Rachel Kim

ok so i just upgraded from tech to general last month and im trying to figure out where i can actually operate on 40 meters. i know there's the FCC allocation and then theres the band plan and those seem to be like... different things? my manual kind of glossed over this part and i dont want to transmit somewhere i shouldnt be. like i keep hearing people say dont operate too close to the band edge but nobody explains how close is too close. and is the band plan actually legally binding or is it just a gentlemens agreement kind of thing? been listening around 7.200 and below and seems like a lot of phone activity there but i also saw somewhere that some of that is technically cw/data territory for generals? im just confused and would appreciate someone breaking it down a little

yeah what he said about LoTW. also just to add — i went like two years before i bothered setting up LoTW properly and then i had to go back and upload all my old logs and some of them werent matching because i had my time zone set wrong in my logger. small thing but it caused a bunch of contacts not to confirm. so definitely sort out the settings before you upload a big batch. eQSL i use too, mostly because some of the guys i work on 40m seem to only bother with that one. paper cards i still send for anything interesting — first contact with a new country or a special event station or whatever. theres something nice about getting an actual card in the mail even if it doesnt really count for anything digital

ok so i just upgraded from tech to general last month and im trying to figure out where i can actually transmit on 40 meters. ive been reading the band plan on the arrl website but honestly its kind of confusing because theres what the FCC says you can do and then theres what the band plan recommends and they dont always seem to match up exactly? like i know generals get phone privileges starting at 7.175 up to 7.300 but then ive also heard people say you should stay away from the band edges and i dont really understand why. is that a rule or just a suggestion. also someone at my club mentioned something about the lower part of 40 being mostly DX and CW territory and that SSB guys shouldnt be hanging around down there which i didnt even know was a thing. just trying not to step on anyone or do something embarrassing on my first few outings

so i just got this new bencher paddle (BY-1) and hooked it up to my keyer that worked fine with my old vibroplex bug. now when i try to send dits the timing seems all over the place and sometimes it sends extra dits i didnt ask for. the keyer is a K1EL winkey usb that ive had for maybe 2 years. anyone else run into this kind of thing when switching paddles? im wondering if theres some adjustment i need to make or if the paddle contacts need breaking in or something

oh man i had the same experiance last week on 10m, i'm pretty new to HF and had basically written off anything above 20m because every time i checked it was just noise. then my buddy texted me saying hey get on 10 right now and i worked like 15 countries in an hour. i had no idea it could do that. i've been trying to learn about propagation since then but theres so much to it, like sporadic E vs F2 and all that. still wrapping my head around it honestly

Absolutely agree! Made the same switch last year and won't go back to mag mounts. The capacitive coupling through the magnet base is just too lossy compared to a direct electrical connection.

im in the same boat right now actually, just got my tech and trying to figure out my first mobile setup. i went with a mag mount just to test things out before i commit to anything permanent and honestly for a first install its been fine. reception on the local repeaters is solid. but yeah everyone says eventually youll want the real mount so maybe just go for it

honestly the technician exam is pretty manageable if you put in a couple weeks of focused study. the question pool is public, which is the big thing people dont realize at first — the actual questions on the test come word for word from that pool, so you're not trying to guess what might show up. HamStudy.org is what most people use these days and it works really well, just grind through the flashcards until you're consistently hitting 80-85% on the practice exams and youre probably ready. there used to be a book called the ARRL Ham Radio License Manual that a lot of elmers swear by and its not bad, especially if you want to actually understand the material rather than just memorize answers, but plenty of people pass just from the online stuff alone. as for how long, i've seen people do it in a weekend if they really buckled down, but two to three weeks of studying an hour a night is more realistic for most folks and youll retain it better that way. your 60% without studying is honestly not bad as a starting point.

yeah jump in, worst case you make a few contacts and learn a ton. i remember my first CQ WW i had no idea what i was doing and just kept calling CQ contest and people answered which was kind of surreal honestly. the exchange for WW SSB is signal report and CQ zone so its pretty simple to get the hang of once you do it a few times. ARRL Sweepstakes is also coming up in november and thats a US/Canada only contest which some people find less overwhelming than WW since you're not dealing with the whole world piling on. might be worth looking at that one too

