2023 Winter Solstice QSL Card

QSO Map

Activation Location Scenery

Log 12.22.2023

QSL Cards

Electronic QSL Cards

2023 Verification Test

In October 2023 the ISS performed a ‘verification test’ and transmitted 12 SSTV images.The equipment list below allowed me to leave my radio running and catch every ISS path. Quaity varied based on the path and timing of the transmissions.

• J-Pole ~20 ft. in the air
• FTM-300
• Digi-Rig for data connection
• MMSSTV software

Alternative Methods

KI4ASK created a helpful video that demonstrates how simple downloading the images can be.

Images

Image 01/12 Image 02/12 Image 03/12 Image 04/12 Image 05/12 Image 06/12 Image 07/12 Image 08/12 Image 09/12 Image 10/12 Image 11/12 Image 12/12

About

The 2023 Super Blue Moon POTA activation was an excuse to activate Rocky Mountain National Park (K-0059) and get some cool QSL cards printed up. Conditions were a bit rough for a QRP activation but I managed 40 QSO’s. Thanks to all the ops I was able to complete a QSO with and apologies to those of you that fell victim to QSB.

The next Super Blue Moon activation is scheduled for January 2037.

Super Blue Moon QRP QSL Card

QSO Map

Activation Location Scenery

Log 08.31.2023

This post outlines how to generate a KML file of a subset of POTA parks without leaving your browser. It’s important to remember the pota.app website is the official source of POTA park information. The information presented here is intended to help plan your outing. It’s up to you to ensure you are working with the most current data .

Why?

The pota.app is great. It takes care of 90% of the planning I need to do. But as I started to plan a 5+ park rove I immediately found a need to get the park locations out of the app for drive time estimates, and create multiple rove scenarios. KML will also make it easier to make the data available for offline use.

The Big Asterisk

This method is a bit hacky but it works. The release of the public POTA API could make my instructions unnecessary soon. Until then; we’re all hams here so let’s use the tools we have to solve the problem.

I used Chrome for my screenshots due to it’s popularity. The steps will be slightly different but similar in Firefox or Edge.

Step-by-step Instructions

TL;DR Video

Get the data from pota.app

1. Go to pota.app map pota.app/#/map

2. Open your browsers dev tools

3. Go to network tab
4. filter requests to api.pota.app
5. Limit responses to ‘Fetch/XHR’

6. Pan to the map extent you want and zoom until the points representing parks are visible
7. the dev tools right click on the last request in the list and choose ‘Copy’ —> ‘Copy Response’

Convert Your Clipboard to KMZ

1. Visit geojson.io
2. Remove all the JSON in the panel on the right
3. Paste the JSON response we copied from dev tools
4. You should see the points. on the map and can click the points to see the park names
5. In the top left chose Save—> KML to save the points as a file

Google MyMaps

1. Visit google.com/mymaps
2. Create a new map
3. Import your KML
4. Click and drag points to edit locations as needed

For some parks the point represents the general location of the park and does not necessarily represent an entrance or parking lot. If you need to move points to locations where you will active a park you can click on the map marker once to select and then click and drag to move. Make sure you review all points you would like to participate in driving directions to ensure accurate results.

Directions and Drive Times

1. Add your starting location

2. Choose a park and get directions

3. Add additional parks

4. Step-by-step directions
5. Drive time estimates

MyMaps allows you to create multiple driving direction layers. Use the check box to control visibility. This feature allows you to build out a number of rove scenarios.

Offline Maps

Avenza Maps allows you to find and create maps that work without internet access. You can import your KMZ directly into Avenza Maps.

The USFS provides 7.5 min quads and Motor Vehicle Use Maps (MVUM) for free through the Avenza Store. I recommend MVUM maps if they are available for the area you are interested in. MVUM maps show just the necessary information and are simple to read and understand.

Good Luck!

Thats it. If there is a better way please let me know. Otherwise, happy roving and I hope you found this helpful.

73 WØABE

The Straight Key Century Club SKCC is a great resource for all CW operators. The provided SKCC logger works great BUT I end up moving contacts into RUMlogNG. A simple search returned the gist below. Its fairly simple to get the scripts up and running.

swalberg/SKCCDaemon.scpt

All credit goes to swalberg. I have copied and pasted the information directly from his gist.

Instructions

These two scripts work together to have RUMlogNG pull SKCC data when you enter a call sign. get_skcc gets put in a directory, and you need to mark it as executable (chmod +x get_skcc). You’ll also need to update the Applescript file to point to it, as it currently points to /Users/sean/bin/get_skcc which is almost certainly wrong for you.

