Mike Rodriguez

Just passed Technician last month and ready to tackle General! The exam has 35 multiple-choice questions and I need to score 74% to pass. Looking at the syllabus, the electronics and propagation sections seem pretty intense compared to Tech level. What study resources and methods helped you prepare for General? Any specific areas I should focus extra time on?

You can always use pen and paper like I did when starting POTA and SOTA. Bring a small backup battery pack regardless of which app you choose - learned that the hard way on a 6-hour activation!

YES – it may be said that we are turning folks into "appliance operators" and not "true hams." But I sure can remember my first HT and that excitement of first getting on the air. Don't let programming frustrations kill that enthusiasm. Get it programmed professionally first, then learn CHIRP later when you have time to experiment.

Working on adding panadapter capability to my trusty IC-745 using an RTL-SDR Blog V3. The 745 lacks modern serial control but supports digital modes with modifications like sound card connections and I want to add visual spectrum capability. The RTL-SDR can add panadapter capabilities to regular hardware radios but I'm struggling with the IF tap connection. Where's the best IF tap point on the IC-745 main board?What's the optimal coupling method - capacitive or transformer?Any issues with loading the IF stage?

I've been licensed for about six months and our club NCS coordinator asked if I'd like to try running our weekly technical net. I'm excited but nervous! I've listened to nets for years but controlling one seems intimidating. Any tips for a new net control operator? I'm worried about managing multiple check-ins, keeping track of who's spoken, and handling any emergency traffic that might come up. The net typically has 8-12 regulars plus a few visitors. Thanks for any wisdom you can share!

Check your coax routing carefully. If common-mode currents are allowed to enter the shack, they may travel along the coax shield or use equipment and wiring as part of their unintended return path. This creates potential RF "hot spots," resulting in interference to your transceiver, audio gear, or household electronics. Even with proper grounding, poor choke placement can allow CMC to find alternative paths.

That's exactly right for SSB. Correct microphone gain adjustment is the most important factor for readability. Excessive mic gain negates DSP and equalizer effectiveness. Don't chase that 100W average reading - it's a trap that leads to bad audio!

im in the same boat as you honestly, only been licensed about 4 months. what helped me was just keeping a little cheat sheet next to my radio for the first few weeks. QRZ always threw me off because it sounds like it should mean something else but its just someone asking whos calling them, usually the DX station running a pileup. the other one that got me was QSK which is full break-in CW, didnt even know what break-in meant at the time lol. just keep listening and it clicks eventually

For spotting etiquette - only spot if you can hear the DX station clearly and they're actively working stations. Don't spot if they're just calling CQ with no takers. These networks aggregate reports from operators detailing stations heard, their frequencies, and modes to help users monitor current band conditions. Quality spots help everyone!

Just passed my Tech last month using pure memorization in about 3 weeks of studying. Got an 89% on the real exam after consistently scoring 85%+ on practice tests. The concepts will come naturally once you start operating and talking to other hams on the air.

I was actually on 20m Saturday afternoon chasing and worked a few summits, wish I'd caught your CQ. The SMS spotting via APRS2SOTA is what I use when I'm somewhere with no data — you basically send a text to a specific number with your callsign, frequency, and mode and it auto-posts to the reflector. Took me a minute to set up but works great now even in pretty marginal cell areas.

Getting ready for my Tech exam and I'm seeing conflicting advice online. Some folks say just memorize the 426 question pool answers since they're all available, while others insist you need to really understand the electrical theory behind each question. What approach worked best for you? I've been using HamStudy.org for practice tests, but I'm wondering if I should invest time in a proper study guide like the ARRL manual or just drill the questions until I can pass. Need to take the exam in 6 weeks for our club's upcoming VE session.

Everyone was friendly, the process was clear, the exam environment felt secure but not onerous, and the VE's did an excellent job of balancing their responsibility to proctor the exam fairly while also making me feel like they were rooting for me to do well. You will be immediately notified of your score once you finish the exam!