so ive had my IC-7300 for about four years now and honestly it's been a great radio, no real complaints, but i keep looking at the IC-7610 and the Kenwood TS-890S and wondering if the jump is actually worth it. my shack is pretty basic, just the 7300, an LDG auto tuner, and a dipole up about 35 feet. i mostly do SSB on 40 and 20, some 17m when the band cooperates, and maybe 10-15 hours a week operating time. the thing is i dont really do contesting, maybe i'll jump in a state qso party once or twice a year but nothing serious. a buddy of mine keeps telling me the 7610 is a massive step up especially for weak signal work and the dual watch is really useful once you get used to it. but im looking at like $1500-1800 more than what id get selling the 7300 used and i just dont know if id actually notice the difference in day to day operating. has anyone made that jump and felt like it was genuinely worth it or is this just rig envy talking

so ive been licensed about 3 months now (general class) and i keep hearing about nets on the local repeater but i honestly have no idea how to actually check in properly. like i know you're supposed to say your callsign but is there a specific format? do you just jump in whenever or wait for something specific? i tried once and just kind of froze up and didn't say anything which was embarrassing. also i saw something about a special event station operating this weekend for some kind of historical anniversary — W1something — and i dont even know how those work. do you just call them like a normal QSO or is there a pile up situation like DX? i feel like i missed some orientation class somewhere lol any help appreciated, im running a technician HT into the local 147.something repeater if that matters

ok so ive been licensed for about 3 months now, got my technician and just upgraded to general last week actually, and i keep hearing and seeing all these shorthand things on the air and in logbooks that i just dont understand. like QSL, QRN, QRM, QTH... i know QSL means like confirming a contact or something but the rest im lost on. and its not just Q codes either, people say things like 73 and 88 and OM and YL and i have no idea what half of it means. tried googling but the lists i find are huge and dont really explain when you actually USE them. is there like a short version of the most common ones i should actually know? i dont wanna sit there on a sideband contact sounding like a total newbie every time someone throws an abbreviation at me

65% is honestly pretty respectable for an IRF510, those things are kind of notorious for being finicky to get right and a lot of builds dont even hit that. the warmth you're describing is probably fine as long as its not throttling up over time or anything. i ran one for a whole field day afternoon and it got warm to the touch but never caused any trouble. if you really want to chase better efficiency some people swear by the BS170 in a class E arrangement for lower power stuff, like under 1 watt, but at 3 watts the IRF510 is pretty standard and i wouldnt tear up a working board chasing a few percent. the matching network is worth double checking though, just verify your low pass filter values against the design and make sure your load is actually presenting 50 ohms at the final. a lot of efficiency loss hides in an imperfect match rather than the transistor itself. ohio from western PA on 3 watts homebrew is a solid first contact, congrats on getting it on the air.

oh man dont be nervous about it, net check-ins are literally one of the most forgiving things in ham radio. when net control calls for check-ins you just key up and say your callsign phonetically, wait for them to acknowledge you, and thats basically it. some nets ask for your name and location too but theyll usually tell you what they want at the start of the net or right before they open for check-ins. i remember my first check-in i totally fumbled my phonetics and the net control just asked me to repeat and was super cool about it. honestly after you do it once youll wonder why you waited so long. just jump in on that tuesday net, worst case you have to say your call twice and nobody cares. as for special event stations those are a bit different, youre usually just trying to contact them to get a QSL card or a certificate, not really a check-in format. depends on the event though. some hamfests set up a station and just do regular contacts, others have specific exchange info they want.

ham study dot org is what basically everyone uses these days, its free and it just drills you on the actual question pool over and over until you're scoring consistently above 80 or so and then you're probably ready. the tech exam honestly isn't that bad, it's 35 questions and you need 26 right which gives you a decent margin for the stuff you just cant figure out. some of it is pure memorization like the band privileges and a few formulas but a lot of the electrical theory questions make more sense once you just think about what the words mean. i passed first try after maybe two weeks of doing practice tests during lunch breaks. reach out to that club, the VEs are usually pretty relaxed about it and some of them will even give you pointers before the session starts

okay so i just got my technician license about three weeks ago and ive been trying to get on the local 2m repeater. i can hear people talking on it just fine but when i key up nobody seems to hear me or i dont get the courtesy beep back. a guy at the club mentioned something about CTCSS tones and i looked it up but honestly the explanations i found were kind of confusing. my radio is a baofeng uv-5r (yeah i know, i know) and i programmed it with chirp using the frequency and offset from the repeater directory but i dont think i set the tone right. like is the tone something i transmit, something i receive, or both? and does the tone have to match exactly or is there like a range? the repeater listing just says 100.0 and i have no idea if thats what im supposed to put in as the transmit tone or what. also kind of a separate question — when i do get it working, is there like a standard way to jump into a conversation or do people just talk whenever? dont want to be rude about it

You're way more prepared than most people doing their first activation honestly. The activation zone thing — yeah 25 vertical meters of the summit, doesnt have to be the exact top, which is good because sometimes the actual peak is just a pile of rocks with no room to set up. As long as youre within that zone youre good to log it. For spotting, i usually self-spot right when im set up and ready to start calling, so chasers have a few seconds to tune in. Some people spot a bit before they even key up. Either way works fine just dont spot and then make them wait 20 minutes while you finish setting up your antenna or theyll move on. 2m FM is honestly really worth it if you have anything that covers it, grabbed 3 quick contacts on a handheld once when 40m was just dead and it saved the activation. You only need 4 QSOs to qualify the summit so mixing modes and bands is totally fine. Good luck, first one is always a bit chaotic but thats half the fun.