The .scpt file can be run from within the script editor (double click on the script, it should be the default action). You can also export it as an application and run the application.

Running the script will open RUMlogNG. If you close RL before this script, it’ll restart RL, so you’ll want to kill off this script when you’re done.

I have the 4th user field set aside for SKCC numbers, so in Line 13 you can change that if you use a different one, or delete it entirely if you don’t want to track it. One thing to note is that RL currently doesn’t know about the SKCC data type, so when you go to apply for an award by exporting the QSOs to ADIF, you’ll need to do a search and replace for that field and change it to “skcc”.

get_skcc

#!/bin/sh

call=$1
op=$2
DB=~/Documents/SKCCLogger/skcclist.txt
DB_URL=https://www.skccgroup.com/search/skcclist.txt

# If the DB is a day old or less then update it
file=$(find $DB -mmin -1440)
if [ -z "$file" ]; then
  curl -so $DB $DB_URL
fi

case $op in
  nr)
    awk -F\| "\$2==\"$call\" { print \$1 }" < $DB
    ;;
  name)
    awk -F\| "\$2==\"$call\" { print \$3 }" < $DB
    ;;
  qth)
    awk -F\| "\$2==\"$call\" { print \$4 }" < $DB
    ;;
  *)
    awk -F\| "\$2==\"$call\" { print }" < $DB
    ;;
esac

SKCCDaemon.scpt

Make sure you update the 3 path variables in this script with the path to your get_skcc file!

set lastCall to ""
repeat
	tell application "RUMlogNG"
		set currentCall to callsign
		if (lastCall is not equal to currentCall) then
			set lastCall to currentCall
			set skcc_nr to do shell script "/Users/<your_username>/bin/get_skcc " & currentCall & " nr"
			set their_name to do shell script "/Users/<your_username>/bin/get_skcc " & currentCall & " name"
			if skcc_nr is not "" then
				set nick to their_name
				set qth to do shell script "/Users/<your_username>/bin/get_skcc " & currentCall & " qth"
				set note to "SKCC: " & skcc_nr & "|" & their_name
				set userField_4 to skcc_nr
			end if
		end if
	end tell
	delay 1
end repeat

RUMlogNG is very capable free logging software for Mac user. Exporting Parks on the Air contacts can be seamless if you make a couple small changes.

User Defined Logging Fields

RUMlogNG —> Preferences —> General —> User defined logging fields…

• Field 1: Name “My Park” and chose MY_SIG_INFO for the field
• Field 2: Name “P2P” and chose SIG_INFO for the field

During your activation log the other stations park number in the P2P field and update the My Park fields with your park number for all your contacts once your activation is complete.

Exporting POTA Logs

After you have completed your activation select the contacts in you log and choose Logbook —> Export selected QSO’s for special activity…

In the dialog add your callsign to the activator field.

Save the file and upload directly to the Parks on the Air app. Congratualtions, you have completed your activation! If you are uploading to QRZ you need to export a separate file (Logbook —> Export selected QSO’s as ADIF…). Once saved change the file extension to ADI and upload. RUMlogNG provides real time uploads to ClubLog and direct upload to LOTW if you configure your login information.

Happy activating!

Thanks for the QSO! Here’s a bit about me, my equipment, and interests.

Interests

I enjoy just about every aspect of amateur radio. I am currently focused on honing my CW skills, POTA, and occasionally work FT-8. I have built a handful of my own antennas including my NVIS OCF dipole.

Setup

Base

• FTDX-10
• DX Commander Classic with 80 meter
• OCF Dipole

Mobile/POTA

• FT-891
• Wolf River Coils SB1000
• Ultra light EFHW
• 41 ft. long wire
• LDG AT-100ProII Tuner
• Homebrew 24ah battery box

I use a mac for my main computer and a Raspberry Pi for Pat/Winlink and other radio specific activities.

This blog post documents how I host a blog for $1/year*. That asterick should be bigger. The $1 blog is only for the first year and it’s certainly not batteries included… but it’s only a buck so you can’t really complain.

This post assumes you have basic web development experience. If you don’t it’s a great opportunity to experiment. At a minimum you will need a text editor such as VS Code, a package manager, I recommend Yarn.js or NPM.js, React.js, and GraphQL. I don’t go deep on each step. Be prepared to cough up a buck and see how it goes. I bet you have spent A LOT more on amateur radio gear :)

TL;DR

• Domain Name: Ionos
• Blog: Gatsby.js & Gatsby Starter Blog
• Hosting: Gatsby Cloud

How I Got Here

This all started when I wanted the email address for my vanity call sign. Gmail requires more than 5 characters which led me to buying the domain name for my call sign. After finding a domain that only cost a dollar from Ionos I began to wonder what I could do with it.

