Jennifer Williams

so ive been licensed for about 8 months now and i still feel kinda awkward about nets. like i know the basics, wait for the net control to ask for check-ins, give your callsign phonetically, all that. but there are a few things that still trip me up and i figured id just ask here instead of doing something embarrassing on the air. first thing — is it rude to check into a net and then not have anything to say when they ask if you have traffic or comments? i usually just say "no traffic" and thats it. feels weird like im wasting everyones time but my elmers always said showing up is the point of a net so maybe thats fine? second thing — the tuesday night 2m net near me moves kind of fast and sometimes i miss my window to check in. do i just wait and try to tail end it or is there usually a late check-in period? i dont wanna step on someone mid-transmission trying to get in. honestly i probably overthink this stuff but id rather ask than develop bad habits early on

Are you using the right cable? The FT-60R needs a specific pinout for packet operation. Connect TNC to radio, pair with smartphone, configure software - should be sending packets within minutes if everything's wired correctly. Double-check your wiring diagram.

Yeah first activations can feel a little overwhelming but honestly once you get there and get assigned to a position it clicks pretty fast. The main thing is just show up early, check in with whoever is running the net control or the incident comms, and don't freelance. ICS stuff matters here, you work through your supervisor and you don't go making decisions on your own even if you think you know better. Most ECs will give you a specific position and frequency assignment so you're not just standing around guessing. As for gear, always bring your own HT fully charged plus a spare battery if you have one. Bring a notepad and pen, people forget this constantly and it makes you look disorganized. I wouldn't haul out all your antenna gear unless your EC specifically asked for it, for an event like that most of the comms will be simplex or through a local repeater they've already coordinated. Just ask your EC ahead of time what the tactical frequencies are so you can program them in before you show up, saves a ton of headache on the day. You'll do fine, honestly the first one is mostly just learning the rhythm of it.

yeah the antenna problem gets basically everyone on their first deployment exercise. i've been doing ARES stuff for probably twelve years now and we still have people show up to exercises with gear that works great at home and then they're standing in a parking lot going wait where do i even put this. we actually made it a requirement in our group that everyone does at least one field setup drill before a SET, just pack your go bag and drive somewhere unfamiliar and try to get on the air within 20 minutes. sounds basic but it shakes out a lot of problems. the message handling thing is real too. ICS 213 forms help a lot but you have to practice reading them under pressure and honestly the worst is when someone at the shelter has filled one out and their handwriting is basically hieroglyphics. we started doing a thing where we practice reading random handwritten notes over the air just to build that skill. sounds silly but it helps. one thing that really caught us off guard a few years back during a flood comms exercise was just... battery math. everyone thought they had enough power and by hour four we were scrambling. now our group basically mandates everyone can sustain 12 hours minimum and you have to demonstrate it before the exercise, not just claim it.

field day was in june yeah, you missed it for this year but honestly its the perfect intro contest for next year — your club almost certainly does one and you can just show up and operate under their call, no pressure, someone will walk you through the exchange. its basically a party that happens to involve radio. for CQ WW i'd say go for it. the phone version is easier to get started on than CW obviously. the exchange is just your signal report and your CQ zone, so for US stations youre almost always sending 59 05 or whatever your zone is. zone 3, 4, 5 depending where you are in the country. N1MM will actually fill a lot of that in automatically once you get it configured for the contest, theres a contest selector in the file menu, just pick CQ WW SSB and it'll set up the right fields. the learning curve on N1MM is real but once it clicks it clicks. SOTA is totally separate, different vibe entirely, more about the hike and operating portable from a summit. some people do chase SOTA contacts during a contest weekend if the frequencies line up but theyre not really the same activity. both worth doing though

so ive been licensed for about 4 months now and i keep hearing people say things like QSL and QTH and QRM and i kind of figured out a couple from context but theres so many of them and i dont really know where the line is between ones people actually use versus ones that are just in a book somewhere and nobody says anymore. like i looked up a full list online and there were hundreds of them which seems insane. do people really use all of those or is it just like 20 that matter day to day. also whats the deal with 73 and 88 and stuff like that, are those Q codes or something different entirely

congrats on passing, welcome to the hobby. ok so the short version is yeah, you get a sequential call first — the FCC system just automatically assigns you the next available callsign in your district. the number in the middle (like the 9 in K9XYZ) corresponds roughly to your call district which is based on the address you used when you registered. midwest is usually 8 or 9 territory depending on exactly where you are. the format goes like this: one or two letter prefix, then a number, then one to three letters at the end. as a new tech youll get a two-by-three format most likely, meaning something like KD9ABC. shorter calls like W9AB or K9X are rarer and you can only get those through the vanity system once youve had your license for a bit, and even then the real short ones (one-by-two, one-by-three) are only available to extra class if i remember right, or at least some of them are. once your sequential call shows up in the FCC ULS database you can start the vanity application process if you want a different one. its free and you just go through the FCC site. a lot of people keep their sequential call forever though, nothing wrong with that at all

yeah the swap meet is still pretty solid from what i heard, my buddy went last fall to a similar one and said tables were pretty full. the trick is getting there early like right when doors open otherwise all the good junk is already gone. i scored a barely used MFJ tuner for almost nothing once just by being first in line basically

so i finally worked up the nerve to check into a local 2m net last thursday night. ive been licensed for about four months now and honestly kept putting it off because i was scared of stepping on someone or missing my window or just generally sounding like an idiot on the air. anyway the net control was super patient and i just gave my callsign when he called for check-ins and that was basically it. i had been psyching myself out for nothing. but now i have questions — how do you actually find out about other nets? like i found this one through the local club website but i feel like there must be more going on that im not aware of. is there a good place to look up net schedules? someone mentioned the ARRL net directory but when i looked at it the info seemed kinda old for some of the listings. also totally unrelated but there was a special event station mentioned at the end of the net, something with a 1x1 callsign, and i have no idea what that was about. do those count for anything or are they just fun to work?

