David Thompson

okay so ive been trying to get Winlink going for a few weeks now and i think im close but there's a few things i just cant wrap my head around. running Winlink Express on a windows 10 box, have a Signalink USB hooked up to my IC-7300, mostly planning to use VHF for local RMS connections since im in a suburban area and there's a few gateways within range according to the map on the winlink site. the part im stuck on is the actual message handling workflow. like i get the basics — you compose a message, connect to an RMS, it forwards to the internet. but what happens if i'm in the middle of sending and the link drops? does it just queue and retry or does it lose everything? also im seeing options for both Packet and VARA FM and i dont know which one to use for VHF. ive read that VARA FM is faster but i already have the Signalink set up for packet so i dont really want to mess with levels again if i dont have to. also — and this is probably a dumb question — if i want to set up my OWN RMS gateway someday, is that something you basically have to be an extra class for or can any general do it? i know there's a whole winlink.org approval process but i dont know what the RF requirements look like on the operator side.

been trying to submit my logs from last weekends activations and the pota website keeps timing out or taking forever to load. tried different browsers and everything. wondering if its just me or if the servers are getting hammered with all the new activity also kinda related but does anyone know if theres a way to bulk upload QSOs instead of entering them one by one? did three parks on saturday and my hand is still cramped from all that typing lol

yeah i was totally lost on this stuff when i started too. one thing that helped me was just jumping on a local repeater and listening for a few weeks, you kinda pick up what things mean from context. like you hear someone say QSY and then the frequency changes so you figure out QSY means move to another frequency. same with QRZ, someone will say it when they didnt catch who was calling and suddenly it clicks that it means who is calling me. theres a pdf floating around online that lists all the common ham Q codes, i forget where i found it but searching for ARRL Q codes should get you something useful. the ones you actually hear most often on the air are probably only like 10 or 15 of them anyway, the rest are pretty obscure

so ive been a tech for about a year and finally upgraded to general last month and everyone keeps telling me i should learn CW even though its not required anymore. i tried a few times but i just cant figure out where to start. like do you just memorize the dots and dashes on paper first or is that the wrong approach? i downloaded some app but it just threw random letters at me and i gave up after like 20 minutes because nothing was sticking. also is there a certain speed you should learn at, i heard something about the koch method but i dont really understand how that works. any advice would be helpful i just feel like im going around in circles every time i try to get started

so i got my general back in march and ive been doing mostly casual ragchewing on 40m and some digital stuff on 20m but a few guys at the club keep telling me i need to try a contest. like an actual contest, not just making a few contacts here and there. CQ WW is coming up and i guess ARRL sweepstakes is in there too? and someone mentioned field day but i think that already passed this year, im not totally sure. anyway i feel a litle overwhelmed because i dont really understand how the exchanges work or what counts as a valid contact or like... what software people actually use. i downloaded N1MM but havent really figured it out yet. is CQ WW a good starting point or is it too intense for someone who hasnt really done this before. i heard the pile-ups get pretty wild also someone at the club mentioned SOTA but thats activating summits right, thats a bit different from sitting at home contesting? or do people do both on the same weekend sometimes. just trying to get a feel for the calendar and what to actually prepare for

Are you using separate antennas for each radio? Antenna separate is almost a necessity when running high power. Even with proper lockouts, you can get desense between closely spaced antennas on different bands. Consider adding band-specific filters or stubs between your SO2R box and radios.

the hum on DC receivers is almost always one of two things — either ground loops somewhere in the audio chain or RF getting into the audio and rectifying on something. the second one is sneaky because it looks exactly like power supply hum but its actually coming in through the antenna or just radiated pickup. try wrapping your audio board in some copper tape and grounding it, and make sure your audio leads arent running parallel to anything carrying RF. also double check that your detector diodes are all matched, mismatched diodes in a ring detector kill your balance and thats what lets hum in through the LO port. the image thing in a DC receiver without phasing is just kind of the nature of the beast unless you went with a phasing design. if you used a simple diode ring without the 90 degree hybrid stuff you basically have a DSB receiver and both sidebands come through equally, thats not really a flaw its just how it works. you can add a phasing network after the fact but honestly a lot of people just live with it on 40m homebrew stuff.

