Jennifer Lee

so i finally got around to building a simple 40m dipole out of some 14 gauge stranded wire i had in the garage. cut each leg to about 33.5 feet based on the 468/f formula, used a SO-239 chassis connector as the feedpoint center, and fed it with some RG-8X i had lying around. hung it up in an inverted-V config with the apex at maybe 25 feet off the ground off my back fence post. problem is the SWR at 7.150 is sitting around 2.1:1 and i cant figure out why. i double checked the math and the connections look solid. the legs arent exactly equal in height on each side because of how the yard is shaped, one side is probably 5 feet lower than the other. could that be messing with the resonant frequency or is this just normal for an inverted-V? ive been reading conflicting things and honestly getting a little confused by all of it. also not sure if the coax length matters here, its about 47 feet total run back to the shack. using an LDG tuner so i can get it flat but wanted to understand what was going on before i just let the tuner do all the work

honestly same boat here not too long ago. what helped me more than anything was just getting on the air even when i felt completely not ready. like i found the CWT mini contests and just listened for a while, then one day i just answered a CQ and the guy sent slower when i asked QRS and we actually had a QSO. it was rough and i missed a bunch but after that i was way more motivated than i ever was just staring at the computer doing drills. also someone told me about the app called Morse Mania which is more gamey and i used that on my phone during lunch breaks. probably not as systematic as LCWO but kept me from getting bored with it

yeah same thing happened to me when i first started, i basically just listened for a few weeks before i said anything lol. one thing i'll add is that the NATO phonetics are kind of the standard everyone expects but ive heard old timers use some really weird ones that aren't NATO at all, like they'll say "sugar" for S or whatever. nobody seems to care much as long as its clear. just learn the standard ones and you'll be fine, most people appreciate when someone actually takes the time to say their callsign clearly instead of mumbling through it

yeah i had the same confusion when i started. what helped me was just listening to how other people handled it. also fwiw some people use non-standard phonetics which drove me crazy at first, like saying "America" for A instead of Alpha. technically youre supposed to stick to NATO but on casual local stuff nobody really polices it DX contacts are a different story, when youre trying to work some station in a pile and propagation is marginal you really want standard phonetics because the other op knows exactly what to listen for

same boat as you like 6 months ago lol. what finally made it click for me was just thinking of them as separate things that happen to overlap. LoTW is basically the official one for ARRL awards, eQSL is more casual and social almost, and paper cards are just... fun? i started getting cards back in the mail and now i kind of love it even though it seemed pointless at first. the one thing nobody told me is that for LoTW you need the TQSL software and you have to get a certificate tied to your callsign and it takes a few days to get approved. if you already did that part youre good, but if you skipped it that might be why confirmations arent showing up

not a dumb question at all, this stuff is genuinely confusing the first time you look at it. so yes there is now an application fee from the FCC, it's $35 last i checked, applies to new licenses, upgrades, and vanity applications. that changed a couple years ago so your buddy might just have outdated info. the waiting period is 18 days and it's not exactly a lottery but sort of — if more than one person applies for the same call during that window they do a random selection from among the qualified applicants. if you're the only one who wants it you get it after the window closes. as for the 1x3 format yeah generals can apply for those, you just cant get the shorter 1x2 or 2x1 formats until you upgrade to extra. there are also some 2x2 calls still floating around that generals are eligible for depending on the district. honestly the best thing to do is use a site like AE7Q's callsign database, it shows you available calls and what class can hold them. makes the whole thing a lot less overwhelming than staring at ULS.

the audio/drive thing catches a lot of people out. i had a buddy who was running his mic gain way too hot for years and couldn't figure out why he rarely got called back on sideband. someone finally told him to back it off and it was like night and day. on pileups especially the DX op is dealing with a wall of noise and a clean signal that's not distorted actually stands out. doesnt have to be the loudest just has to be readable.

ok so ive had my technician for about 8 months now and i mostly just listen to the local 2m net on tuesday nights. i know the net control calls around and people check in but im always kind of frozen when it gets to where i think i should say something. like do i just say my callsign? do i wait for them to ask? last week i almost keyed up and then just... didnt. felt dumb afterward. also is there a wrong way to check in? i dont want to be that guy who does something weird and everyone remembers it forever lol. the net control seems really experienced and i dont want to bother him with questions mid-net either. any advice from people who actually do this regularly would be great

i just passed mine like six weeks ago. the math isnt as bad as it looks because honestly a lot of the questions you can work out with just basic algebra if you remember your formulas. i made a little cheat sheet just for studying not for the test obviously lol and that helped a lot. the hardest part for me was the operating procedures stuff and some of the obscure regs honestly, the theory i kind of enjoyed. good luck if you go for it

