Sarah Johnson

had the exact same issue when i was getting started with this. for me the fix was actually adjusting the audio levels on the signalink, i had the drive way too high and it was causing vara to just fail the handshake entirely. there's a setup guide on the winlink.org site that has specific levels for the IC-7300 with signalink and once i matched those it got a lot more consistent. also try telnet mode just to verify your winlink account and messages are actually working before you troubleshoot the RF side. if everything works on telnet then you know the issue is the radio path not the software config.

honestly the thing that helped me was just listening more before transmitting. spent a few weeks just monitoring 40m before i ever keyed up and you pretty quickly get a feel for when people use full phonetics vs just saying the call normally. contest operating is a whole other thing too, in a contest nobody has time for full phonetics, they abbreviate everything and go as fast as possible. but for a normal SSB contact when conditions are mediocre, yeah phonetics just make the whole thing smoother. your point about letters that sound similar is real -- B and D and E are a nightmare on a noisy band

yeah what he said about the filters is right but i'll add — the station automation side of SO2R is almost as important as the RF filtering. like even with clean audio if you're manually clicking to switch which radio is transmitting you're losing a ton of time and making mistakes under pressure. most serious SO2R ops are using winkeyer or similar with the logging software handling the PTT switching so the radio changeover is basically invisible to the operating flow i built my SO2R setup over like two years, started with the filters, then added a stackmatch controller, then finally got the logging integration working right. first contest i did with everything actually working together was kind of a revelation honestly, you really do pick up QSOs you would have just missed otherwise, mostly during those dead spots on your run frequency where you'd normally just be calling CQ into nothing for cqww specifically the mult hunting on radio 2 during a run is where SO2R really shines, new countries pop up on 10 or 12 and you can snag them without dropping your run on 20. but again, only if the whole system is working cleanly

also worth checking if the repeater is linked to anything like a hub or an IRLP node because sometimes those systems have their own quirks. like theres one near me that sounds totally normal but its actually tied into a network and there's like a half second delay before it actually gates your audio through, so if you're only keying up for a second or two your voice might be getting cut off before anyone hears you. try holding the PTT for about a second before you start talking and see if that helps

As a Technician, you can only apply for Group C or D call signs - that's 1×3 or 2×3 format. Did you accidentally request any 1×2 or 2×1 calls? Those are reserved for Extra class only and will get your application dismissed immediately.

the crowded room thing is pretty accurate honestly. AO-73 gets hammered on good passes especially anything over like 30-40 degrees max elevation. the AGC on that transponder will pull everyone down if a few lids are running full power so yeah keeping your uplink conservative is the right call, but what that actually means in practice kind of depends on your antenna gain and feedline losses. the inverting transponder thing trips everyone up at first, dont feel bad. once you get the doppler sorted and tuned correctly you should hear yourself in the downlink which is really the sanity check — if you cant hear your own signal you either arent in the passband or youre way too low power for that point in the pass. i usually aim to just barely audible on the downlink rather than trying to boom in. also worth trying some of the passes at lower elevations, counterintuitively you sometimes get fewer lids on the marginal passes because casual ops skip them.

I was in the same spot about 8 months ago and ended up getting a baofeng to start. it worked fine for what you're describing honestly. only thing i'd say is spend some time with CHIRP to program it because trying to do it manually from the keypad is kind of a pain. the menus are not exactly intuitive lol

yeah the workflow you're describing is pretty normal when you're just starting out with clusters, but there are some tricks that help a lot. for the spotting chaos thing — dxwatch and the qrz cluster are both aggregating spots from the same underlying telnet cluster network (DX Spider and a few others), they just have different filters and update frequencies on their web interfaces so yeah you'll see slight differences. neither one is really "better" they're just different views of the same pile of spots more or less. what changed everything for me was just running a dedicated client instead of the web interfaces. on Windows a lot of people use DXLab Suite which is free and the SpotCollector component in there is fantastic — it can tie into your logging, alert you on bands you actually care about, all that. takes an afternoon to configure but once its set up its way more usable than refreshing a webpage. DX4WIN is indeed more of a logger but it does have cluster integration too if you ever go down that road. for the pile-up timing problem — thats just kind of the reality of DX chasing unfortunately. spots are often already several minutes old by the time they hit the web. the telnet feed is faster. but even then a good dx station will usually work a frequency for a while so dont give up after one try, just listen and figure out the split situation and jump in when it sounds right.