I'd recommend actually learning the theory if you have time - it really does make you a better operator and helps with troubleshooting. But that said, the exam is multiple choice so if you're short on time the memorization approach works. Focus on understanding the concepts behind smith charts rather than memorizing every formula, and definitely know your band plan changes. The extra segments fill up fast during contests so having access is great.

okay so i got my technician license about 3 weeks ago and ive been lurking on the local 2m repeater just listening and getting a feel for things. there's a weekly net on tuesday nights and i really want to check in but honestly im kind of terrified of saying something wrong or using the wrong procedure and sounding like an idiot in front of everyone. like i know the basics, you wait for the net control to ask for check-ins and then you give your callsign, but do i just say my callsign phonetically? do i say my name and location too or wait to be asked? and what if i miss my turn or key up at the wrong time, is that a huge deal? ive heard a few people on there who sound super polished and i just dont want to embarrass myself. any advice from people who have actually done this would be great

so ive been interested in ham radio for a while now, my neighbor has a big antenna setup and it always looked cool to me. i finally decided i want to actually get licensed but i dont really know where to begin. like i know theres different levels or whatever and you have to take a test but beyond that im kind of lost. is there like a standard way people study for this or do you just kind of wing it? i looked at some stuff online and it seemed overwhelming but maybe im overthinking it. also how hard is the test actually, im not great at memorizing stuff but i can usually figure things out if it makes sense to me

so i finally got my hands on the IC-905 after waiting like four months for the backorder to clear. been doing mostly HF for years but wanted to get into microwave stuff and this thing has been on my radar since they announced it. first impressions are honestly pretty solid, the build quality feels like typical icom which is to say its good but not jaw dropping or anything. the big thing for me was getting it set up on 10 GHz with the external unit mounted up on the roof. that was a whole afternoon of head scratching honestly. the GPS sync for the transverter is clever but the documentation could use some work — or maybe im just impatient. once i got it dialed in though and made my first CW contact on 10 GHz i was pretty stoked. its a band ive always wanted to play on and never had good gear for. anyway curious if anyone else has been running one of these, especially on the higher bands. also wondering if there are good nets or activity nights for weak signal on 2.4 or 10 GHz in the midwest, havent been able to find much activity poking around.

so ive been chasing 3Y0 and a few other rare ones for a while now and always seemed to get buried in the pileup no matter what i tried. last weekend there was a small DXpedition on 17m and i finally broke through after maybe 20 minutes which for me is actually a record lol. what seemed to make the difference was listening way more carefully to where the DX station was actually coming back — like not just the split frequency range they announced but exactly where in that range they kept fishing. there was a cluster of guys all piling on the bottom of the split and i just moved up about 3 kHz from where everyone else was and on my third call they came back to me. running about 400w into a 4el yagi at 40ft so nothing crazy. also started using shorter calls instead of sending my full callsign twice every time. just one crisp send, then wait and listen. seemed like the DX op was getting frustrated with guys doubling on each other and was picking out single callers more often. anyway curious if anyone else has found specific techniques that actually work consistently, especially on the low bands where it gets really chaotic. i know timing is huge but i cant ever seem to nail the rhythm when its a big pileup.

so ive been doing POTA for about a year now and somebody at my club mentioned WWFF and honestly i didn't even know it was a thing. looked it up and it seems pretty similar but more international? i think? i found a nature reserve about 20 minutes from my house that has a WWFF reference and im wondering if i just... go there and operate and log it the same way as POTA or if theres some whole different process for registering an activation also do chasers actually call in for WWFF specifically or is it mostly people who are already hunting POTA and just happen to log it for both programs. my buddy said most of his contacts during WWFF activations were dual logging anyway but i wasnt sure if thats just a thing in his area. im in the midwest if that matters any advice appreciated, just dont want to show up and do it completely wrong