oh man I went through this exact same thing earlier this year. I kept refreshing ULS like every few hours waiting for my call to show up lol. mine took about 3 days. the vanity application process through the FCC website is actually not that bad once your license is in the system, just follow the steps in ULS and it walks you through it pretty well. good luck getting your grandfathers old call, thats really cool that you want to carry that on

had the 7300 for a year before moving to the 7610 and yeah the dual receiver thing is genuinely useful even if you're not going full SO2R. i use it mostly to monitor another band while working a pileup and its nice to have. the waterfall on the 7610 is also just... better. smoother and the dynamic range feels more real if that makes sense, the 7300 can get a bit washed out in heavy QRM. that said the 890 receive is supposed to be in a different league, i havent owned one but a buddy at the club runs one and he swears the roofing filters make a noticeable difference in a contest environment. the controls on the kenwood feel more traditional too if you like knobs for everything rather than touchscreen. i dont think you can go wrong either way but if SO2R is even a remote possibility down the road the 7610 makes more sense to grow into. as for just adding an amp to the 7300, totally valid and probably the most cost efficient path but you said yourself its the rx you actually want so might as well be honest about that and get the radio upgrade first then add power later

honestly what you did sounds completely fine. most nets are pretty simple and net control just wants your callsign, maybe your name, and whether you have traffic or announcements. short and clean is usually better than rambling. the guy who goes long with all the details isnt wrong exactly but its kind of a personal style thing and some net controls will actually ask people to keep it brief if the net is busy. the main things i'd say are just listen before you jump in, wait for net control to acknowledge you before you start talking, and dont kerchunk the repeater while someones still finishing up. you'll pick up the rhythm pretty quick just from showing up regularly. the fact that you were nervous about doing it wrong is honestly a good sign, the people who dont care are the ones who step on everyone

yeah the 7300 at 50w in a typical traffic net or emcomm scenario where you're maybe 20-30% duty cycle... you're pulling maybe 8-10A average out of the battery. 100ah lifepo4 gives you like 80-85ah usable if you're being conservative so rough math puts you around 8 hours before you're getting nervous. add in the laptop and lighting and you're probably looking at 6-7 realistic hours before i'd want to plug in. i'd skip the generator for that setup honestly unless you know it's gonna be a multi-day thing or you're running higher power. the eu2200i is the quietest one out there but it's still a generator, people will notice. i run a 120ah battle born and a 100w panel and that covers most of my day activations without touching the genny at all. for the mast, i welded up a small base plate with stakes that go into the ground at angles, kind of like a camera tripod but flat. works way better than vertical stakes. also guy wires at like 2/3 height if there's any wind in the forecast, i've had a 31 footer come down and it's not fun.

i just passed mine like two months ago so maybe i can help. i used the Gordon West book which some people hate but i thought it explained things pretty well for a total beginner. the practice tests on QRZ are also good. for me it was maybe 2 weeks? i was doing it pretty intensely though, like an hour a night after work. the electrical theory questions tripped me up at first but there are really only a few formulas you need and once you see the pattern they kind of click. dont stress too much about the regulations section, a lot of it is just common sense once you read it a couple times

i was in the exact same spot like a year ago, dont sweat it. the cluster stuff seems complicated but once it clicks it really clicks. i mostly just use dxwatch now with the band filter set to whatever i feel like operating that day and when i see something interesting i look it up on qrz to check the entity and see if i need it. pretty low tech approach but it works for me lol one thing that helped me was the dx summit site too, dx.qsl.net i think, some people swear by that one. lots of old timers use it. anyway you're definitely not doing it wrong, theres no one right way

honestly i'm still kind of learning the pileup thing so take this for what it is but one thing that helped me a lot was just getting off the cluster frequency. like everyone sees the same spot and piles on the exact same freq and you're just one of 400 stations. i started listening around a bit and sometimes the DX is working like 1 or 2 kHz off where the cluster said and there's way fewer callers there. not always but enough times that its worth a quick sweep before just jumping in blind. also my elmer told me to always send my full callsign and not just the suffix, apparently some guys just send the last two or three letters and the op has no idea who they are. seems obvious but i see it happen all the time on the packet spots when people are posting partial calls that got thru

Have you tried DX Summit? It's been my go-to for years. Really fast updates and the historical spot search is incredibly useful. The mobile version works great too. Worth checking out alongside the others you mentioned.

