Rag Chewer

yeah the technician HF privileges are pretty limited but they do exist. basically you get CW on a small chunk of 80, 40, and 15 meters, and then on 10 meters you get a bit more — CW, digital modes, and phone up to 28.5 MHz i believe. that 10m phone privilege is what most techs end up using if they want to try HF before upgrading. honestly the easiest thing to do is just look up the frequency/privileges chart on the ARRL website, way easier than trying to parse part 97 directly. the actual rule is in 97.301 i think but the chart just lays it all out visually. and yeah upgrade to general when you get a chance, opens up a ton more. the extra question pool isnt that scary either once youre already past tech.

i just passed mine last month actually. the oscillator stuff and the filter Q calculations were the parts that got me, had to watch like 4 different youtube videos on LC circuits before it clicked. but the exam itself wasnt as bad as i thought once i really drilled the question pool. ham study dot com has a pretty good practice mode if you havent tried it.

The thing that gets people every single time is the little stuff — SO-239 to BNC adapters, a handful of alligator clips, some Anderson Powerpole connectors in a little ziplock. Sounds dumb but when you need them at 2am you will be very glad they're in there. Also throw in a basic multimeter, nothing fancy, just something to check voltage when you're scratching your head wondering why the radio won't key up. For logging I actually keep a few of those Rite in the Rain notebooks in my kit. Waterproof, you can write on them in the rain or with wet hands, and they hold up way better than regular paper if things get rough. A couple mechanical pencils too, pens can get weird in cold weather. One more thing — document your own kit. I know that sounds silly but write down what frequencies your local ARES group uses, who the EC is, the NTS net schedule for your section, all of that. In a real emergency your brain goes sideways and having a little laminated card with the important stuff right there in the lid of the case is worth more than you'd think. I learned that one the hard way during a deployment a few years back when I blanked on the simplex calling frequency we were supposed to use and had to ask someone embarrassingly basic questions on the air.

I've been chasing DX awards for a few years now and have been focused mainly on DXCC. Currently at 247 countries confirmed and finding the next ones increasingly challenging. A friend mentioned that WAZ recognizes contacts with all 40 geographic zones defined by CQ's official zone map and might be more rewarding. I'm curious about others' experiences - WAZ seems more logical for "working the world" since DXCC's 100 countries may not be spread worldwide. Some zones look really tough from my QTH in the midwest. Which award did you find more satisfying to chase, and why?

Been running something similar but with IC-7300 and higher power. Your QRP approach is interesting - what kind of range are you seeing on 40m with 5W into what antenna system? Considering downsizing my setup for better portability.

so ive been running FT8 for about two years now and yeah its great for working new entities and filling in the log but honestly it feels more like a video game than actual radio sometimes. you click a callsign, the macros do everything, you get a confirmation in LOTW and thats it. no real exchange, nothing. started messing around with JS8Call a few months ago and its a totally different vibe. like you actually type stuff to people. i worked a guy in Montana last week during a really rough band opening on 40m and we had an actual back and forth conversation, signal was only like -18dB and it was totally readable. that kind of thing just doesnt happen on SSB when the bands marginal. my question is whether anyone is actually using it regularly enough that theres activity on the calling frequencies or if its kind of a ghost town. i tune around and sometimes i see a few relayed messages and occasional beacons but actual live QSOs seem rare. also curious if anyone has compared it to Winlink for emergency comms purposes since the store and forward thing in JS8Call seems interesting but i dont fully understand how reliable it is versus a proper Winlink gateway setup.

not dumb questions at all, this stuff genuinely is confusing when you first start out. the short answer is most serious operators use LoTW as their primary because it's what counts for DXCC and WAS and most of the big awards. eQSL has its own awards system and some people really like it, but yeah it's kind of its own separate world. the certificate process for LoTW is a little annoying upfront but once you get through it its basically set and forget. if you're running WSJT-X for FT8 it can automatically log to TQSL which then uploads to LoTW, you just have to configure it once. look in the settings under logging, there should be an option for it. for your SSB contacts you'd log those in whatever logging software you're using and then upload the adif file through TQSL manually, doesnt take long once you get the hang of it. paper cards are worth doing too honestly, some DX entities you work will only confirm via paper, and there's something really satisfying about getting a nice card in the mail from some rare country. i'd sign up for the bureau through your ARRL section if you're a member, way cheaper than sending direct for most contacts. but dont stress about getting all three going at once, start with LoTW and add the others as you feel like it