so ive been using N1MM for probably 6 or 7 years now and honestly it does what i need for contests but outside of contest season i keep wishing it felt less like a war room and more like just... a normal logging program. heard a lot of people talking up Log4OM lately especially version 2 and the way it handles the QSO data and awards tracking is apparently pretty solid. my main worry is i have like 15,000 QSOs in N1MM from various contests and regular logging and i dont want to mess up the ADIF export/import situation. has anyone actually moved a big log over to Log4OM and had it come through clean? also i run WSJT-X pretty heavily for FT8 and right now i just have it feeding into N1MM via the UDP port thing which mostly works except sometimes it just stops logging and i have to restart both programs which is annoying. wondering if Log4OM handles the WSJT-X integration any better or if its basically the same UDP setup. not trying to abandon N1MM for contests, i know its the gold standard for that, but having two different programs for contest vs casual operating feels clunky. maybe theres a smarter way to set this up that im missing

ok so ive been licensed about 8 months now and i keep seeing people talk about LoTW and eQSL and also trading actual paper QSL cards through the bureau and i honestly have no idea what the actual difference is or if i need to be doing all of them. like is one better than the other or do most people just pick one and stick with it? i set up a LoTW account a while back and i think i uploaded a couple logs but i dont really understand the whole TQSL certificate thing and whether my confirmations are actually going through. and i heard eQSL is kind of looked down on by some people but others seem to use it fine. and then theres the paper cards which look really cool honestly but seems like a lot of work and postage to send them internationally. just trying to figure out what the normal workflow is for most hams. do you guys do all three or just focus on one? and does it matter for any awards or anything

Check your TLE update frequency - old data is the #1 cause of missed passes and tracking issues. I update mine automatically every day through CelesTrak. Also verify your QTH coordinates are precisely entered in HRD.

JS8Call is more sensitive to linearity than FT8/FT4 due to its extended message structure, while PSK31 demands high linearity for reliable decoding. If you plan to use multiple modes, invest in a quality interface from the start. The Digirig or MFJ-1204 are both solid choices.

the laminated freq card is something a lot of people skip and then regret it, good call on that. one thing i'd throw in — a small paper copy of the ICS forms we typically use for ARES stuff, 214 and 205 at minimum, even if you never end up using them it shows you showed up prepared and the served agency people notice that. also depending how long you might be deployed, some kind of phone charging situation. i have a small usb tap off my battery through a buck converter set to 5v and it has saved me more than once just being able to keep a phone alive. not strictly ham radio but when you're running nets for 8 hours in a parking lot you're gonna want it.

Configuration in WSJTx is identical to JS8Call, so that's a good starting point for troubleshooting. Try setting a longer PTT delay in JS8Call - sometimes the newer versions need more time to establish CAT control before keying.

yeah i had almost the exact same debate last year. ended up putting up an inverted-L instead of a full vertical and that helped a little with the space issue since you only need the vertical portion to be maybe 30-35 feet and the rest goes horizontal. worked pretty well for me on 40 and 80 both. not saying its the perfect solution but if height is the constraint its worth looking into before you spend money on a commercial vertical

yeah i do this all the time, its honestly my favorite part of the hobby. no pressure, no contest, just seeing whats out there. that buzzing you heard was probably some kind of power line interference or maybe a plasma tv nearby, i get something similar on 7.150 whenever my neighbor runs his hot tub pump. 40m is great for this kind of thing especially after 9 or 10pm local time when the skip settles down a bit.

Looking for opinions on the best remote control solution for my IC-7300. I've narrowed it down to two options: RemoteTx® ham radio remote control system is an economical way to control your amateur radio station through the Internet with a phone, tablet, Mac or PC. vs Simple ham radio remote web app is hosted on a Raspberry Pi in your amateur ham radio station. The IC-7300 USB port is connected to any USB port on the Raspberry Pi, it provides radio remote control and two-way audio. Both claim full rig control and audio integration. SimpleHRR appears more plug-and-play with no subscription fees, while RemoteTx has more features. Has anyone done a side-by-side comparison? I need reliable performance for FT8 and SSB operation while traveling.

