Radio Geek

I had the exact same problem last month. Check your Station Information callsign field - mine had somehow gotten corrupted with extra spaces. Also verify your group names don't have any special characters or trailing spaces. The @ symbol gets added automatically, so just enter EMCOMM in the groups field, not @EMCOMM.

ok so ive been licensed for about 3 months now and i mostly just listen on HF because im still nervous about transmitting but i keep hearing people throw out these codes like QSL and QRN and QTH and honestly i just nod along and pretend i know what theyre saying. i looked some of them up but there are like hundreds of them and i dont know which ones actually get used vs which ones are just in the book and nobody uses them in real life. also people on digital modes like FT8 seem to use different shorthand too? like 73 i know means best regards or goodbye or something but what about 88 i saw that once and wasnt sure if it was a code or what. just trying to figure out whats actually commonly used so i dont sound completely clueless if i ever actually key up

so ive been on FT8 for a couple years now and its fine, great for getting contacts when the band is rough, but i keep hearing people talk about JS8Call like its this whole different thing and i guess i dont fully understand what the actual use case is supposed to be. like FT8 is basically just exchange callsigns and signal reports and thats it right, you cant actually say anything. i get that JS8Call is more like... free text? but i tried it a few times and it felt really slow and honestly wasnt sure if the people i was hearing were even responding to me or just doing their own thing. also while im at it — does anyone still actually use PSK31 regularly? i have fond memories of it from like 2012 or whenever i first got my general but every time i tune around 14.070 it feels pretty dead compared to what it used to be. RTTY still seems alive especially during contests but PSK feels like it just kind of faded out once FT8 showed up. curious if thats just my perception or if the mode actually died off. running an IC-7300 into a dipole at about 35 feet if that matters, usually 40 or 20 meters for this kind of stuff.

I've been working through the Koch method for about 3 weeks now using G4FON, started at 20/5 but dropped to 18/5 after some frustration. Currently stuck on lesson 8 (K M R S U A P T) and barely hitting 70% accuracy on most sessions. I'm practicing 30 minutes daily but wondering if I should stick with slower effective speed or push through? Some days I nail 90% then next day back to 60%. Really want to get to solid 20 WPM eventually. Any elmers with Koch experience have suggestions? Thanks!

If you're planning to get your Technician license, don't stress about which pool you'll be tested on—the fundamentals are the same. The 2026 pool modernizes some questions around digital modes and clarifies a few regulatory details, but it's not a dramatic overhaul. Stick with your current study plan and test before July.

Welcome to the QRP world! I built my QCX+ about six months ago as my second kit after a simple SWR bridge. The documentation is absolutely stellar - Hans really knows how to write instructions. Take your time, double-check everything, and you'll be fine.

For those studying General or recently upgraded, here's what General Class gets you on HF: SSB phone and digital modes below 28 MHz, plus full 1500W power on most HF bands. Key highlights: 20-meter band access - arguably the best for working DXFull access to 30, 17, and 12 meters (WARC bands)Access to over 80% of the Amateur HF spectrumThis opens up FT8 and other digital modes that have become incredibly popular on HF.

ok so first thing, dont learn it from a chart. seriously that will slow you down so much in the long run because you end up counting dits and dahs in your head and you never get fast enough to actually copy anything in real time. the goal is to hear a letter and just know it the same way you hear a word in english and just understand it without spelling it out. the koch method is basically where you start with just two characters at full speed, like 20wpm, and you drill those until you can copy them reliably, then you add one more character, then another. the trick is always at full speed even when youre a beginner. the spacing between characters is stretched out (farnsworth timing) so you have time to think but the actual characters themselves sound like real morse. look up the LCWO website, its free and its basically designed around this approach. i used it and got to around 15wpm usable copy in maybe 4 or 5 months of about 20 minutes a day, which isnt amazing but its real progress

Just got my General license and want to build my first emergency go-kit for local ARES deployment. I know the transceiver is the heart of any go-kit, and I'm looking at multi-band options but honestly feeling overwhelmed by all the choices. Current plan is a couple Baofeng UV-5Rs for the budget, plus a small 12V power supply and some basic antenna wire. What critical items am I forgetting that would leave me stranded during an actual emergency activation?