yeah definitely dont memorize the dot dash patterns, that will slow you way down later because you end up having to translate in your head instead of just hearing the character. the whole goal is to eventually hear dah-dit and just know its N without thinking about it, same way you hear a word in english and dont sound it out letter by letter anymore. Koch method is the way most people recommend and i think it works well. basically you start with just two characters at full speed, like 20wpm or whatever, and only move on to adding the next character when you can copy those two at like 90% accuracy. the speed thing is important because if you practice at 5wpm youll get stuck at 5wpm and struggle to ever copy faster. LCWO dot net is a free website that does koch method and a lot of people use it, i think its still the main one people point beginners to. theres also the Just Learn Morse Code software if you want something on your pc. some guys like the Morse Toad app or Ham Morse on the phone. the other thing i would say is just listen to actual CW on the air even before you can copy it. tune around 7.050 or so in the evenings, the slower stations around 14.050 on 20m. just getting your ear used to the rhythm of real QSOs helps a lot. it wont make sense at first but it stops feeling like random noise eventually. your grandpa would be proud, CW is genuinely a great mode

yeah the plateau around 8-10wpm is pretty much a universal experience, you are definitely not alone there. what happens is below that speed your brain is still sounding out individual dits and dahs and kind of assembling the letter consciously. to get faster you have to rewire things so the whole sound of a character just means something instantly, same way you read a word without spelling it out in your head. what finally worked for me was just a ton of head copy at uncomfortable speeds. i set my trainer to like 15wpm character speed with long Farnsworth spacing and just lived there for a couple months even though i was only maybe getting 70% copy. your brain adapts, it really does, but it takes longer than the first stage. also honestly just getting on the air and making yourself have real QSOs helped me way more than any trainer software. even if you only catch half of whats being sent you start to recognize patterns and common phrases and that builds speed in ways drills dont quite capture. 20wpm took me probably 18 months of pretty inconsistent practice so dont sweat the guys claiming 3 months, either they had a musical background or they are exaggerating a little

Just got my General upgrade and I'm planning to install a new HF station with a 100W transceiver and a 40m dipole at 30 feet. I understand the new rules require station evaluations for all amateurs, with existing stations having until May 3, 2023 to complete evaluations and new stations needing compliance before activation. What specific steps do I need to take to be legally compliant? Section 97.13 requires licensees to take certain actions before transmitting where RF exposure could exceed FCC guidelines. Looking for practical guidance on how to actually do this evaluation.

oh man i just went through this whole process like two months ago. took me forever to find a call i liked that was actually available. one thing i'll add is that some calls look available but they might be in a cooling off period after the previous holder passed away or let it lapse, think its a 2 year wait on those in some cases. ae7q shows that info though so definately check there before you get your heart set on something.

yeah what he said. i remember my first one was a flood watch deployment and i was so focused on not messing up that i forgot to actually listen to what net control was saying, ended up having to ask for a repeat like three times on the same transmission which felt embarrassing but nobody cared at all. the served agency folks honestly just want to know someone is there with a radio working, they're not grading your technique. one thing that helped me early on was writing out a little cheat sheet with my assigned frequency, my tactical call if they gave me one, and the format for whatever reports I was supposed to send. just a folded up index card in my shirt pocket. sounds dumb but when youre tired and people are asking you things it's nice to have something to glance at

so ive been messing around with a cheap RTL-SDR v3 dongle for about 6 months now, mostly just scanning local repeaters, picking up ADSB traffic, that kind of thing. its been a blast honestly and now im kind of falling down the rabbit hole. been reading about the SDRplay RSP1A and the HackRF One and im trying to figure out which direction to go. the RSP1A seems like a cleaner receive-only upgrade, better dynamic range, the 12-bit ADC vs the 8-bit on the rtl dongle, and SDRuno actually looks pretty decent from the screenshots ive seen. but then the HackRF does transmit too which opens up a whole other world. problem is i mostly just want to listen and learn, maybe eventually do some weak signal stuff or look at satellite downlinks. anyone actually used both? is the SDRplay noticeably better for HF receive or am i going to be disappointed compared to what i read online. also not sure if i need SDRuno or if gqrx or SDR# works fine with it on linux. my main machine is ubuntu 22.

