Repeater Tech

congrats on the ticket first of all. okay so here's my honest take after using HTs for about 15 years — the baofeng UV-5R is totally fine to start with. seriously. yes the menu system is kinda annoying and yes the build quality isnt amazing but it WORKS and for learning the ropes on a local repeater it does exactly what you need. i handed one to my kid when she got her tech and she used it for two years before wanting something better.
the thing people dont always mention is youll want a programming cable and to use CHIRP software because programming it by hand through the keypad is a nightmare. but once its set up with your local repeaters its just a radio. if you find yourself actually using it regularly after a few months then yeah maybe look at a Yaesu FT-65 or one of the entry Kenwood HTs — they feel way nicer in the hand and the audio is better. but dont spend $150 on your first radio when you dont even know if youll stick with the hobby yet, thats just my two cents

yeah what he said about the choke is right. also just double checking — you measured each leg seperately before you put it up right? i made the mistake on my first one of measuring the total wire length and then cutting it in half instead of cutting two individual legs and i ended up with a slightly lopsided dipole which was a headache. probably not your issue but worth mentioning. 2.8:1 isnt even that bad honestly for a first build, a tuner will handle that easy if youre running a rig with one built in.

i was in the same boat not long ago, the part 97 document itself is like reading legal code which i guess it basically is. one thing that helped me was just downloading the actual ARRL band plan poster, theres a version you can print out. also dont stress too much about the FCC monitoring thing, they really are more focused on interference complaints and repeater drama than someone new accidentally calling CQ on the wrong part of a band. that said its still worth getting it right, just looked dumb once when i transmited outside my privileges because i misread the chart and someone on the frequency pointed it out. not fun. just take the time to look it up properly before you get on HF and you'll be fine

Check AE7Q and RadioQTH thoroughly before committing. The AE7Q and RadioQTH sites will show available callsigns. Sometimes what looks like it'll be available gets snatched up by relatives or former holders before the general availability date. Save yourself the application fees and heartache!

I had similar issues on 40m until I added a second choke right at the antenna feedpoint. The first choke wasn't enough - needed one at each end of the transmission line to fully break the CMC path. Also check for any ground loops between your shack ground and AC safety ground.

so ive been working on this little project for a few weeks now, basically trying to get an arduino uno to key my IC-7300 via the CI-V interface and also trigger the PTT line with a transistor. the idea is to automate some beacon transmissions on 10m while im at work, nothing fancy just ID every 10 minutes or so with a CW message.
anyway everything was going fine, i had the timing worked out and the morse code library was doing its thing, but now whenever the arduino tries to key up i get this nasty voltage spike on the audio line and it ends up with a weird chirp at the start of every transmission. i measured the PTT line and its clean but somewhere between the arduino firing and the final RF going out something is causing that audio artifact. i put a 100 ohm resistor inline thinking it was a grounding issue but no dice.
has anyone dealt with this before? im using a 2N2222 as the switching transistor and the arduino is powered off a separate USB supply from the radio. maybe thats the problem actually, ground loops are the bane of my existence with this stuff.

Some radios are more sensitive than others when it comes to audio level. And it is possible to have too much audio, so ask other hams for a signal report. Ask specifically about your audio level…loud enough, too loud? For most of us, that's the only way we are going to find out how we sound.

oh man the plateau you're describing is so real, i went through the exact same thing and i think almost everybody does around that 5-8wpm range. what helped me more than anything was just getting on the air even when i felt totally not ready. like i started calling CQ on 40m at like 8wpm and just told people upfront in my exchange that i was a new CW op and to please QRS. most guys were super patient honestly, way more than i expected.
the Farnsworth thing does work but you gotta stick with it longer than two weeks, i think it took me closer to 2 months before i noticed i was actually hearing words instead of individual letters. also one thing nobody told me — copy by hand and let some stuff go. dont try to get every single character, just keep moving forward and fill in what you missed. that single thing helped me break through more than any software trick. took me about 8 months to get comfortable at 15wpm but i was only practicing maybe 20 minutes a day so your mileage may vary.

yeah the dual NCS thing is a really common problem and it almost always comes down to not having a written ICS structure before the exercise starts. we ran into the exact same thing a couple years back. what helped us was designating NCS, alternate NCS, and a liaison position in writing like a week before the exercise and making sure everybody got a copy of the net plan. sounds obvious but it really does make a difference when the stress is on.
the HT issue is something i think about a lot too. we actually started requiring operators to bring a minimum kit checklist to our exercises — external antenna or mag mount capable setup, 12+ hours of battery, and a written copy of all the simplex and backup frequencies. a few people grumbled about it at first but after the first drill where guys ran out of juice by noon the complaints kinda stopped. terrain is brutal for HTs around here too so i feel that.

I get where youre coming from but trust me once you try a good paddle and keyer setup you'll never go back. its not about cheating its about being able to focus on the actual communication instead of fighting with the mechanics of sending. I can do 25-30 wpm conversations now without breaking a sweat whereas before with my straight key i was maxed out at maybe 15 wpm and my fist sounded terrible
that said nothing wrong with keeping the straight key around for slow rag chews and special events, but for everyday operating a paddle just makes so much more sense

so i finally did it, been putting it off for like 6 months because i kept telling myself i wasnt ready or my setup wasnt good enough or whatever excuse i could think of. went out to a state forest park near me saturday morning with my KX2 and a random wire thrown up in a tree and just... did it. logged 32 QSOs in about an hour and a half which i know isnt a huge number but for a first activation i was pretty happy with it.
the thing that surprised me most was how many hunters were already waiting once i spotted myself on pota.app. like within 2 minutes of putting the spot up i had a small pileup going on 40m. wasnt expecting that at all, had to slow down and actually work a bit of a system instead of just casually chatting like i normally do. ended up doing a bit of running which i've never really done before.
one thing i wasn't sure about — do you need to log the park reference on every single QSO entry or just note it somewhere in your log? i was using my phone with hamrs and it seemed like it attached the park ref to all of them automatically but i want to make sure before i upload to the pota website. anyway if anyone else has been on the fence about doing an activation just go do it, totally worth it

hey congrats on the General and sorry about your uncle, that's a really nice reason to want the call.
so yeah the way it works now — there's a 31 day waiting period after a call becomes available before anyone can apply for it. once that window opens anyone eligible can throw in an application and if multiple people apply for the same call during that first filing window they all get considered at once and it does essentially come down to a random selection. so yes, partly luck unfortunately.
the family preference thing — i believe that went away a while back when the FCC restructured the vanity rules, so i wouldnt count on that giving you a leg up. someone else can correct me if im wrong on that.
as for license class, yes that matters. as a General you can apply for calls that are appropriate for your license class. a 2x3 format (like W1ABC) is fair game for General and above. the 1x2 and 2x1 format calls are restricted to Extras only. so check what format your uncle's old call was — if it's a 1x2 or 2x1 you'd need to upgrade first before you could even apply for it.
good luck, i hope you get it. would be a really meaningful thing to carry on his call.

Some radios are more sensitive than others when it comes to audio level. And it is possible to have too much audio, so ask other hams for a signal report. Ask specifically about your audio level…loud enough, too loud? For most of us, that's the only way we are going to find out how we sound.

HF is where the real fun is honestly. You can talk to people all over the world without repeaters, work different countries, try digital modes... its a totally different experience than local stuff. The test isn't too bad if you study, maybe spend a month with hamstudy.org or get the ARRL book. Once you get on 20 meters and make your first DX contact you'll understand why everyone pushed you to upgrade