The most substantial cost of any web page these days is persistent storage. No matter what database you choose it will cost you. The closest alternative to the $1 blog is a wordpress instance which will cost you at a minimum of $3/ month. Remove persistent storage and you can host a blog for next to nothing. Enter Gatsby.js.

Gatsby.js is a static site generator. In layman’s terms it generates vanilla HTML. WhatQ the benefit? A blazing fast blog that adheres to modern web standards. The drawback - not much comes out-of-the-box.

Blazing fast is relevant since search engines now prioritize user experience, load times, accessability, and adherence to modern standards. These factors now dictate where you rank in terms of search results. This is good news for users but bad news for traditional Ham Radio websites.

Chrome’s Lighthouse report

The *$1/ Year Blog

The first step is to get the domain name for your call sign from Ionos. There may be other sites that you can get a domain for $1 for the first year but at the time of writing Ionos is it. It really doesn’t matter where you get your domain from as long as the price is right.

Next clone the Gatsby Starter Blog - look familiar? This requires knowledge of git. If you know the basics keep trudging ahead, if you don’t now is a good time to dig in.

From the terminal…

install dependencies

yarn install

local development

yarn develop

Navigate to http://localhost:8000 to view your new blog.

Gastby uses React.js to generate your sites static content. Blog posts are simply Markdown files. GraphQL is utilized to query content. Im not going to go deep on these technologies. On their own they could fill an entire blog. Remember, you are out a buck. Embrace it and see what you can do!

Associate your repo with Gatsby cloud

Hosting

At this point you have a domain name and a github repo with a blog. Let’s bring it home by hosting our new blog on Gatsby Cloud. Gatsby cloud will send your blog through a deployment pipeline and notify you of any issues whenever you push new changes to your repo. First associate your repo with Gatsby cloud by clicking ‘Add Site’ and choosing your version control provider (most likely GitHub).

Once your repo hooked up follow the steps from Gatsby Cloud help to add your custom domain.

Customize

If all went well you should be able to access your blog on your custom domain. From here you can start to customize. Remember I said nothing out-of-the-box - you will notice there is no search, no tags, or really organization of any kind. The world is full of abandoned blogs, take a deep breath and focus on content.

Now is a good time to browse Gatsby.js Plugins to determine what can help round out your blog. If you are comfortable with React you can build a component and integrate it with your new blog. If you aren’t familiar with React then congratulations you have a new side project!

I added pages to my blog that focus on Getting Started and Project content. My plan is to let it evolve over time or let it slowly waste away with the other neglected blogs on the internet.

Did you know you don’t need any additional equipment to leverage digital modes on the FT-891? All you need is the right cable and the right settings.

The following steps outlined in AA0O’s (now unavailable) blog post will help you assemble the cable.

Homebrew packet interface cable

Challenges

The packet interface cable was pretty straightforward. Be aware you are working with very, very small wires. I followed the “use a lighter method” and it worked well enough. Make sure you hold the flame to the fire just long enough to soften it.

Give yourself enough wire length to work with. I was a little too conservative and it was a tight squeeze when I attached everything with electrical tape. Now that I have verified it works as expected I plan to solder the connections and use heat shrink tube to add durability.

To hook my new cable up to my rig I purchased a USB Type-C Stereo adaptor. Ensure the correct audio plugs are plugged into the appropriate spots on the adaptor. If you’re having problems at the end switch them up and see if that gets you going.

FT-891 Settings

Apply the settings below to enable digital modes on the FT-891. I’m not promising these are the optimal configs, but they worked well for FT-8. I haven’t made it far enough to understand if these are the be-all-end-all digital settings for the FT-891.

WSJTX

I used my MacBook Pro and the WSJTX install was pretty straight forward. Do use the README file provided to walk through the additional installation instructions. If CAT control isn’t playing along ensure the baud rate in WSJTX matches the 05-06 setting.

Success!

Logging

For logging the AA0O blog suggests RUMlogNG. So far RUMlogNG has solved my problems for generating POTA logs, and integrating with WSJTX. MacLoggerDX seems to be a more robust (but not free) logging solution for Mac. I’m interested to see if I end up shelling out the money for a license as I get deeper into the hobby. For the time being free does the job.

Making QSOs

Making QSOs isn’t straightforward at first. But as long as you see information coming in on the left side of the screen you can start to make some contacts.

