a choke at the feedpoint the coax shield becomes part of the radiating system which throws everything off and can cause weird SWR readings that shift when you touch the coax. i went through the same thing with my first 80m dipole. wound a 1:1 choke on a FT240-43 toroid, like 9-10 turns of the coax, and the SWR dropped and stabilized noticeably. 1.8:1 isnt going to hurt anything but its definitely worth sorting out the common mode problem first before you start trimming because you might end up chasing your tail cutting wire based on a reading thats being influenced by the coax anyway. also 25 feet on 40m is gonna give you more NVIS-ish radiation which isnt the worst thing depending on what youre trying to do. if youre working regional stuff its actually fine. for DX youd want it higher obviously but work with what you got.

yeah what he said about the log is key. but also — are you sure your beacons are actually getting picked up by another igate and not just your own? if direwolf is set to igate but something in the filter config is wrong it might just be silently dropping stuff. aprs.fi has a raw data view, search for your call there and see if anything at all shows up, sometimes theres a delay too but like 24 hours and nothing means somethings definitely broken in the chain. i went through almost the exact same thing and it turned out i had a typo in my passcode, just one digit off, connection succeeds but you get no igate priveleges

Time-consuming pleasantries and other superfluous matters are not part of the procedure while the net is in session. Net stations follow the direction of the NCS without question. For managing multiple check-ins, use phonetic alphabetization - call for stations by suffix letter groups. Works great for larger nets!

Michigan to Colorado on 5 watts on 40m is a solid contact, don't undersell that. The band does a lot of the work but you still gotta have a decent signal to pull it off. On the battery thing — yeah LiPo does not love the cold. I switched over to LiFePO4 chemistry a couple years back and it holds up way better below freezing, trades a tiny bit of energy density for much better temperature performance. Also safer if you're throwing it in a pack. I use a Bioenno 4ah pack and it's been reliable. Little heavier than a lipo of the same capacity but worth it for winter stuff. The antenna height thing is real. I've started carrying a 10m fiberglass pole on longer outings just so i can actually get my feedpoint up where it belongs. Makes a noticeable difference, at least to my ears.

so i finally did my first activation last weekend, been chasing summits for about 6 months and kept telling myself id get out there and actually do one. picked a relatively easy summit nearby, W4T/SU-031 if anyone knows that area, figured it would be a good starter since the trail isnt brutal and the summit reference had been activated a few times before so i knew it was legit. brought my FT-818 and a linked dipole i built from a kit, got to the top and started setting up and immediately the wind picked up like crazy. spent probably 20 minutes just trying to get the antenna sorted before i could even think about making contacts. posted my spot on SOTAwatch and waited and honestly thought nobody was going to answer me on 40m, the noise floor up there was surprisingly bad considering im on top of a hill. eventually moved to 20m and started getting some responses, managed 4 contacts which i know is the minimum but it still counts right. one of the chasers was super helpful and told me to try calling CQ a bit slower which i think did help. came down feeling kind of mixed about it but also kind of hooked if that makes sense. anyone else have a rough first activation that still worked out?

i did mine like 8 months ago, basically just used hamstudy on my phone during lunch breaks at work for maybe 3 weeks. passed first try with only missing 4 i think. the electrical stuff tripped me up a little since i never really did anything with electronics before but you pick up the patterns pretty fast when youre seeing the same questions over and over. good luck, its way less scary than it looks from the outside

congrats on the first outing, that's a solid number of contacts for a first run especially with QRP. Colorado from Ohio on 40m in the morning hours is good propagation but still, 4 watts is 4 watts and you gotta feel good about that. for the tree thing, a lot of folks use a slingshot with a fishing weight tied to some monofilament. arborist throw bags also work really well, they're basically little weighted bags that you fling up and the line follows. once you get the hang of it you can clear a 50 foot branch on the first or second try most days. i keep a cheap wrist rocket slingshot in my kit and it's made a huge difference compared to the stick-and-prayer method i used to do. some guys use a bow and arrow setup or even a potato cannon but that feels like overkill to me for a quick portable session.

so its been a slow week and i just had the radio on in the background while doing some stuff around the house and 40m was actually pretty decent tonight, heard a few guys ragchewing out of ohio and caught a little bit of some dx i couldnt quite make out, might have been south american somewhere. anyway just felt like checking in, havent posted here in a while. the hobby has been good to me lately even if i dont get on the air as much as id like to. anyone else doing the same thing just kinda half listening while doing other stuff

hey everyone, kind of embarrassing but ive been interested in ham radio for like two years now and i keep putting off actually getting licensed. i dont even know what the difference is between all the license levels or which one i should be going for first. a coworker has a radio and hes been bugging me to just do it already. i looked up the FCC website and got kind of overwhelmed and closed the tab lol anyway is there like a standard way people study for this or do you just kind of wing it? i heard there are practice tests somewhere online but i dont know if thats actually enough to pass or if i need to buy a book or take a class or what. also how hard is the actual test, like is it multiple choice or do you have to know morse code or anything like that

the relay theory is pretty solid, that's where i'd look first too. one thing i'll add — on the 857 specifically there's been some talk on eham about the SMD capacitors in the front end going leaky over time, especially on older units that ran hot. not super common but worth keeping in mind if the relay checks out okay. the service manual for the 857 is honestly pretty good once you find the right version, there were a few revisions. if you can get a signal tracer or even just a cheap RTL-SDR to inject test signals at different points in the chain you can usually narrow it down pretty fast without just swapping parts blind.

so ive been licensed for about 3 months now and i keep hearing and seeing all these weird abbreviations and codes people throw around and i honestly have no idea what half of them mean. like QSL i sort of get, its like confirming a contact right? but then theres QRM and QRN and QSB and people just rattle them off like everyone knows what they are. also what about the 73 thing, i see that at the end of basically every message. is there a master list somewhere or do people just memorize all this over time? i feel like im missing half the conversation when i listen to nets