Melissa Baker

ran a fan dipole for 40/80/15 for about three years before i moved and had to take it all down. the fan setup works really well honestly, but getting the elements to not interact and mess up the resonance on each band takes some fiddling. you end up having to trim and adjust more than you'd expect because the elements do influence each other a bit depending on the spread angle. once its dialed in though the swr curves are clean and yeah youre not burning power in a coil so the efficiency argument is real. that said i also had a trap dipole before that and the difference on received signals was... honestly not dramatic. on 80m especially the noise floor at most locations is going to matter more than a few percent of efficiency loss in a loading coil. if your coil Q is decent you're probably fine. id almost say just do the coils if the fan layout is going to be a pain, get on the air, and revisit it later if you feel like youre missing contacts

i was in the same boat when i first got my ticket. part 97 reads like it was written by lawyers for lawyers. the ARRL band plan is helpful but i'd also reccomend just downloading the technician question pool pdf and skimming the regulation questions, they kind of summarize the important parts in a way that actually makes sense. thats how i figured out most of it before i upgraded to general.

The 10 minute ID rule is from Part 97 and yeah it's a real requirement, but in practice on a net most people just ID when they key up or when they finish a transmission anyway, so you end up IDing way more frequently than every 10 minutes without even thinking about it. The rule is really more of a backstop for long transmissions or if someone leaves a carrier open or something like that. As for passing back to net control, what you're doing sounds totally fine honestly. A lot of guys will say something like "KD9XYZ back to net" or "back to net control" and that's plenty. The longer sign-offs you're hearing are probably just personal style or old habit from HF nets where things are a bit more formal. You're not being rude at all, sounds like you're doing it right.

did the same thing on mine about a year ago. one thing i'd add is that the board revision matters a lot — i've seen guys with older units have slightly different jumper locations than what the common guides show online. if something looks off just stop and cross reference the actual icom service manual rather than just going off someones blog post. also after you close it back up do a full reset before you test anything, had a weird display glitch that went away after i did the two-button reset on startup. the 60m thing is real useful though, agreed. our ARES group has been on some slightly off-band freqs for interop drills and it helps to not be fighting the radio.

check aprsdirect.com in addition to aprs.fi — sometimes one will show packets the other misses, which can help you figure out if its an RF side problem vs the igate-to-IS connection. if the raw packets show up on aprsdirect but not aprs.fi that points to an APRS-IS feed issue downstream. also your path is probably fine but depending on how congested the local RF channel is you might actually get better results dropping to just WIDE1-1 in a suburban area. the second hop can sometimes cause your packet to get gated multiple times and aprs.fi has deduplication logic that might be eating some of your position reports. worth trying for a day or two and seeing if your visibility improves. the other thing id look at is your beacon rate. if youre stationary and beaconing every 10 minutes or whatever the default is, there might be timing collisions with other stations. smartbeaconing helps a lot when mobile but when parked just slowing down the rate and letting the digi do its thing usually clears it up.

the swr curve you're describing is pretty typical honestly, especially for an inverted V because the ends being close to ground compresses the impedance a bit. a flat dipole at proper height usually lands close to 50 ohms but inverted V configs can come in lower, so 1.8 at the bottom isnt bad at all. trimming might help bring the resonant point up into the part of the band you use most. the no-balun thing is worth addressing at some point though. common mode current on the coax braid can mess with your pattern and cause RF in the shack which is annoying to deal with later. a simple 1:1 choke balun wound on a ferrite toroid doesnt take long to build and makes a real difference. i wouldnt stress about it for casual use but if you start noticing weird stuff like audio hum or the radio acting up when you transmit its probably that.

okay so i just passed my general last month (woo) and ive been looking into getting a vanity call. my current sequential call is fine but its kind of a mouthful and i want something shorter if possible. i live in the 4th district and was hoping to snag a 1x2 or 2x1 eventually but i have no idea how the whole application window system works. like i know you apply through the FCC ULS system and theres a 18 day waiting period or something but i dont understand if everyone who applies during that window has an equal shot or if its first come first served. i also saw something about certain callsigns being sequentially assigned vs ones that went back into the pool — whats the difference there and does it affect vanity availability? sorry if this is a super basic question, i tried reading the part 97 stuff and the ARRL page but some of it just made my head spin a bit. any help appreciated

