Jennifer Wu

for what youre describing i'd probably bring both honestly. a yagi doesnt have to be huge — a 5el on 2m can break down pretty small if you build it with a split boom and it makes a massive difference on weak signal. the x50 is fine for local stuff but youre right that the gain isnt there when you really need it. i use a homebrew 6el on a cheap tripod and can swing it around by hand, just eyeball it toward where the signal is coming from and work from there. for repeaters at that distance the yagi wins every time. the collinear is nice for operating portable without thinking about aim but once youve worked a station 80 miles out with 5 watts and a yagi it kinda spoils you. cushcraft stuff is decent but heavy for portable work, most of the homebrew designs you find on the ntms or the old k5ogi pages are lighter and build in an afternoon

The ComJot device sounds promising but I'm skeptical after what happened with RFinder. Heard Bob cancelled Dayton last minute due to refund issues. Hope this new company has better backing and software development.

I've been practicing with apps and can send around 18 WPM fairly cleanly, but my receiving is stuck at about 15 WPM. Learning to receive is by far the hardest part - when starting out, you'll be able to send much faster than you can receive. There's always debate over speed, with many hams happy at 16-20 WPM or slower. But I'd like to get comfortable copying real on-air QSOs. Most messages are sent at 12+ WPM, often 20+ WPM, so improving speed is necessary for proper CW operation. What practice methods worked best for you to break through that receiving plateau?