I completed my first POTA activation at K-1228, Lory State Park on 02/13/2022. It technically wasn’t an activation since I didn’t get enough contacts, but I had a great time and it was an opportunity to take all my new gear out for a test run. I’m going to continue to hunt at home and plan to give activation another shot next weekend.

My POTA Setup

Challenges

It was sunny and in the mid-50’s when I managed to get out of the house. K-1228 is minutes away from my front door but I only had a little over an hour for POTA. This was my first mistake. I’m sure as I streamline my setup and gear and hour will be plenty of time but for the maiden voyage, it wasn’t quite enough. As agreeable as the weather was it was windy and my paper logs would get unruly at times. I’m going to stick with paper logs until it dries out here a bit or I outfit my truck with an antenna so I can sit in the cab if it’s gross out.

There is no cell service at the park so I couldn’t self-spot or see what frequencies everyone else was on. This wasn’t a deal-breaker but it’s definitely different than when you are at home enjoying fast wifi.

K-1228 Lory State Park, Colorado

Finally, I was the last challenge. It seemed like a busy Sunday on the air and I had a hard time finding a frequency to sit on and call CQ. I could have been more patient before running up and down the dial looking for a park-to-park.

There were challenges but that’s half the fun.

Gear

The night before my outing I managed to add Anderson Powerpoles to my setup. This made disconnecting from my desk and hooking up to my battery a breeze. I took my FT-891 transceiver and left the antenna tuner at home. The end-fed antenna did just fine without it. For power, I purchased a 12 amp hour LiFePO4 battery and ran 80 watts while operating. My gear worked great and overall I’m happy with my setup.

Gear List

• Yaesu FT-891
• Ultra-Light End Fed Sloper Antenna
• Zooms 12ah LiFePO4 battery
• Neoprene Wrap
• Packing Cubes

Contacts

I’m still getting the hang of ham radio contacts. I mean it’s not rocket science but operating outside didn’t make it easier. It doesn’t quite feel like second nature so if I forgot to provide a signal report I apologize. My next outing I expect to be a little more composed.

Processing Logs

I didn’t think too much about processing logs until I got home. This part of the process felt clunky and I would love feedback on the best way to streamline this process. The steps outlined in the blog post Logging for POTA by Karl Heinz Kremer seems good enough for now. I’m either on a Mac or Linux machine so I’m not sure how many options there are for logging. My assumption is this is a fairly manual process for everyone involved until the technical minutia is ironed out enough to automate it?

POTA is A Good Time!

I definitely plan on diving deeper into POTA. I enjoy the prep, planning, and execution of it all and everyone I made contact with was extremely nice. I hope to have everything dialed in enough that I am able to hike in and operate. Thank you to everyone I made contact with and the folks at POTA that volunteer their time to make this all possible.

Wire Management

I had never heard of Anderson Powerpoles until I entered the Ham Radio world. They are by far the most popular method of connecting rigs to and from power supplies and other sources. To simplify disconnecting from my AC power supply and connecting to my battery I added Powerpole connectors to my setup.

Anderson Powerpole Cutaway

Powerpole connectors are physically and electrically hermaphroditic, thus avoiding the need to worry about which end is the plug and which the socket, or which end has the correct polarity. This is in contrast to the physically- but not electrically-hermaphroditic two-wire trailer plug

Andersen sells a crimping tool specifically for their product that can cost up to $45! I chose not to buy it and opted instead to use the manual method. So far it has worked just fine and I managed to save a few bucks. Follow the instructions in the video and make sure you solder the connections.

As you work with thicker wires, standard PL 259 connectors, and other ham radio gear that requires more heat than a pencil soldering iron or even a soldering gun can provide you should pick up a micro butane torch. Home Depot sells a $30 micro torch in the soldering iron section. Just one isle over in the electronic connectors section some HD stores will sell a generic brand that is $10 cheaper. The cheaper torch has worked fine for my needs. Do your homework before you head out.

The 30 amp connectors are a tight squeeze. I managed to get all the wire in, but if I could do it again I would have went with the 45 amp. The connectors are all the same size, its just the metal tabs that vary based on the amperage rating. The plastic boots were ordered from Amazon. I used heat shrink and the boots to add a bit more protection from the elements and stress from bends.

The finished product

The Powerpoles provide a satisfying snap when you connect them and you don’t have to work too hard to connect or disconnect. I plan to add the Powerpoles when I wire my truck up to easily switch transceivers. Overall I’m pretty happy with how it all turned out.