so ive been scratching my head on this for a while now. got a diamond x50 up about 25 feet on a mast off the back of the house, running maybe 40 feet of LMR-240 down to the shack. on 2m its fine, hitting the local repeater no problem, but on 70cm i feel like im getting eaten alive. s-meter on the other end is showing me way down compared to what my buddy two miles away is getting with basically the same setup except hes using LMR-400 for his run. i did the math on the coax loss and yeah 240 isnt great at 440 but shouldnt be catastrophic for 40 feet right? im running 50w out of an IC-2730. wondering if maybe the antenna connector is the issue because i did that PL-259 crimp myself and it wasnt my cleanest work honestly. or maybe the x50 just isnt that great on 70cm, ive seen some people say the pattern gets weird up there. anyone dealt with this?

for what youre describing honestly a collinear makes more sense. something like a Diamond X50 or X200 will serve you well for hitting multiple repeaters without having to think about it. the gain isnt dramatic compared to a yagi obviously but for 18 miles on 2m with a clear shot youre not going to need a 13 element beam anyway. the rotator idea isnt as crazy as it sounds if you ever get into weak signal or satellite work down the road, but for everyday repeater use its just more stuff to break. ive had an X200A on my roof for probably 8 years now and the only time i think about it is when i have to climb up there and clear ice. put it up high, good coax, solid mount and forget about it.

FT4 transmissions last 7.5 seconds compared to FT8's 15-second transmissions, allowing more contacts in less time, but you're right that FT8 wins on weak signals. Choose FT4 when faster contacts are needed and signals are strong enough to support shorter transmission cycles. During that disturbance, FT8 was definitely the better choice.

welcome to the hobby, those first contacts are always a little nerve wracking right? i remember my hands were actually shaking the first time i keyed up on a repeater. gets way easier fast though. if you havent already try to find a local club or just hang out on the repeater during a net, people around here are generally pretty helpful to new hams. also dont worry too much about not understanding the antenna stuff yet, that rabbit hole goes pretty deep and youll pick it up as you go

yeah the inverted-v thing is definitely part of it. when you drop those legs down you're compressing the angle between them and the feedpoint impedance falls, sometimes into the 30-35 ohm range depending on how steep your angle is. so even a perfectly resonant antenna is gonna show higher SWR into 50 ohm coax just because of the mismatch. 75 ohm coax actually works pretty well for inverted-v centers for exactly that reason, brings the SWR down noticeably. the frequency shift — if the resonant point moved up after you trimmed it you definitely went too short, but the original shift upward from calculated is common with inverted-v too. the formula assumes horizontal and free space basically, real world with ground reflections and the angle of the legs means you usually need to add a little length, not cut. i'd add 6 inches or so back to each leg and see where you land. also 25 feet center height on 40m is pretty low, ground losses are probably eating into things a bit but thats a separate conversation

did you check if maybe its an issue with how its mounted in whatever enclosure youre using? i ask because my buddys 897 was doing something similar and turned out the way he had it in his rack was blocking the bottom vents. sounds dumb but worth ruling out before digging deeper into the bias stuff

not a dumb question at all, i remember being totally lost on this when i first started chasing DX. so the short answer is yes, LoTW confirmations count for DXCC — ARRL has accepted LoTW credits for years now, you dont need a physical card if the other station confirms on LoTW. that said some DXpeditions and especially some rarer entities still only send paper cards so youll end up needing both eventually just depending on who you work. WAS and DXCC are completely separate awards with separate applications, but if you log to LoTW and the other station does too, those confirmations can count toward whichever award applies. so yeah the same QSO can credit toward WAS if its a US state and toward DXCC if the entity is on the current list. WAZ is the CQ zones award — thats run by CQ Magazine not ARRL so thats a whole separate thing with its own confirmation process, though they do accept LoTW records too last i checked. honestly just make sure youre uploading everything to LoTW from day one and send cards via bureau for anything that doesnt confirm electronically. 40 countries is a solid start, youll hit 100 faster than you think once you get your antennas sorted.

so ive been at this for a while now and im just kinda venting but also genuinely asking for advice. started learning cw back in the spring, got up to about 5wpm pretty quick with just chirpity and some youtube videos, then kept pushing and hit 13wpm maybe six weeks in. and then just... stopped. like my brain refuses to go faster. i know the letters fine at speed individually, i can copy them when the trainer throws single characters at me fast, but the moment its actual words or QSOs my head just locks up. i start trying to spell things out instead of just hearing words and it all falls apart. someone told me the jump from 13 to 20 is where most people quit and honestly i believe them now. currently doing about 20 minutes a day with lcwo, character speed at 20 but effective word speed at like 13 (farnsworth i think thats called). should i just push the effective speed up and suffer through it or is there a better way. feels like im doing something wrong