Jennifer Martinez

the warbling could also be multipath if your yagis are close together or if theres something reflective nearby - i had that problem for months before i figured out my downlink yagi was basically pointing at a metal shed at certain elevations. drove me crazy. not saying thats definitely it but worth ruling out before going deep on the doppler config rabbit hole

yeah i basically run exactly this setup. Log4OM for everything day to day including FT8 via WSJT-X UDP port, and then N1MM comes out of hibernation for contest weekends. the trick is i export from Log4OM to ADIF before a contest, import into N1MM so it knows what i already have confirmed, run the contest, then export N1MM's log after and merge it back into Log4OM. sounds like a pain but honestly takes maybe 10 minutes and ive only had duplicate issues like twice in two years. the WSJT-X to Log4OM integration is solid, dupe checking works across modes in my experience, caught a few CW dupes when i was also doing FT8 on the same band during a DX weekend. one thing to watch is making sure the UDP ports arent conflicting if you ever have both programs open at the same time, learned that the hard way during a contest warmup where i had both running and wsjt-x was only talking to one of them

your buddy is sorta right but its more nuanced than that. under part 97.105 the control operator determines the operating privileges, so if a general or extra is the control operator at a station, yeah the higher privileges apply. but thats the thing — they have to actually BE the control operator, meaning they need to be present and responsible for what goes on. you cant just have a general class guy in the same building doing something else and then claim his privs. the way the rules are written, whoever is designated the control operator is accountable for the transmission, so if something goes wrong its on them. as far as your tech HF privileges go you basically get some CW access on 80, 40, 15, and i think 10 meters, and then on 10m you get a small phone segment around 28.3 to 28.5 MHz. theres also some digital and RTTY allocations. the ARRL website has a band plan chart thats way easier to read than the actual CFR text, id just bookmark that honestly.

so the short version is the FCC frequency allocations are actual law, the band plan is more of a gentlemans agreement. for 40m as a general you can do phone from 7.175 up to 7.300 MHz so 7.195 is totally fine. the band edge thing is real though -- your radio's displayed frequency is the suppressed carrier frequency for SSB so your actual signal can be a few kHz wide. if you're at 7.300 and transmitting USB your sidebands can spill over the edge into frequencies you're not supposed to be on. most people say stay at least 3 kHz inside the edge to be safe, so like 7.297 or lower in practice. the guy in the net was probably just being overly cautious or maybe had a reason specific to that net's frequency, hard to say without more context.

i went through almost the exact same thing last year lol. the bencher paddles are nice but I remember reading somewhere that they ship with the tension springs pretty stiff and some people loosen them off a bit. I messed with mine for weeks before it felt right. one thing that actually helped me a ton was just listening to slow code nets while doing something else, like washing dishes or whatever. not even trying to copy it, just letting it wash over you. i think it helps your brain start to recognize the rhythm of actual QSOs instead of just isolated characters from practice software. after a while the common words like CQ and 73 and DE just pop out automatically without thinking. still working on it myself tbh, copying full callsigns in a pileup is still rough for me

so ive been a tech for about a year and a half and i keep reading about CW and people saying its worth learning but i genuinely have no idea where to start. like do you just memorize the dots and dashes on paper or is there some other way people do it? i tried that once and got maybe 5 letters in before giving up because it felt completely useless without being able to actually hear it ive seen some apps mentioned here and there, lcwo.net gets brought up a lot i think, but i dont really know if thats the right approach or if theres something better now. also i have no idea what speed to even try to learn at. someone told me to start at like 5 wpm but someone else said thats actually bad and teaches you bad habits? im confused honestly any advice welcome, even just what worked for you personally would help

that sounds pretty typical honestly, at least from what ive seen in our group. the waiting followed by chaos thing is just how emergency comms goes, no exercise really replicates that because in training everyone is sort of half paying attention and not actually stressed. real activations have a different energy to them. the ICS training payoff is real and a lot of newer folks underestimate it until they're actually in it. knowing your traffic format cold so you dont have to think about it frees up your brain for everything else thats going on around you. sounds like you handled it well. how was the HT holding up range wise at the shelter, was it near any metal framing or anything that might have caused you grief?