so ive been running an RTL-SDR v3 for about a year now mostly doing aircraft and some NOAA weather sat stuff and i keep going back and forth on whether to step up to something better for HF. the RTL-SDR does okay with the direct sampling mod but honestly its kind of a mess below 30 MHz, lots of birdies and the dynamic range just isnt there when there's a strong broadcast station nearby wiping out everything around it. been looking at the HackRF One and the SDRplay RSPdx. the HackRF is half duplex which i understand but for just receiving thats fine. the RSPdx though has better specs on paper, 14-bit ADC vs the HackRF's 8-bit, and the noise figure is apparently way better in the HF range. but the HackRF covers way more bandwidth at once and its open hardware which appeals to me. price difference isnt huge maybe $50-80 depending where you get them. main use would be HF, probably shortwave broadcast listening, some 40m and 80m ham band monitoring, and id like to try decoding some WSPR spots. not transmitting obviously. anyone gone through this comparison or have both? does the SDRplay actually make a noticeable difference on a real antenna or is it one of those things that only matters in lab conditions

the drooping antenna thing is real, i use a cheap bungee from the hardware store to keep tension on mine and it made a huge difference. also if youre doing more POTA stuff look into a linked dipole, way easier to tune for different bands without the swr drama

idk man, ive been spinning the dial on 40m most evenings this week and it feels weirdly quiet. usually theres at least a few ragchews going around 7.250 or so but lately its just noise and the occasional digital burst. maybe its just my antenna situation, ive still got the temporary wire up from when i took down the dipole to re-do the feedline and honestly that was like 6 weeks ago so maybe thats just my problem lol. or maybe everybody migrated up to 20m for the fall condx? not sure. just feels like a ghost town compared to even a few months back

so ive been running FT8 for about a year now and yeah its great for racking up contacts and the weak signal performance is just stupid good, worked a ZL station last week on 20m with like -18dB SNR which still blows my mind. but the whole thing feels like watching a slot machine. you click a callsign, exchange grid squares, 73, done. theres no... conversation. someone in my local club mentioned JS8Call and said it was basically FT8 but you could actually type messages back and forth. so i installed it and have been poking around on 40m mostly but i cant really figure out if anyone is actually using it for ragchews or if its just people sending automated heartbeat beacons at each other. the waterfall looks busy enough but every time i try to call CQ i get nothing or just an automated ping back from someones node. is there like a specific time or freq people actually hang out on JS8Call and hold real QSOs? or is the mode just kinda dying out? also wondering how the weak signal performance compares to FT8 since i assume the longer transmit windows hurt you there. my setup is nothing special, IC-7300 and a dipole up about 30 feet.

so i was just messing around on 10 meters yesterday afternoon, not really expecting much because conditions have been pretty meh lately, and all of a sudden the band just exploded. i was hearing stations from south america super loud, like 59+ on some of them, and even worked a couple European stations which i havent done on 10m in a while. ran about 35 contacts in maybe an hour before it faded out again. also saw that Yaesu apparently announced something new at a hamfest recently, some kind of updated version of one of their HF rigs but i cant find the details anywhere. anyone know what that was about? i saw it mentioned on another site but the thread was kind of vague. the solar flux has been climbing which probably explains the 10m stuff, we're getting up there in the cycle which is exciting. anyway just wanted to share because it was a nice surprise on a random Tuesday. if you havent checked 10m lately might be worth spinning the dial up there when you get a chance.

Nobody's going to bite your head off for being slow, honestly. The big guns running serious category entries might move on quickly if you fumble but thats just how it goes, they're not being rude they just have a rate to maintain. Most casual contesters are totally fine with a slower exchange. My advice would be to just jump into something like the ARRL November Sweepstakes or even one of the smaller state QSO parties first. The exchanges are simpler and the pace is a lot more manageable than CQ WW which can get absolutely insane on 20 meters during peak hours. Set yourself a small goal, like 50 contacts, and just focus on that. Use N1MM or even just a paper log if you want to keep it simple. You'll figure out the rhythm pretty fast once you're actually doing it, reading about it only gets you so far. SOTA is its own whole thing and worth doing but yeah it's more of a personal challenge than a contest per se. Still great fun though if you like hiking.