So after about three weekends of messing around I think I finally have my mobile install dialed in. Running a Yaesu FT-7900R in my 2016 Tacoma and man, the amount of second-guessing I did on antenna placement was ridiculous. Ended up going with a NMO mount through the roof rather than a mag mount because I was tired of the cable flopping around every time I went through a car wash. The hardest part honestly was running the power leads. I know everyone says run them straight to the battery and fuse them close to the battery, and yeah yeah I know, but actually fishing those wires through the firewall grommet in a modern truck is a total pain. Spent like an hour with a coat hanger before I found a usable spot. Audio is way better than I expected. Hit a repeater about 35 miles out last night on just 25 watts, which felt pretty good. Anyway if anybody else is doing a Tacoma install and has questions happy to share what I figured out the hard way.

so ive been messing around with an RTL-SDR v3 for maybe 8 months now and honestly its been a great intro but im starting to notice the limitations more and more especially down on HF. i have the direct sampling mod enabled and yeah it works but the noise floor is pretty rough and strong broadcast stations are stomping all over everything even with a decent bandpass filter inline. been looking at the SDRplay RSP1A since its like $110 or so and has the built in preselectors and the 12bit ADC which should theoretically help a lot with dynamic range. but i also keep seeing people say just save up for a HackRF if you want to transmit eventually. problem is i dont really need TX capability right now, im mostly doing shortwave listening and trying to decode some of the utility stuff on 40 and 20m. anyone gone from the RTL dongle to the RSP1A specifically? was it actually a noticeable jump or is this one of those things where the antenna situation matters way more and the receiver difference is kinda marginal in practice

so ive been running N1MM for probably four or five years now and honestly its fine for contests, does everything i need for CQ WW and sweepstakes and whatever else i end up entering. but ive been messing around with Log4OM on the side because a buddy of mine wont shut up about it and i have to admit the interface is way nicer for day to day logging, the award tracking and the way it handles QSL stuff is just cleaner than what im used to in N1MM. the thing is im also running WSJT-X for FT8 pretty regularly and getting it to talk to both programs at the same time has been kind of a headache. right now i use UDP output from WSJT-X into N1MM and it mostly works, occasional duplicate gets through but nothing crazy. if i move everything to Log4OM i have to redo all that and im not sure if the integration is as solid. anyone actually running Log4OM as their main logger with WSJT-X feeding into it AND still jumping into N1MM for contests without everything getting confused? feels like juggling three things that all want to own the same log. also not sure if Log4OM even does contest mode in a way thats worth using or if you basically have to switch back to N1MM the moment a contest starts anyway. the duplicate checking during a pileup matters a lot to me and i dont want to be second guessing my software when rates are high.

congrats on the first activation, that S2S count is actually pretty solid for rough conditions. i remember my first one i got like 4 contacts and thought i was doing great haha the weather thing is so real and i dont think any amount of reading about it really prepares you. i now check the hourly forecast for the actual summit elevation not just the trailhead, makes a huge difference especially in the smokies where the mountains basically make their own weather also dont feel bad about the heavy pack, every activator ive talked to went through that phase. i went from 28lb pack to about 11lbs over the course of a year or so. the coax is usually the first thing people realize they can cut way down on or eliminate entirely with a different antenna setup

the honda eu2200 is noticeably cleaner than the HF units in my experience, ran mine next to an IC-7300 on 40m and the noise floor barely moved. that said i still run it through a cheap ferrite-loaded power strip and keep the generator at least 50 feet away from the antenna feedpoint, which helps a lot. bonding the frame with a ground rod also made a difference for me, picked that tip up from someone at a field day years ago and never went back to skipping it. on the NVIS thing — yeah a low dipole at 25 feet on 40m is basically already NVIS whether you want it to be or not, so you might as well lean into it. for 300 mile regional coverage on 40m during the day thats actually pretty solid. at night youll want to think about skip but for daytime exercise comms it should work fine. i wouldnt bother with the EFHW transformer matching hassle at a site with limited height, just run a simple center-fed dipole and youll be fine.