Antennas Are Half Of The Equation

Your transceiver won’t work without an Antenna. This post isn’t going to scratch the surface of amateur radio antennas but I hope it helps you to get on the air. While researching my first antenna I read a number of posts that suggested you should build your first antenna. I did, and it was worth it. You can read about antennas all day but building your own really helps the pieces fall into place.

SWR

You will no doubt encounter Standing Wave Ratio (SWR) values as you investigate antennas. SWR is the ratio of energy that is reflected back to your transceiver. In a perfect world an antenna’s SWR would be 1:1. Generally the value is expressed as only the first number. Values below 2 are preferred. High SWR values can damage your transceiver during transmission so make sure you understand what it is and how to measure it. Modern transceivers have built-in SWR meters. My FT-891 needs to be set to 5 watts to measure SWR. If you turn your power down the chances of damaging your rig are greatly reduced.

How To Measure SWR

Antenna analyzers measure SWR and can get expensive. When you are trying to build out your shack it can be a hard pill to swallow. You can rely on your transceiver, or ask your local club if they have one you can borrow. Some antenna tuners also have SWR meters. I would recommend using whatever is available and try to get by spending as little as possible so you can use the funds elsewhere.

Rig Expert is a popular choice and NanoVNA vector network analyzers can measure SWR and provide some eye candy. I have not invested in any type of analyzer yet and rely on my antenna tuner.

Antenna Tuners

Antenna tuners are not necessary but are nice to have. You will probably end up owning one if you keep at it long enough. Antenna tuners don’t actually tune your antenna they do match the impedance of the antenna to optimize performance. Tuners should be chosen based on how you plan to operate. For POTA and mobile operation you should consider the portability and power needs of the tuner.

Building A Dipole

In the interest of just getting on the air I would suggest building a dipole. You can get a functional antenna that hangs from a tree with mateirals found at your local hardware store. Im not going to cover building the dipole in detail since there is already plenty of material out there.

Why a dipole? Its cheap and easy, doesn’t require a tuner or a balun, and they are very effective. I followed the following video and modified it slightly based on the materials I had on hand.

The coverage of your dipole will be based on the length of the wire. Visit an online dipole calculator to help you determine how long your wire needs to be. Make sure to target the phone portion of the band. The 20 meter band is incredibly popular and requires a reasonably sized dipole.

To hook up to my coax I used this SMA Male to SO-239 female connector. You could use a BNC Male to Banana if you don’t have a soldering iron.

SMA Male to UHF SO-239 Female Connectors

A fan dipole will provide access to multiple bands. Fan dipoles don’t require an antenna tuner, but based on the bands you choose you may need to get the dipole high into the air since frequencies lower that 20 meter will need long wire lengths to operate.

Once your dipole is complete hang it as high as you can from a tree and test it out. If you measure less than desirable SWR trim the ends 1/4” inch at a time and try again. Be patient! Its easier to trim a little at a time that it is to add length back.

Get On The Air

Thats it. Antennas are a huge subject but with little work you can make some contacts and learn as you go. I did end up buying a end-fed sloper to use for POTA activations. The end-fed covers multiple bands and does not require a tuner for the most popular POTA bands - 20 & 40 meter. Stay focused and don’t get distracted by the huge world of antennas. Get that dipole up in a tree and get on the air!

Step One

NOAA weahter staellites with SDR play

• 2 meter band
• Antenna needs to be able to recieve circularly polarized signals
• WXtoImg software

DIY – 137 Mhz V-dipole antenna for weather satellites reception

Let’s Buy A Radio!

So you passed your test and even though you have your trusty Baofeng it’s time to upgrade. Buy carefully and deliberately. It’s easy to gravitate towards the shiniest radio and everyone will have suggestions. Focus on getting on the air - it’s not all about the radio. The radio you chose should allow you to experiment in the areas of amateur radio you are interested in and not break the bank. Follow the natural gradient. Buy just enough and buy up as your skills grow. You will probably own many radios as you get deeper into the hobby.

I heard folks on the local repeater talking up the Icom-7300, the VE that administered my general mentioned the same model after the test. Early on I was sure this was the transceiver I should buy. I resisted the urge and ended up with a transceiver that is a much better fit. The information below helped me right-size my first significant big radio purchase.

The 7300 is a great radio. If you have a limited budget make sure to save some room for coax, antennas, and other miscellaneous items!

Let Your Interests Guide you

Some hams are fine with a Handie Talkie (HT). They want to talk on the repeaters and socialize with others in the area. Anything beyond that portion of the hobby and you need to start looking into a more serious rig.

