Christopher Lee

this is exactly the kind of post i needed to read. i passed my technician exam back in March and ive been kind of on the fence about ARES because it seemed intimidating, like i didnt know enough yet. but the way you describe it makes it sound a lot more accessible. did your group do any kind of formal orientation or did you just kind of show up to a training net and figure it out from there?

Had the same Windows 11 driver nightmare! Finally gave up and dedicated an old laptop just for radio programming with Windows 10. Sometimes the old ways work best. For cables, genuine FTDI chipsets are worth the extra cost - no driver headaches.

honestly the general exam isnt that bad, i was stressed about it too but passed first try with like a week of studying on hamstudy. the pool has a lot of questions but there's definitely patterns once you go through it a few times. the electrical theory stuff you dont really need to fully understand to pass, though it does help later when youre actually troubleshooting stuff on the bench
as for HF bands once you get the ticket, most people i know who are new to HF kind of gravitate toward 40m and 20m first. 40m is great at night for regional stuff and 20m opens up pretty well during the day and you can work some decent DX even with modest antennas. if youre into just casual ragchewing 40m SSB is usually pretty active. honestly just go take the exam, you can keep studying the theory after you get the upgrade, nothing stops you from learning more once youre on the air

Thanks for the encouragement, folks! Just tuned across 10m and hearing some weak FT8 signals from South America. Going to give it a proper try this afternoon when the MUF should be higher. This solar cycle has been amazing compared to when I first got licensed during the last minimum - what a difference!

yeah i was confused about the same thing when i started, went through like three different explanations before it clicked for me. one thing that helped me was just listening to how the experienced guys on my local net handled it for a few weeks before i ever keyed up. you pick up the rhythm pretty fast.
the phonetics thing -- i personally say mine phonetically almost every time just out of habit but thats probably overkill on a clear local repeater honestly. on HF where conditions are bad its basically essential though, especially if you have any letters that sound similar like B and D or M and N.

so ive been using Log4OM for general logging for about two years now and honestly i really like it for day to day stuff, the award tracking and the way it syncs with QRZ is pretty solid. but every time a contest rolls around im kind of stuck because Log4OM just doesnt feel right for contesting, the interface gets clunky and i miss dupes sometimes which is embarrassing.
a buddy at the club keeps telling me to just run N1MM for contests and then import the ADIF into Log4OM afterward. seems like a reasonable workflow but ive heard people have issues with duplicate QSOs when you do that, especially if youre also running WSJT-X at the same time for FT8 contacts. like if i work someone on FT8 during a contest that supports it and WSJT-X logs it, then N1MM also has it, then i import everything into Log4OM... that just seems like a mess waiting to happen.
does anyone actually run all three of these and have a clean workflow or am i overcomplicating this. right now i mostly do CW contests and some FT8 on weekends, not a serious contester but i like jumping into the state QSO parties and stuff like that.

ok so ive been licensed about 8 months now and i keep hearing different things about confirming contacts and i'm honestly a bit lost. when i first got on HF my elmer told me to sign up for LoTW which i did and i upload my logs there pretty regularly. but then someone i worked on 40m last week said they only use eQSL and dont bother with LoTW at all, and then another guy sent me an actual paper card through the bureau which was really cool but i have no idea how to send one back properly.
so like what's the actual difference between all these systems? i understand LoTW is run by the ARRL and is more official or whatever but does that mean eQSL confirmations dont count for anything? and the paper cards through the bureau — do i need to join something or pay for that? i set up an account on QRZ but i'm not sure if that connects to anything.
sorry if this is a really basic question, i just want to make sure im not missing contacts that could count toward awards or whatever down the line. been chasing a few DX stations and would hate to lose those confirmations

so ive been chasing VP6 (Pitcairn) for like three years now, every time a DXpedition shows up i get nowhere. tried the usual stuff, calling on their frequency by accident, not listening carefully enough to where they were actually pulling calls from, just general bad habits i guess. last week VP6WR was active and i finally cracked it on 17m CW after about two hours of trying off and on.
what changed was i stopped just throwing my call out randomly and actually sat and listened for a solid 10-15 minutes first. figured out they were working split, listening about 3-4 up from where they were transmitting, and they had a pretty clear pattern of moving their listening frequency up maybe 500hz every 3-4 QSOs. once i mapped that out i just parked about where i thought they'd land next and sent my call maybe 2-3 times per transmission cycle instead of hammering it constantly. picked up on my first attempt after i did that.
im running an IC-7610 into a 3 element SteppIR at about 45 feet so its not a barefoot HT situation, but i wasnt running crazy power either, just 100w. the antenna does most of the work honestly. anyway curious if others have specific techniques that work for them, especially on CW vs SSB since i feel like they operate pretty differently in a pile

so ive been using Log4OM for general logging for about two years now and honestly i really like it for day to day stuff, the award tracking and the way it syncs with QRZ is pretty solid. but every time a contest rolls around im kind of stuck because Log4OM just doesnt feel right for contesting, the interface gets clunky and i miss dupes sometimes which is embarrassing.
a buddy at the club keeps telling me to just run N1MM for contests and then import the ADIF into Log4OM afterward. seems like a reasonable workflow but ive heard people have issues with duplicate QSOs when you do that, especially if youre also running WSJT-X at the same time for FT8 contacts. like if i work someone on FT8 during a contest that supports it and WSJT-X logs it, then N1MM also has it, then i import everything into Log4OM... that just seems like a mess waiting to happen.
does anyone actually run all three of these and have a clean workflow or am i overcomplicating this. right now i mostly do CW contests and some FT8 on weekends, not a serious contester but i like jumping into the state QSO parties and stuff like that.

haha yeah my first one i forgot the coax adapter and had to literally drive back down to the car. didnt even make it to the summit that day. now i have a checklist taped inside my pack lid, never leaving without it again. 12 contacts is actually solid for a first run especially in wind, some summits i barely scratch 10 even on a good day

this is exactly the kind of post i needed to read. i passed my technician exam back in March and ive been kind of on the fence about ARES because it seemed intimidating, like i didnt know enough yet. but the way you describe it makes it sound a lot more accessible. did your group do any kind of formal orientation or did you just kind of show up to a training net and figure it out from there?