Check your Windows firewall settings - N1MM+ and WSJT-X both need UDP exceptions. For SO2R setups, Radio #2 needs port 2239 but sounds like you're running SO1R. Also verify you don't have "Enable" checked in the Secondary UDP Server section of WSJT-X - that's only for external logging programs.

Q65 has basically taken over for EME yeah, at least on 2m. JT65B still works and you'll find stations running it but the activity on Q65-60A is where most of the action is now, especially for smaller stations. the timing thing does take some getting used to, you really need GPS disciplined timing or at least something pretty solid, even being off by a second or two can mess you up. on the antenna question, single yagi EME is doable but youre going to be limited to working the bigger stations, the guys running 4x or 8x yagi arrays or dishes. some of those stations actively look for small stations to work so it's not hopeless, but your contact rate is going to be low. a 4x array on a proper az-el is kind of the sweet spot for getting into it seriously without going completely overboard. the az-el mount is probably the bigger headache honestly, getting something that tracks accurately and doesnt flex or bind is where people spend a lot of money. for power, 500-700w into that array is workable, you dont necessarily need a full legal limit although more is always better on EME. midwest is fine by the way, youre not at any real disadvantage geographically for EME compared to the coasts, the moon doesnt care.

yeah i went through basically the same thing when i first got started lol. turned out i had the offset backwards on mine, was transmitting on the output instead of the input so i could hear everyone fine but they couldnt hear me at all. drove me nuts for like a week. also some repeaters around here have a linked system going so sometimes theres a slight delay before the courtesy tone comes through and i used to unkey too fast and miss it entirely

oh man i went through exactly this about two years ago and the biggest thing i can tell you is dont try to build the perfect kit on day one. i started with a cheap plastic tote from walmart, just got the essentials in there and made myself actually deploy it a few times in the backyard. you learn real fast what you forgot when youre standing in a parking lot at 6am trying to remember where you packed your coax adapters. for your situation the FT-891 is actually a solid choice for a go-kit, runs fine off 12v direct so that marine battery will work great. i would grab an anderson powerpole distribution block if you dont have one, makes connecting everything so much cleaner. and yeah get yourself some powerpole connectors on everything before you need them, not the night before a deployment. for antennas i personally went with a linked dipole that i can put up with a painters pole or throw into a tree. the EFHW is fine but you're right that they can be fiddly. maybe just keep it as a backup and grab something simpler for quick deployment. the Home Depot toolbox thing is totally legit btw, a lot of the serious ARES guys around here use those and theyre way cheaper than Pelican cases. just dont go too crazy until you know what you actually need.

yeah done almost exactly this with a uno actually, though the mega would give you more i/o headroom which is probably fine. the ic-7300 does output band data on the acc connector, its a set of logic lines that go high or low depending on the band — theres a table in the manual, page like 19 or something. you can read those directly into the arduino digital pins, just watch your voltage levels, the 7300 runs at 3.3v on those pins so dont go connecting straight to 5v arduino inputs without a level shifter or you might have a bad day eventually. the relay module approach works fine, i used one of those sainsmart 8ch boards. only thing i'd say is put some snubber diodes on the relay coils if they arent already there, the back-EMF can mess with the arduino in weird ways especially if your wiring is sloppy like mine was at first. took me like two weeks to figure out why my arduino kept resetting randomly during transmit. pi is overkill for pure switching logic imo. arduino is perfect for this, boots instantly, no OS to worry about, just does its thing. save the pi for something where you actually need linux or networking.

yeah the listening part is really where most people fall down. ive watched guys on the cluster call for 45 minutes and never once adjust their tx frequency because they just assumed the split was static. you gotta work the vfo and kind of feel out where the op is fishing. one thing i'd add — pay attention to propagation timing. on a long path like south georgia from the midwest you might have a 20-30 minute window where the signal is really peaking and that's when you want to be making your runs, not warming up or futzing with the rig. i keep pskreporter open on a second screen just to see when other stations in my rough area are getting through, gives you a sense of when the path is actually open even if you cant hear the dx yourself yet. the other thing that helped me was just accepting that sometimes you call correctly and do everything right and still dont get through and thats just the nature of it. some activations ive worked first call and some rare ones took me dozens of sessions. VP8 is no joke, congrats on getting it in the log