There are several things to consider when choosing your first transceiver. Are you interested in High Frequency (HF)? HF opens up long-distance communications and provides many more opportunities for digital. Long-distance involves making QSO’s (contact) with other hams. In some instances, they will send you a QSL card to commemorate your contact. QSL cards have been part of the hobby since the early 1900s.

The Skylab I & II QSL card from The Johnson Space Center QSL Card History

Digital allows email, RTTY, and other modes that I will dive into as I get deeper into the hobby. You also need to consider where you will be using the radio. The Icom 7300 can be used in the field but it is large and doesn’t lend itself well to travel like a mobile transceiver.

Think about how amateur radio fits into your existing hobbies and lifestyle. If you are into hiking then a high-end HT might be where you focus, if you belong to an offroad club and spend a lot of time driving in remote areas you should probably consider a robust mobile rig that covers some portion of the HF spectrum. How you currently spend your time should be a major consideration when deciding on your first transceiver.

CQ POTA CQ POTA CQ POTA

One aspect of the hobby that interested me early on was POTA - Parks on the Air. POTA is “activating” a state or national park by operating within the park’s boundaries and making 10 or more QSO’s. There are activators and hunters. Activators are the operators and hunters are looking to make contact with the activators. All logs are submitted and awards are given based on a variety of different achievements. POTA is very popular and activating a park requires a versatile radio that can be run off a battery. If you do choose a mobile transceiver that you will also operate from your shack make sure you budget for a power supply.

Operating from a picnic table or cabin without power was a big driver for my transceiver choice.

Shack In A Box

If your interests are broad and you have the budget you can look into a shack in a box. These are all band all mode transceivers such as the Icom 7100. I don’t have any strong opinion one way or another about these transceivers but my hunch is it probably requires a compromise somewhere - maybe portability, or usability. It’s worth considering if you have the cash.

New vs. Used

I bought new. There are A LOT of variables when it comes to ham radio - SWR, RF interference, grounding, lack of expertise, etc. I am willing to spend a couple extra dollars removing as many of those variables as possible. In this case, it was any potential problems with the radio. I will probably look at lightly used gear for my next purchase, a dual-band 2 m/70 cm mobile transceiver. But for now, I have no regrets about buying my mobile HF rig new.

Used gear on Craigslist is hit or miss, and some items on eBay can be more expensive than buying new (I have no idea how that works). Buying used gear from members of your local club or a hamfest seems to be your best bet. There are deals to be had but as always buyer beware.

If you are buying new I would recommend going through a reputable dealer who specializes in ham radio. Ham Radio Outlet and DX Engineering are two popular options.

I do not follow the same buying rules for antennas. A lot of hams sell their own version of antennas on eBay, Etsy, and elsewhere. I encourage you to support them by buying their special sauce end-fed, or tried and true J-Pole.

The Other Stuff

In this getting started series I am focusing on the ‘just get on the air’ approach which is the bare minimum. Don’t spend all your money on a transceiver leave budget to build out your shack, it adds up quick.

A far from complete list of ‘the other stuff…

• Coax
• Lightning arresters
• Entry panel
• Antennas
• Antenna tuner
• SWR meter
• Dummy load
• Random cables

My Choice

I ultimately chose a Yaesu FT-891. Largely driven by its portability and ability to work digital modes. For me, it was not too big and not too small. I chose to buy a Yaesu power supply despite the fact I had a cheap power supply lying around. It might have worked out, but again spend money in the right places to set yourself up for success. So far I am very happy with my purchase, but it’s early and it’s winter here in Colorado. I plan on providing a follow-up review after I have spent some more time getting my hands dirty.

The FT-891 is an all mode HF mobile transceiver.

What’s The Right Choice

Whatever meets the goal of the mission is the best choice for you. Do your homework but don’t fall into analysis paralysis. This is the first transceiver you will buy but certainly not the last.

Step One - Get Your License

Coming into ham radio completely blind can be overwhelming. My goal was to get on the air as quickly as possible in 3 steps:

1. Listen to as many bands as possible (no license required)
2. Make contact with local repeaters (VHF/UHF)
3. Make long-distance contact on High Frequency (HF)

Your job is to stay focused on getting on the air. Don’t go out and buy a bunch of equipment. Ultimately my initial gear purchases happened over a few months: SDR Play —> Baofeng —> Yaesu FT-891. The gear aligned with my initial goals, and aside from antennas, should get me by for a while before I need to upgrade.