so ive been messing around with this idea for a few weeks now and i think im finally close to something that actually works. background: i've got an old Yaesu G-450A rotator that i picked up at a hamfest for cheap, controller works but the interface is ancient and i want to be able to drive it from my logging software without sitting there manually cranking it. the plan was to use a pi zero W to read the pot position voltage through an MCP3008 ADC over SPI, then drive the rotator motor direction via a couple of relays on the GPIO pins. wrote a little python script that polls the position every 500ms and compares it to a target bearing i send it over a simple socket connection. works in the house on the bench, rotator turns, stops when it gets close to the target, all good. problem is i keep getting weird spikes on the ADC readings when the relay clicks. im guessing its inductive noise from the relay coil backfiring into the supply rail or something? i put a flyback diode across each relay coil but the spikes are still showing up. added a 100uf cap on the 3.3v rail near the MCP3008 and it helped a little but still seeing +-15 degrees of jitter sometimes when the relay transitions. anyone gone down this road before? curious if an optocoupler between the pi and the relay board would help or if i need to rethink the power supply situation entirely. running both the pi and the relay board off the same 5v wall wart right now which is probably dumb in hindsight.

so our ARES group is doing a simulated emergency exercise next weekend and i got volunteered to handle the comms setup for the forward operating position which is basically a picnic shelter about 2 miles from any power. ive done portable stuff before but always just threw up a whip and ran off a battery for a few hours, nothing sustained like this is going to be. the exercise runs 18 hours and were expected to keep two stations running the whole time — one HF for regional traffic and one VHF/UHF for local tactical. my question is really around whether to bring a small genny or just stack batteries and solar. i have a Honda eu2200i that i could borrow but it means hauling fuel and dealing with noise and exhaust positioning near the shelter. on the battery side i have two 100ah lifepo4 packs and access to a couple 200w panels but its late october so solar gain is going to be pretty limited up here in the northeast. for antennas i was thinking NVIS on HF so probably a low dipole or maybe an EFHW configured flat, and then a jpole for the VHF side. mast situation is whatever we can lash to the shelter posts which isnt great. anybody done sustained field ops like this and have opinions on the power side especially? the genny feels like the safe call but im open to arguments against it

bring more snacks than you think you need lol. also a chair, i tried doing my second activation just kinda crouching next to my rig and my back was done after like 20 minutes. small thing but it makes a huge difference when you're trying to concentrate on logging and operating at the same time. oh and write down the park reference before you go, i had a moment of panic once where my phone signal was terrible and i couldnt load pota.app to check it. K-xxxx numbers are easy to forget when youre setting up in a field somewhere

i was in the same boat not too long ago, the two tone thing threw me off too. what radio are you using? some HTs label the settings differently which makes it even more confusing, like mine just said "rx tone" and "tx tone" and i had no idea which was which for a while. one thing i'll add on the etiquette stuff — a lot of repeaters around here have a linked system where your transmission goes out on like 4 or 5 repeaters across the region at the same time. worth finding out if yours does that before you key up because it changes things a bit, like you might get a reply from someone 80 miles away and not realize it. nothing wrong with that, just good to know so you're not confused when someone answers and says they're in a totally different town than you expected.

so ive been running a cheap single lever paddle for a few months now and finally decided to upgrade to a Bencher BY-1 that i picked up used at the hamfest last weekend. overall its a really nice piece of gear compared to what i was using before but im having this weird issue where my dots are sometimes doubling when im not trying to squeeze them. like ill go to send a dit and ill get two instead of one. at first i thought maybe i had the contact spacing set too tight on the dit side but ive adjusted it a few times and cant seem to find the sweet spot. my keyer is the one built into my IC-7300 and ive got the speed set around 15 wpm which is about where i operate. im not sure if this is a paddle issue, a technique issue, or something in my keyer settings. anyone dealt with this before? i feel like i was actually cleaner on my old crummy paddle somehow which is frustrating

just went through this same thing a few months ago honestly. the arrl website has a band plan chart thats reasonably up to date, that helped me more than any random pdf i kept finding. one thing i still get confused about is whether the band edge rule is actually in the regs or if its just courtesy — i think its both kind of? like you technically cant splash outside your privileges but also operators just try not to crowd the edge as a general habit

so ive been checking into the Tuesday night 2m net through our local club for about 3 months now and honestly its become one of my favorite parts of the hobby. started doing it mostly cause the elmer who helped me get licensed kept bugging me to try it and im really glad he did. theres something kind of weirdly comforting about knowing every week at 7:30 theres gonna be a bunch of people on frequency just... talking and checking in. anyway i heard there's a big special event station coming up for some kind of anniversary and i have no idea how those work. like do you just call them like a normal QSO or is there some kind of procedure? also does anyone know a good place to find net schedules because i feel like im missing stuff that goes on outside my immediate area. tried googling it but kept getting old pages that havent been updated since like 2015 or something.