65% after a week and a half honestly isnt bad, the general pool is bigger than tech and some of the questions are worded really weirdly. the electrical theory stuff like impedance matching and the decibel questions tripped me up a lot. i just kept doing practice exams over and over until i was consistently hitting 80% or above and then gave myself another few days before i sat for the real thing. propagation stuff is worth actually understanding a little because it comes up a lot and once you get on HF it actually matters in a real way, like knowing why 40m works at night and 15m works better during the day will make you a better operator. but the license stuff and band plan questions are pretty much just memorization, no shame in that. i used the ARRL general class book alongside hamStudy and that helped connect the dots for me. give yourself another 2-3 weeks id say, no rush.

i was in the same spot last year, what helped me was just putting on W1AW code practice on shortwave in the evenings even when i couldnt copy anything. after a few weeks stuff started jumping out at me, like id suddenly catch a callsign or a 73 at the end. also there are some apps like Morse Mania or Ham Morse that are decent for drilling on your phone when youre waiting around somewhere. dont worry too much about the method at first honestly just getting your ears used to hearing it matters a lot

ok so ive been licensed for about 3 months now and i mostly do 2m fm through the local repeater and occasionally some HF when i can get my dad off the couch and onto the radio with me lol. my question is about the phonetic alphabet thing. like i know what NATO phonetics are, alpha bravo charlie etc, but i dont really know when youre supposed to use them vs just saying stuff normally. like do i have to say my callsign in phonetics every single time? sometimes i hear people just say their call straight without spelling it out and other times people go through the whole alpha november seven whatever routine. is there a rule about this or is it just kind of a feel thing depending on conditions or what

I've built a 20M vertical dipole using two Hustler 6-BTVs mounted back-to-back about 40 feet high on a wooden mast. The vertical dipole configuration was chosen because my house and back yard layout do not lend themselves to the installations of a good ground radial system. The antenna resonates perfectly at 14.200 MHz but I'm seeing 2.3:1 SWR across the phone portion. I have a 1:1 balun at the feedpoint and a 14 turn coil of RG-8 coaxial cable wrapped around a 7 inch diameter fiberglass form. Should I move the choke balun closer to the feedpoint, or is this just normal for a trapped vertical dipole?

oh man i just did my first one back in the spring and the 44 contact requirement stressed me out way more than it should have lol. ended up with like 67 so it was fine but i spent the whole time convinced i wasnt going to make it. the European chasers thing is real, had a bunch of Germans and Italians in my log which was honestly the coolest part of the whole day. good luck with it, wildlife refuges are usually really nice spots to operate from too

honest answer? about half of it you'll actually use and the other half is just hoops. but here's the thing, the hoops are worth jumping through because some of that theory does stick and you start understanding WHY your antenna is doing what its doing or why a certain filter configuration causes problems. i did mine over about 3 months of casual studying, maybe 45 minutes a night a few times a week. ham study dot com and just grinding practice exams until i was consistently hitting 85 percent or better. the actual exam felt easier than the practice ones somehow. the extra band privileges are real and you will notice it on 40m especially during a pileup. worth doing in my opinion, just dont stress about fully understanding every formula. get the concept down and the math will follow eventually or it wont and youll still pass.

Looking for advice on antenna grounding. I mounted my Comet SSB14 on a painted luggage rack crossbar and neither the mount nor antenna is grounded because of the paint coating. Getting poor performance on 6 meters especially. Would it be better to run a ground wire from the antenna mount following the coax path, or could I ground at the PL-259 connector inside the vehicle? Radio is a Yaesu FT-8900D mounted under passenger seat with control head on console. Any thoughts on the best approach?

ok so ive been lurking on the sat ops stuff for a while and finally decided to try it this weekend. got gpredict set up, printed out a pass schedule for my area, and went outside with my ft-818 and a homemade eggbeater antenna i threw together from some online plans. the antenna is for 435/145 roughly. the pass came overhead and i could hear... something. like there was definitely activity on the downlink around 145.950 but i couldnt make out any actual signals, just kind of a noise floor that seemed slightly elevated. i was tuning around the linear transponder passband manually and nothing really resolved into voices or cw. maybe i heard one carrier very faintly but it could have been wishful thinking honestly. do i need to be correcting for doppler manually while tuning? im pretty sure thats the thing i was missing but i dont fully understand how to do it on the fly without having the radio hooked up to the laptop. the pass was only like 8 minutes and by the time i figured out roughly where i was on the band it was already dropping below the horizon. any advice appreciated, especially for working ao-7 or fo-29 with basic gear.