The SDR play allowed me to listen to HF/VHF/UHF all for about $100. The Baofeng is not a favorite of the ham radio world, but it’s cheap and accessible. The Yaesu was my last purchase and is mobile but robust enough for digital modes.

The following is focused on helping you get your license. It isn’t a step-by-step guide. But I did try to stuff as much useful info in here as possible for anyone that is starting at step one.

“Perfection is the enemy of progress.” — Winston Churchill

The Test(s)

The currently available license levels are Technician, General, & Extra. With each level, you are granted more access to amateur radio bands. How far you choose to go will largely depend on your goals. I would suggest getting your General at a minimum. This will get you access to the more popular digital portions of the bands. If your goal is to just use a Handy Talkie and a repeater then Technician is all you really need.

The first thing you want to do is to start familiarizing yourself with amateur radio bands. I had two copies of the ARRL band chart printed and laminated for about $6. I recommend doing the same. You will refer back to this chart many times as you study and when you begin to operate. One copy lives next to my radio. The other floats to wherever I am working - it is currently on the workbench in the garage.

ARRL Band Chart Download

There are books, courses, and Youtube videos that help you prepare for the tests. If you have some basic electronic knowledge it is likely you can easily pass the Technician test with a little studying. I used HamStudy.org to prepare for all three exams. I highly recommend you create an account and buy the mobile app.

How to HamStudy

• Go through the questions multiple times
  • Don’t guess - if you don’t know the answer use the “I don’t know” button
  • Look at the explanations - there are memorization tricks and also information that help you comprehend the concept
• Once your aptitude gets above 50% begin to take practice tests
  • Take a lot of practice tests!
• Focus on the answers, not the distractors

As you start to feel more comfortable with the content schedule your exam. Since Covid is still a thing you may need to reach out to your local club and see if they have special criteria for in-person testing. You can also schedule remote testing from multiple clubs. You do not need to live in the region the club resides in to have them administer your exam and Ham study allows you to schedule the exams from the website.

Useful Remote Testing Tips

Volunteer examiners are only allowed to observe one test at a time. They are volunteering their time to help you get your license. Respect the time and effort they are volunteering by over-preparing and fully understanding the testing requirements. Remote testing requires 2 devices. One device is required to be a laptop or desktop machine. The other can be a cell phone or tablet. Each club sign-up process is slightly different. Read the information they provide and make sure to thank them for their time!

Vanity Call Signs

After passing your technician’s test you are automatically assigned a call sign. If you don’t like your assigned call sign, or if you want to incorporate initials or other letters you can request a vanity call sign. Vanity call signs come in a variety of options based on your license level. I chose my call sign based on how easy it was to remember and how easy it was to say using the phonetic alphabet. You can’t choose a call sign that is already assigned to another ham. Once you have completed your submission it takes about 18 days before the process is complete. You are not notified once the change is complete so try to keep track of the process so you know when to begin using your new call sign. Also, if you have already signed up for QRZ it will automatically update a day or two after the ULS database has been updated. You will use your new call sign to log in - another reason to keep track of the process.

ARRL- How to Apply for a Vanity Call Sign

Finding an available call sign.

RadioQTH

Checking on th

“Perfection is the enemy of progress.” — Winston Churchill

Step One

Coming into ham radio completly blind can be overwhelming. My goal was to get on the air as quickly as possible in 3 steps:

1. Listen to as many bands as possible (no license required)
2. Make contact on the repeaters (VHF/UHF)
3. Make contact on High Frequency (HF)

You’re job is to stay focused on getting on the air. Don’t go out and buy a bunch of equipment. Ultimately my initial gear purchases happened over the course of a few months: SDR Play —> Baofeng —> Yaesu FT-891. The gear aligned with my initial goals, and aside from antennas, should get me by for awhile before I need to upgrade.

The SDR play allowed me to listen to HF/VHF/UHF all for about $100. The Baofeng is not a favorite of the ham radio world, but its cheap and acessible. The Yaesu was my last purchase and is mobile but robust enough for digital modes.

This isn’t a step-by-step guide. But I did try to stuff as much useful info in here as possible for anyone that is interested starting at step one.

Information

• Books
• Local Club
• The internet

The test(s)

• You want at least a General
• Print 2 copies of the ARRL band chart, laminate them and keep one in your shack

ARRL Band Chart Download

• Hamstudy.org
  • Studying
    • Go through the questions multiple times
      • Dont guess
      • Take many practice tests
  • License levels
  • Remote
    • Over prepare
    • Dont waste people time
    • Clean your workspace

Vanity Call Signs

• How and why to get them
• Helpful resources

Radios

• Do your homework
  • Dont just buy it because its pretty
• New vs. Used
• HT vs. Mobile vs. Base station
• SDR vs Non-SDR

Antennas

• Build vs buy
• Dipole via Home depot
• Jpole
• Grounding

Misc.