ARRL has a list of nets if you want to find ones on HF too, some of the slower CW nets are actually great for practice once you get your general. but for voice stuff on 2m just look for anything called a "rag chew" net rather than a traffic net — traffic nets move fast and have a specific format, rag chew nets are usually pretty relaxed and people actually want to chat a bit. the Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network (SATERN) does some events that welcome new operators too, not sure if there's one near you though.

We're running all three systems bridged together on our club repeater - the VoIP Nodes project allows cross-connecting one IRLP node to multiple AllStarLink and EchoLink nodes. Takes more setup but gives maximum connectivity options. Members love being able to access any network they want.

had almost exactly this on an 857D i picked up at a hamfest, different symptom pattern but same frustrating intermittent thing. turned out to be the PA thermistor giving flaky readings and the thermal protection was kicking in even though the finals werent actually hot. you can check if thats whats happening by watching the ALC behavior right as it drops -- if the ALC slams to max for a split second before rf dies thats probably not it, but if rf just quietly disappears with no ALC weirdness the thermal trip is worth looking at. also worth checking the driver stage transistors not just the finals. a lot of people go straight to the finals but ive seen the driver board cause exactly this kind of intermittent dropout. the 857 service manual has the voltage charts for the driver board and its not hard to check if you have a decent meter. the relay thing is possible too but i'd rule out the thermal stuff first since its a quicker check.

So ive been chasing SOTA for about 8 months now from home and finally decided to actually get off my butt and do an activation. Planning to head up W4T/SU-001 this Saturday, weather looks decent enough. I have my KX2 and a end-fed halfwave on a fishing pole, done a bunch of testing in the backyard so I think the setup is solid. My main question is about the self-spotting thing. I know you can use the SOTA spotter app but up there cell coverage is pretty sketchy. Do people usually just call CQ and hope the chasers find you, or is there some other way to get spotted without cell? I saw something about RBNhole but I dont fully understand how that works exactly. Also do I need to pre-announce the activation somewhere or is just showing up and operating fine? The summit requires 4 QSOs to get the points right? I know thats the minimum. Feeling a little nervous honestly, dont want to drive two hours and come home empty handed.

yeah i was in the same boat when i first started checking into nets, felt like everyone else knew some secret handshake. honestly just listen and mirror what the regulars do and you'll pick it up fast. the net control on most local nets has heard it all and they're not gonna come down on a new ham for not knowing the exact format, they'd rather have you participate than worry so much you never key up.

so i finally did my first SOTA activation last weekend, summit was only a 2 mile hike which i figured would be easy enough with the radio gear. brought my ft-818 and a random wire antenna, figured i'd just throw it up in a tree and get my 4 contacts no problem. well the tree situation at the top was basically nonexistent, just a bunch of scrubby little pines that were maybe 8 feet tall at best. ended up lashing the antenna to my trekking pole which kind of worked but the SWR was all over the place and i kept having to retune. managed to get 5 contacts on 20m SSB but it took way longer than expected and my fingers were freezing by the end. also didnt realize how much wind affects the audio apparently because one guy told me i sounded like i was in a hurricane. anyway got the activation credit which is the important thing i guess, already planning the next one

ok so ive been licensed for about 3 months now (technician) and i finally got my first HT, a Baofeng UV-5R, and ive been trying to get into the local 2m repeater scene. theres a couple repeaters listed on repeaterbook for my area and i programmed them in but i can hear traffic just fine, problem is when i try to transmit nobody seems to hear me or at least nobody responds. i looked it up and i think i need to set a CTCSS tone? the repeaterbook listing shows a tone of 100.0 Hz for the one i usually listen to. i went into the menu and set the T-CTCSS to 100.0 but still nothing. i tried calling CQ a few times and once i just said my callsign and said "listening" but nothing. is there something else im missing or is nobody just around during the day? also is there like rules about how to break into a conversation or ask if the repeater is in use, i feel like im just shouting into the void and i dont want to be rude about it