Your center insulator design sounds fine, but definitely add a 1:1 balun to prevent RF on the coax shield and maintain proper radiation pattern. High SWR could indicate your wire is too long - try trimming 6 inches from each end and recheck.

so ive been running FT8 for about a year now and yeah its great for contacts and the waterfall is satisfying to watch but i keep reading about JS8Call and how its supposed to be more like actual conversation over weak signal paths. finally installed it last week and honestly im a little confused about the workflow compared to WSJT-X. like the timing grid feels more relaxed which i get is the point but im not sure im decoding everything i should be. for context im on a IC-7300 into a fan dipole in the attic, not ideal i know, and im usually running 25-30 watts because neighbors. on FT8 i can work 20m pretty reliably into europe from the midwest. on JS8Call im seeing stations but the decode rate feels lower, not sure if thats a config thing or just the nature of the mode. is there a setting im probably missing or is this just how it is and you kinda have to be patient with it. also totally unrelated but does anyone still run PSK31 regularly, i fired up fldigi the other day just for nostalgia and there were actually a few guys on 14.070 which surprised me

so i finally did my first WWFF activation last weekend, been meaning to do one for ages and kept putting it off. picked a state forest about an hour from home, VKFF reference i think, well i mean it was a US park so KFF obviously, i always mix those up when typing. anyway loaded up the car with the KX3, a 40m end fed, and way too much food for a 4 hour trip honestly. setup went fine, got the antenna up in a tree pretty easily, started calling on 14.244 and got a few contacts but it was really slow going. turns out i hadnt spotted myself on the WWFF network before i started operating and so nobody knew i was out there. spent like 45 minutes just calling CQ before a buddy texted me asking why i wasnt on the spotting page. classic rookie mistake i guess. once i got spotted the pile up was actually pretty decent, made it past the 44 contact minimum with a bit of room to spare. the whole thing is just really fun, combining hiking and radio is kind of perfect for me. already looking at my next reference, theres a wildlife refuge nearby that i dont think has been activated many times. anyone else gotten into WWFF lately? feels like more people are doing it but maybe thats just my perception

yeah what he said about the yagi. also if youre eventually thinking weak signal like SSB or digital on 2m a vertical collinear is basically useless since most of that ops on horizontal polarization anyway so you'd need the yagi regardless. might as well get comfortable with it now. the arrow antennas are nice and packable but honestly a tape measure yagi you build yourself is like 15 bucks and folds flat, theres a classic ARRL design thats been around forever and it just works.

I was in the exact same spot like eight months ago, just do it. worst case net control asks you to repeat and thats not a big deal at all. the people running these nets have heard every possible variation of a nervous new ham checking in for the first time and nobody cares, they're just glad you showed up. I stumbled through my first check in pretty bad and net control just said "welcome to the net" and moved on. it was fine.

Jump in, seriously. CQ WW is huge but that doesnt mean theres no room for a 100W station with a wire. You might not win anything but you can absolutely make contacts and have a blast doing it. The first time I did it I was running 75 watts into a vertical on my back porch and still managed a couple hundred QSOs over the weekend. Most people are happy to work you, they want the contact too. For logging just grab N1MM+ if youre on Windows, its free and pretty much the standard for HF contesting. Theres a bit of a learning curve getting your radio interfaced with it but even if you just run it in keyboard mode without any rig control it works fine. Set aside maybe an hour before the contest to just poke around the settings and do a practice log entry so it doesnt feel totally foreign when things get hectic. And yeah SOTA is a totally different vibe. More relaxed, kind of like a mini adventure every time. Some folks do both — there are actually SOTA activators who time their trips to overlap with big contests and rack up points on both ends. Worth looking into once you get comfortable with either one individually.

yeah your elmer is right but it is kind of a feel thing honestly. when conditions are good and signals are loud and clear on a local repeater or whatever, saying your call letter by letter is totally fine and actually faster. nobody needs you to say Whiskey Alpha five Tango Romeo Alpha every single time you key up on a local net, that gets tedious real quick. but on HF, especially DX, especially in a pileup — phonetics are basically essential. you might be trying to break through a wall of stations all calling at once and the DX station is dealing with QRM, QSB, the works. if you just say the letters there's a good chance your suffix sounds like three other guys. phonetics cut through that. i've watched guys call a JA station for 20 minutes because they kept dropping phonetics and their call kept getting logged wrong or not heard at all. the other time I always use em is when giving out my call at the end of a contact, especially to someone who sounds new or has a signal that's not great. just good practice. but casual ragchewing on a clear frequency? nah i just say the call normal.