• Coax
• Grouding
• Entry panel
• Branded gear

Now that you are on the air

• Listen
• Finding nets
• Local repeaters
• Programming your HT
• Edecete
  • HF vs. Repeater

“Perfection is the enemy of progress.” — Winston Churchill

Step One

Coming into ham radio completly blind can be overwhelming. My goal was to get on the air as quickly as possible in 3 steps:

1. Listen to as many bands as possible (no license required)
2. Make contact on the repeaters (VHF/UHF)
3. Make contact on High Frequency (HF)

You’re job is to stay focused on getting on the air. Don’t go out and buy a bunch of equipment. Ultimately my initial gear purchases happened over the course of a few months: SDR Play —> Baofeng —> Yaesu FT-891. The gear aligned with my initial goals, and aside from antennas, should get me by for awhile before I need to upgrade.

The SDR play allowed me to listen to HF/VHF/UHF all for about $100. The Baofeng is not a favorite of the ham radio world, but its cheap and acessible. The Yaesu was my last purchase and is mobile but robust enough for digital modes.

This isn’t a step-by-step guide. But I did try to stuff as much useful info in here as possible for anyone that is starting at step one.

Information

• Books
• Local Club
• The internet

The test(s)

• You want at least a General
• Print 2 copies of the ARRL band chart, laminate them and keep one in your shack

ARRL Band Chart Download

• Hamstudy.org
  • Studying
    • Go through the questions multiple times
      • Dont guess
      • Take many practice tests
  • License levels
  • Remote
    • Over prepare
    • Dont waste people time
    • Clean your workspace

Vanity Call Signs

• How and why to get them
• Helpful resources

Radios

• Do your homework
  • Dont just buy it because its pretty
• New vs. Used
• HT vs. Mobile vs. Base station
• SDR vs Non-SDR

Antennas

• Build vs buy
• Dipole via Home depot
• Jpole
• Grounding

Misc.

• Coax
• Grouding
• Entry panel
• Branded gear

Now that you are on the air

• Listen
• Finding nets
• Local repeaters
• Programming your HT
• Edecete
  • HF vs. Repeater

The goal here is simple: make this the resource I wish I had a couple of months ago. Illustrate all the amazing things you can do with ham radio. Document and consolidate the information that is spread across the internet. And most important, don’t let this be another abandoned blog.

There are already plenty of people on Youtube, Twitter, and elsewhere providing information and content that helped me get started. But the content is varied and sometimes what seems like a simple question can be incredibly hard to track down.

About Me

I am a 40 something dad with a technical background and an existing supply solder, Arduinos, and Raspberry Pis. My professional life revolves around spatial data (lat/long) and I hope to apply what I already know to ham radio.

How I got here

I’m not quite sure, but something led me to dig into the ham radio world and realize it’s so much more than talking to people. My initial interest is gravitating towards QRP, HF, and digital.

Whats Next?

I didn’t start this blog on day one. So I have a bit of catching up to do. Getting on the air, UHF/VHF, built my first dipole, and making my first contact. But I have a lot ahead of me. I have yet to create a permanent entry point for coax into the shack and haven’t even touched digital.

Here’s to exploring a world of 1000 rabbit holes and seeing projects through to the end!

The goal here is simple: make this the resource I wish I had a couple of months ago. Illustrate all the amazing things you can do with ham radio. Document and consolidate the information that is spread across the internet. And most important, don’t let this be another abandoned blog.

There are already plenty of people on Youtube, Twitter, and elsewhere providing information and content that helped me get started. But the content is varied and sometimes what seems like a simple question can be incredibly hard to track down.

About Me

I am a 40 something dad with a technical background and an existing supply solder, Arduinos, and Raspberry Pis. My professional life revolves around spatial data (lat/long) and I hope to apply what I already know to ham radio.

How I got here

I’m not quite sure, but something led me to dig into the ham radio world and realize it’s so much more than talking to people. My initial interest is gravitating towards QRP, HF, and digital.

Whats Next?

I didn’t start this blog on day one. So I have a bit of catching up to do. Getting on the air, UHF/VHF, built my first dipole, and making my first contact. But I have a lot ahead of me. I have yet to create a permanent entry point for coax into the shack and haven’t even touched digital.

Here’s to exploring a world of 1000 rabbit holes and seeing projects through to the end!