Ham Mountain

so ive been messing with APRS for a few weeks now and i finally got my Mobilinkd TNC paired with my baofeng on 144.390 and packets are actually hitting aprs.fi which is great. but the position it shows is like 40 miles from where i actually am. im feeding it GPS coordinates from my phone via the bluetooth connection and the app shows the right coords, so im not sure where the breakdown is happening. running APRSdroid on android, the GPS lock looks solid, i can see it pulling lat/lon that matches where i am. but on the map online my icon keeps showing up somewhere way out in the boonies. tried deleting my callsign from the site and re-beaconing but same thing every time. anyone run into this before or have an idea what im doing wrong

had almost the exact same symptoms on a friends 7300 last year. turned out to be one of the RD70HVF1 finals had gone soft — not fully dead, just degraded enough to pull the output way down. what threw us off for a while was the ALC looking normal, because the driver stage was still doing its job fine, the final just wasnt amplifying properly anymore. if you have an RF probe or a scope you can get a rough idea of whats happening at each stage. check the drive level going into the PA board and compare that to what youre actually getting out. if the drive looks right and the output is still low, youre probably looking at the final transistors. icom uses matched pairs in there so if you replace one you should really do both. parts are available, not super cheap but not crazy either. the bias trim on that board can also drift but id check the transistors first.

i was in the same boat about a year ago and ended up getting the UV-5R just to have something in my hand while i figured stuff out. it worked fine for hitting the local 2m repeater but programming it without CHIRP was honestly miserable. once i loaded CHIRP on my laptop and imported the repeater data it got way easier. ended up upgrading to a Yaesu about 6 months later anyway so maybe just think about how much you want to spend twice lol. also APRS on a baofeng is doable but its kind of a hack situation, you'd need a phone or a TNC to do it properly. if APRS is a real goal might be worth looking at the FT3DR or something with built in GPS but that jumps the price up a lot

honestly the ARRL Tech manual is fine but yeah its overkill if you just want to pass. what most people do is use HamStudy.org or the Ham Radio Prep app and just grind through the question pool. the actual exam pulls directly from that pool so if you know all the questions you will pass, pretty much guaranteed. took me like two weeks of doing maybe 20-30 questions a night while watching tv. that said i'd recommend at least trying to understand the basic concepts like what the different bands are for and basic ohms law stuff because it actually makes the questions easier to remember instead of just memorizing answers. some of the electrical questions especially -- if you understand why the answer is what it is it sticks better. but if youre really short on time just do the practice exams on HamStudy until you're consistently hitting like 85% or higher and youll be fine on test day

I don't do SO2R at all so take this for what its worth but from what I've read the guys who are really lethal in sprints are basically just running insane rates on a single radio with very deliberate S&P bursts when the run dries up. like the top scores arent necessarily SO2R guys, theyre just guys who know the bands cold and can work a pileup really fast. the mental overhead thing you mentioned is real — i've talked to ops who said switching to SO2R actually hurt their scores for a full season before they internalized it enough to see gains. if sprints are only a few hours long you might not have enough time in the contest to recoup the overhead cost of running two radios

so i got my general ticket back in the spring and ive been mostly doing local nets and some digital stuff but everyone keeps telling me i should try a contest and CQ WW is apparently the big one coming up. the thing is i honestly dont really understand how it works. like i get that you exchange signal reports and stuff but what counts as a contact, how do zones work, and do i need special software or can i just log on paper for a casual entry. also is it worth even trying if i only have a dipole and 100 watts? feels like id just be getting walked over by guys with stacked yagis and a kilowatt. not trying to win anything just want to see what the fuss is about i guess

one thing that always gets me is people pack the radio gear perfectly and then realize they have no way to actually mount or hang an antenna in whatever weird spot they end up at. like some paracord and a few tent stakes or whatever for the antenna situation, sounds dumb but ive seen deployments where someone is holding the feedline up with their hand for an hour. also maybe a power strip or distribution thing if you end up somewhere with shore power available, being able to charge the battery while operating is nice. anyway looks like youre way more prepared than most people who show up to these things

congrats on the first activation, 34 QSOs is a solid number especially if you were mostly doing SSB. for the logging question — WWFF has its own separate log submission portal at wwff.co and yeah it's totally different from POTA even though a lot of references overlap. you export your ADIF from HAMRS and upload it there, pretty straightforward once you find the right page. the reference number needs to be in your log, specifically the WWFF ref format not just the park name, so double check that HAMRS is capturing it correctly. as for the hunters, they just log it as a normal QSO with the reference in the comment or WWFF field and submit their own logs. the database matches them up. if someone called you and you didn't announce your reference on air they might not have it, which is why most activators say the reference number every few QSOs in their exchange or at least put it in the spot. most regulars in the WWFF community already know to look it up but newer hunters might miss it. and yeah the low noise floor in the field is addicting, i went back to operating from my shack after my last trip and was just miserable with all the QRM lol