so ive been trying to figure out if its worth making the drive out for the big swap meet they do every year, last time i went was like 2019 and it was a good time but i couldnt find parking for like 45 minutes which was annoying. anyway just wondering if any of the locals here are planning on going or if theres anything else happening around the same weekend that might be worth checking out. our club is also doing a thing in march but i forgot if its open to non members or not, ill have to check with the net control guy

the 1.8:1 isnt bad at all for a first build honestly, most tuners will handle that no problem and depending on your rig it might not even complain. but yeah the lack of a balun is something to think about, especially with an inverted V because the feedline is basically hanging right underneath the antenna and common mode current on the coax shield can mess with your pattern and also make the SWR readings a bit jumpy or weird. you might be chasing a moving target if the feedline is radiating along with the antenna. a simple choke balun made from winding the coax into a coil of about 8-10 turns right at the feedpoint can help a lot, doesnt have to be fancy. or even a 1:1 current balun if you have one kicking around. try that before you trim more, because once you cut the wire shorter thats kind of it unless you have more to splice in. if the SWR actually shifts or improves after the balun thats your answer on whether common mode was the culprit.

yeah i had almost this exact situation a couple years back trying to hit a machine about 35 miles out and it turned out my PL tone was slightly off too which wasnt helping, so worth double checking that if you havent. but assuming thats fine, the feedline thing is real. i replaced the stock mag mount coax with some LMR-195 i had laying around and noticed a difference on receive at least. i briefly tried a 5 element yagi on a bracket on a long trip out west where i was following basically one highway the whole time and just pointed it forward. it was kind of funny because it actually worked pretty well for that specific use case, picked up a repeater maybe 60 miles out i would never have heard otherwise. but as a general solution for everyday driving its pretty impractical, you'd spend more time thinking about antenna direction than actually talking. stick with a better omni id say.

general is definitely a step up from tech but its not as scary as people make it seem. the question pool is bigger and yeah the electrical theory gets a bit more into it, things like impedance and how filters work and some basic propagation stuff. but honestly the same approach works — just grind through the question pool and make sure you actually understand why the answers are right, not just memorize them. HamStudy and hamexam both have good practice tests. as far as bands go, you're gonna open up big chunks of 40m, 20m, 15m, 10m which is where a ton of the DX action happens. 20m especially is like the workhorse band, you can work stations across the US and internationally pretty much any time of day when conditions are decent. 40m is great at night for regional stuff, like talking to people a few states over. you'll have some restrictions still in certain band segments that are extra class only but general gets you way more than enough to have a blast on HF. just go take it, worst case you learn something and take it again

so ive been messing around with an RTL-SDR V3 for about 6 months now and honestly its been great for learning but im starting to hit the limits of it, especially on HF. the direct sampling mod helps but its pretty noisy and i feel like im missing a lot. a buddy at the club keeps telling me to just grab an SDRplay RSP1B and call it day but thats like a 100+ dollar jump and im not sure if its actually worth it for what i do which is mostly just scanning shortwave stations, some utility stuff, and occasionally trying to decode WSPR spots off the air. ive read a bunch of reviews but they all feel kind of written by marketing people if that makes sense. just wondering if anyone here has actually used both and can tell me if the RSP1B really does pull weaker signals out compared to the V3 with the direct sampling hack. the dynamic range thing keeps coming up in specs but i honestly dont fully understand how that translates to real world use. not opposed to spending the money if its actually going to make a difference but i dont want to buy something just to say i have it

so ive been wanting to get into ham radio for a while now and finally decided to just go for it and take the technician exam. problem is i have no idea where to start. i downloaded the question pool from the arrl website but theres like 400+ questions and it kind of just overwhelmed me when i opened it. do people actually memorize all of these or is there a smarter way to go about it. a friend told me to just use hamstudy.org and drill questions until i pass but i dont know if thats enough or if i should also read a book or something. any advice appreciated, im trying to get this done within the next month or so if possible