Robert Williams

so ive been on HF for about two years now and i feel like my SSB audio is always getting comments. not terrible comments but like 'you sound a little bassy' or 'your audio is kinda hollow' and it bugs me. im running an IC-7300 into a Heil PR-40 with the stock settings basically. i did mess with the TX equalizer in the menu a couple times but honestly i dont fully understand what im doing in there and i feel like i made it worse at one point and had to reset it. what i really want to know is what the experienced guys actually do for SSB audio. like is there a standard approach people use for mic gain, compression, the EQ stuff — or is it all just trial and error with someone on the other end giving you reports. i feel like ive read a hundred different forum posts about this and everyone says something different. some people say max out the compression, some people say never use it, i have no idea who to believe at this point. also wondering if the PR-40 is even a good match for the 7300 or if im fighting the mic characteristics. it does seem like a pretty bass-heavy mic from what i can tell.

For digital modes like FT8, the software typically handles automatic identification, but you're still responsible for compliance. Stations must identify at beginning, end, and every 10 minutes, with automated systems like repeaters following identification requirements using voice or Morse code. Check your software settings to ensure proper ID timing.

Q65 has pretty much taken over from JT65C for most EME work these days, at least on 2m. the sensitivity is a bit better and it handles doppler spread more gracefully. make sure you're running WSJT-X 2.6 or newer and get yourself set up on the WSJT-X EME page to see whos active and when the moon is up for both stations simultaneously — that second part trips people up more than anything. on the antenna question, 4x17el is definitely workable but youre going to be in the weaker end of things and youll need everything else to be really dialed in. preamp right at the feed is not optional, something like an SSB Electronics SP-200 or equivalent with a noise figure under 0.5dB ideally. relay switching matters too, you dont want coax between the preamp and the antenna. and yeah the ft-991a at 100w is going to hurt you, the HL-350VDX would be a step up but for EME honestly 500w or more on a 4-yagi setup is where you start having real QSOs instead of just calling and hoping. its doable though, ive seen guys work initials on smaller pistol stations with patience and good operating conditions especially around perigee when the moon is closer.

this is super helpful, im only a couple months into my technician license and didnt realize 10m was open to tech class ops on phone above 28.300. just looked it up and im definately going to try this weekend with my little whip antenna. is it worth trying even with a mag mount on my car or should i wait until i can set up something better outside?

The key is avoiding that lookup table approach your brain wants to use. Morse at 5 wpm and Morse at 15 or 20 wpm are completely different critters, and you don't want to waste time on the wrong one. I switched from random character groups to plain text copied from news articles. Your brain starts recognizing whole words instead of individual letters - that's when the real breakthrough happens.

Koch method is genuinely the way to go if youre starting from scratch, just use the LCWO website, its free and walks you through it character by character at a speed that actually trains your brain to hear whole letters instead of counting dots and dashes. that counting thing is the trap that gets everyone, you DO NOT want to learn it that way, you'll plateau and have to unlearn it later. the key thing people mess up is they start too slow. like 5 wpm feels more comfortable but your brain just starts counting. most people recommend starting the character speed at 20 wpm even if the overall word speed is slower, thats the Farnsworth method basically. sounds weird but it works because you start associating the sound with the letter instead of breaking it down. i started in my mid 40s and after about 3 months of 15-20 minutes a day i was pulling calls out of a pileup. not perfectly but enough. just dont skip days, consistency matters way more than long sessions

so this has been bugging me for a couple weeks now. my APRS beacon is going out fine, i can see it hitting the digis and getting iGated no problem, shows up on aprs.fi and all that. but the position it's showing is like 3 miles off from where i actually am. i checked the lat/lon i entered in the TM-D710 and it matches what my GPS says, so im not sure where the discrepancy is coming from. background: im running the TM-D710G which has the built in GPS, 1200 baud on 144.390, using the internal TNC. path is WIDE1-1,WIDE2-1. i thought maybe the GPS just needed more time to lock but ive left it on for hours and it still shows the wrong spot on the map. the weird part is that older packets from like a month ago show up in the right spot, so something changed at some point and i cant figure out what. anyone run into this? wondering if maybe aprs.fi is caching something old or if theres something funky with how the radio is outputting the position data. i havent changed any settings that i know of.