As a newer General class operator, I'd get the IC-7300 if you don't need 2m/70cm SSB - the 7300 is easier to use menu-wise and has a better display. The learning curve is much gentler for beginners.

yeah the 309 documentation stuff confused me too when i first started. i just log everything honestly, takes more time but then i dont have to second guess what to include. better to have too much than explain why something wasnt recorded i figure.

i was in basically the same spot about 8 months ago and ended up going with the baofeng uv-5r just because of the price. its been fine for hitting local repeaters but i did notice it has trouble sometimes when im near a commercial transmitter site, gets kinda noisy. my buddy has a yaesu and it handles that way better. so if youre near any big antenna farms maybe worth spending more. but for hiking and casual stuff the cheap one gets the job done for me so far

im pretty new to all this (got my general last spring) but I just went through building my first go-kit for our local SKYWARN group and the one thing that surprised me was how much the cable management matters when you're actually in the field versus just at home. Like I thought I had everything figured out on my workbench but the first time I packed it up and tried to deploy it somewhere else it was just a tangled mess and i couldnt figure out what went where. I started using those velcro cable ties and labeling both ends of every coax run and it made a huge difference. Also somebody in our club told me to keep a printed copy of my license in the kit which seems obvious but I hadn't thought of it.

yeah what he said about cutting long first. i learned that the hard way on my first dipole, cut it exactly to the formula and ended up resonant way above where i wanted it. had to splice in extra wire which is a pain. just go long and trim a few inches at a time, takes longer but way less frustrating. also for the center insulator if you dont want to buy one you can just use a chunk of thick PVC or even a piece of heavy duty plastic cutting board drilled with holes, works just as good. the commercial ones are nice but not necessary at all

so ive been running a Comet SBB5 on a mag mount for like two years on my F-150 and i finally decided to do a proper permanent install. ordered an NMO through-hole mount and now im second guessing where to drill. everyone says roof center is best for pattern but im genuinely not thrilled about drilling through my roof, like thats not reversible and i dont want water issues down the road. trunk lip mount or hatch lip is the other option and i know the pattern gets a little wonky with the vehicle body in the way on one side. but no hole in the roof. im mostly doing local repeater work and some simplex, not chasing DX or anything crazy. does the pattern difference actually matter for everyday 2m/70cm use or am i overthinking it? also is there a decent lip mount that actually holds up and doesnt scratch everything or loosen up after a few months of highway driving

The stuff people always forget is the small stuff honestly. Extra fuses, a good multi-tool, a headlamp (not just a flashlight, headlamp so your hands are free), a notepad and like 3 pens because pens always go missing, and some kind of logging sheet if you're going to be doing anything formal. Oh and a copy of your license printed out, sounds dumb but some served agency folks actually ask. For antenna the Wolf River Coils setup has worked pretty well for a buddy of mine doing ARES stuff, he can get on 40m in maybe 8 minutes once he has a spot picked. I personally use a linked dipole cut for 40/20 and just toss it in a tree with a throw line, not the fanciest but it works every time which is kind of the whole point. The buddistick is fine but fiddly when you're stressed out. Biggest thing I'd say though is actually go out and deploy the whole kit in your backyard once or twice before you need it. You will find every gap that way, guaranteed.

New to remote operation and trying to understand the RemoteHams ecosystem. RemoteHams server and RCForb Client software provides the capability to easily remotely control a ham radio station including an amplifier, antenna rotator, and switches. The RCForb client software integrates with popular logging programs and includes a keyboard keyer and DX cluster. I've got my IC-7300 working via the RCForb server but struggling with logging integration. Which logging programs work best with RCForb? My current setup has intermittent CAT control issues when trying to sync frequency data.