so i just passed my technician exam about three weeks ago and got my callsign last week, been doing a lot of listening but havent actually checked into anything yet. i know theres nets out there but im not really sure how to find them or what the procedure is when you actually do check in. like do you just say your callsign or is there more to it than that? i have a baofeng hooked up to a small yagi i built for 2m and can hit a couple repeaters in my area pretty well. any advice would be great, feeling a bit nervous about keying up for the first time honestly

so anyway i had the same confusion when i first started and what helped me was just listening to how the experienced guys on our net handled it. after like a week of paying attention i just kind of absorbed the rhythm of it. the 10 minute ID thing is honestly rarely an issue on a normal net because the exchanges are short enough that you're naturally identifying all the time anyway. one thing i would add is dont stress too much about being perfect right away. net controls on club nets have heard every possible variation and theyre not sitting there ready to correct you for every little thing. the main stuff is just dont key up over someone, give your call, and listen before transmitting. you're clearly thinking about it more than most new hams do so youre already ahead.

oh man i was in the same boat not too long ago. someone in my club told me about netword dot org and that helped a lot, also just listening around on 40 and 80 in the mornings you start to recognize the rhythm of different nets after a while. the 7.290 traffic net is one i check into semi regularly now and i only found it by accident too so youre not alone lol

yeah same boat here, i got into JS8 thinking id find all these people to chat with and it was pretty quiet at first. found a small group that does a sunday morning net on 40m and that kind of kickstarted it for me. once you have like 3 or 4 regulars it gets fun pretty quick. the heartbeat feature is kinda cool too where it just periodically announces your presence and you can see whos around without actively calling anyone. feels more like a real band than FT8 which is just... i dunno, a contact assembly line lol PSK31 is still my go-to for actual keyboard to keyboard chatting though, theres still decent activity on 14.070 most days and the waterfall is satisfying in a way that newer modes arent

so ive been at this CW thing for about 4 months now and im stuck. not like completely stuck but it feels like ive been sitting at around 12-13wpm for the past 6 weeks and i just cant seem to break through. when i first started i was using the ARRL code course tapes (yeah i still have those lol) and got up to 5wpm pretty fast, then switched over to just.learn.morse on my phone and that helped a lot getting up to about 10-11. but now its like hitting a wall. i practice maybe 20-30 minutes a day, sometimes more on weekends. im doing the koch method but i honestly dont know if im doing it right because i never really understood the exact way you're supposed to progress. like do you move to the next character only when you hit 90% on the current set? because sometimes i feel like im close but not quite and i just move on anyway. for guys who actually went through this, how long did it take to get from that beginner 5wpm range up to a solid 20wpm copy? and did you ever plateau like this? im not in a huge rush but i do want to be able to do some actual QSOs on 40m without totally embarrassing myself

ran a diamond x700 for years on a similar site and yeah its great for what it is but the day i put up a 9 element yagi for 2m the difference was pretty dramatic for ssb. like contacts that were basically noise before became workable, not easy but workable. the issue is you obviously give up the omni coverage which matters if youre doing anything other than pointing at something specific. for wind loading on a yagi just make sure you're looking at the boom diameter and element count seriously, a well built M2 or similar isnt as bad as people think if its mounted right. some of the cheap import yagis though, ive seen those turn into a pretzel after a good storm. if weak signal is actually your goal id go yagi but maybe keep a small vertical around for the everyday stuff, doesnt have to be fancy.

yeah N1MM is pretty much a contest-only tool for most people, i mean you CAN use it everyday but the UI really is designed around running rates and dupe checking not just casual rag chewing or DX logging. i tried using it full time for about a month a few years back and gave up, too much clicking around for simple stuff what i do now is keep Log4OM as my main shack log and just export an ADIF after each contest from N1MM then import it. takes maybe five minutes and i havent had a duplicate problem if you just check the date range before importing. WSJT-X i have pointed at a separate log file and i do the same thing, just pull the ADIF every week or so. its not perfect but its worked for me for a couple years now without losing anything the N1MM learning curve is real but once you get the bandmap and entry window set up the way you want it its actually pretty fast during a contest, just dont expect it to feel natural the first time you open it

oh man I remember my first net check-in, I literally wrote out a little cheat sheet and taped it next to my radio. totally normal to feel lost the first couple times. most directed nets follow a pretty similar pattern — net control opens it up, calls for check-ins, and you just wait for a pause and give your callsign once, clearly. you dont need to say a whole lot unless they ask for traffic or something specific. phonetics really do help especially on a busy or noisy net so good instinct trying to use them even if you stumbled. as for checking in late, yeah you can usually still check in after the initial roll call, most net controls will open it up again or you can just kerchunk the repeater to let them know someone is there. just listen for a bit first to get the rhythm of that particular net before jumping in. every net has its own little quirks honestly. stick with it, after two or three times it becomes second nature.