I went through the exact same thing when I started on phone. What actually helped me the most was getting someone on a local repeater or a friend on HF to give me honest audio reports while I made changes in real time. Reading about EQ settings is one thing but actually hearing the difference is another. One thing worth mentioning — the RF speech processor on the 7300 is actually pretty decent if you use it conservatively. A lot of operators crank it way up thinking more processing equals better audio but it usually just makes you sound harsh and distorted. I keep mine around 3-4 on the meter and it helps with intelligibility without wrecking the audio quality. And yeah seconding what the other guy said about ALC, that's probably your biggest issue right now before anything else.

so ive been licensed for about 8 months now (general) and i keep hearing people talk about how great CW is and how i should really learn it even though its not required anymore. i messed around with some youtube videos but i honestly cant tell one dit from a dah half the time when theyre strung together into actual letters. like i can hear a single letter maybe but when someone is actually sending a word i just lose it completely. is there like a method that actually works for beginners or is this just one of those things where you have to suffer through it for months before anything clicks? i saw something about the koch method and something else called farnsworth but i dont really understand the difference or which one i should be using. also what do people actually practice with, just online stuff or do you need some kind of special equipment to start

haha the spotting thing gets everyone at least once. i did the same thing on my second activation, sat there confused why nobody was coming back to me. now i set up a macro on my phone to post to the WWFF spotting page and pota.app at the same time before i even key up the first time. 44 contacts is the threshold for a valid activation so you're good there. once you start chasing references yourself you get a feel for how much hunters appreciate a good spot with frequency and mode listed. the wildlife refuge sounds like a great next one, definitely check if its also a POTA reference because a lot of them overlap and you can log for both programs simultaneously which the hunters really like. good luck with the next one

SatPC32 ISS is absolutely rock-solid for linear transponder work. I've been using it for three years with my IC-9700 and G-5500DC setup. The Doppler correction is spot-on and CAT control is seamless once properly configured.

Links are controlled manually by users entering access codes. IRLP uses simple 4-digit node numbers via DTMF, EchoLink can connect multiple stations simultaneously. Both have their place - depends on your club's needs.

Our club is looking to add internet linking to our 440 repeater and debating between IRLP and EchoLink. IRLP has about 3,000 stations worldwide while EchoLink lists over 2,000 repeaters and 200 conference servers. Audio quality tends to be better on IRLP since they have more control over repeaters and frown on systems that don't strip courtesy tones. What are your real-world experiences with both systems?

The TNC4 is great for mobile but I keep both. Remember that APRS has no error correction - excessive packets means lost packets when they get stepped on. If you're stationary, we don't need to hear from you more than every 15 minutes.

I've been running APRS with PinPoint and Direwolf as a software TNC on my Windows laptop for the past year, but I'm considering upgrading to a Mobilinkd TNC4 for mobile operations. The software solution works well at home, but I need something more portable and reliable for field operations and emergency communications. The Mobilinkd TNC4 isn't cheap, but does it work and is it usable... definitely! according to some reports I've seen. For those who have experience with both setups: How does the TNC4's decoding performance compare to Direwolf? Is the improved portability and battery life worth the investment, or should I stick with my laptop-based solution?

Here's my proven daily CW practice structure that got me from zero to 15 WPM in 3 months: Start with Koch method trainer (G4FON or LCWO work great)Character speed: 20 WPM minimum, effective speed: 5 WPM initiallyPractice 15-20 minutes daily - consistency is everythingMaster 2 characters to 90% accuracy before adding next oneDon't write individual letters - aim for instant character recognitionWhat specific practice tools and timing have worked best for you folks? Looking to refine this further based on real experiences.