Planning an upgrade to my 70cm EME station and evaluating amplifier options. Currently running 100W from my TS-2000 into a 4x19-element array with a 1KW SSPA amplifier which is driven by a FlexRadio 6600 series radio setup I've seen at remote stations. An 80W 70 cm (432 MHz) setup using about a 12-15 dBi Yagi works well for EME Moonbounce communication using digital modes like the JT65, but I'm looking at serious power upgrades. Considering either a 1KW SSPA or going with a tube amplifier. The SSPA offers better reliability and cooler operation, but tube amps might be more cost-effective for high power EME work. It is heard that about 1500 Watts of output is needed for an SSB QSO though most of my work will be digital modes. To overcome the losses and enable amateur radio radio communications to be established using Moonbounce, very high radio transmitter powers, directive antennas and very sensitive receivers are required. Anyone have experience comparing modern SSPA reliability vs tube amps for 432 MHz EME duty cycles?

I had the exact same experience at lesson 8! What helped me was mixing in some CWops practice sessions on LCWO.net between G4FON sessions. The variety seemed to help my brain process the patterns better. Stick with it - you're closer than you think!

You're doing it right! Author runs mic gain at only 5% yet achieves full 100W PEP with 35% average - exactly where it should be. Peak to average ratios of 6:1 to 3:1 are normal, causing many to assume their rig isn't putting out rated power when seeing 15-35W average.

Scheduled my first Technician exam next month and feeling nervous about the actual test session process. These days, exams are certainly more conveniently offered and the examiners are friendlier, but you'll still have some nervous anticipation as the day arrives. What should I bring - two forms of identification, including at least one photo ID, such as a driver's license? How does the registration and testing process actually work? Any tips to stay calm and focused during the exam itself?

Don't need an oscilloscope at all. A decent DMM and maybe an antenna analyzer are much more useful for QRP work. The QCX+ has built-in test modes that make troubleshooting pretty straightforward. You've got this!

Another thing to check: make sure your system clock is accurate to within 1 second. JS8Call is very timing-sensitive for the store-and-forward messaging. If you're off-grid, consider getting a GPS USB dongle for time sync - it makes a huge difference in reliability.

so ive been using N1MM for a few years now mainly because thats what everyone told me to use when i first got into contesting and it does work great for that, no complaints really. but i find myself doing more and more random DX chasing and casual operating between contests and N1MM feels like overkill or just kinda clunky when im not actually in a contest. like i have to set up a contest profile just to log a random QSO which feels weird. somebody at the club mentioned Log4OM and i downloaded it and messed around a bit and it seems more like a general purpose logger but im not sure if it handles contests well or if id have to keep both installed and switch back and forth. also i run WSJT-X pretty regularly for FT8 and my current setup pipes the WSJT-X logs into N1MM which mostly works but occasionally drops a contact or duplicates something, never fully figured out why. does anyone actually run Log4OM as their primary and use it for contests too, or is the consensus still N1MM for anything competitive and something else for day to day. not looking to overthink this just wondering what setups people are actually running

After 8 months of struggling with CW, something finally clicked last week during a POTA activation. I've been stuck copying around 8-10 WPM but suddenly started copying solid 15 WPM during actual QSOs. That's the secret to learning Morse code in a way that will scale up in speed as you progress. Learn Morse code like it is a new language. Listen to the complete sound of the characters being presented not the individual dits and dahs. The breakthrough came when I stopped trying to "decode" each character and started recognizing whole words as sounds. Real contacts are so different from practice apps! QSB, QRM, and operator rhythm variations actually helped train my brain. For anyone struggling - get on the air even if you're slow. The context of actual conversations makes pattern recognition easier.

If you're studying now and plan to test before July 1, 2026, you'll still be tested on the current 2022-2026 pool. The new pool only applies to exams administered on or after that date. Just finish what you started - no point switching horses midstream!

Great summary! Don't forget HF access is nearly essential for emergency communications and Winlink email system works worldwide on HF. These privileges make General worthwhile even if you're not into DXing.

so ive been going to this one for like 4 years now and its honestly one of the better ones in the region, not too huge but still enough tables to find deals on stuff. last year i picked up a barely used 2m rig for like 40 bucks which was insane. anyway just wondering if anyone else from the club is planning to show up, maybe we could carpool or something since parking got kinda bad the last couple times

The 10-12 WPM plateau is real! I broke through by forcing myself to listen to faster code even when I could only catch maybe 30% of it. Your brain starts adapting to the rhythm. LCWO's word training at 15 WPM helped me immensely during that phase.