Lately, I’ve been getting questions about whether a ham needs to log radio contacts, whether they need to submit a log, and how to do it. Logging is a complex topic that can require a long and detailed explanation, but I am going to focus on the questions I’ve been hearing lately. I’ll also provide some links for further investigation. Continue reading Should I Submit A Log?→
Lately, I’ve been getting questions about whether a ham needs to log radio contacts, whether they need to submit a log, and how to do it. Logging is a complex topic that can require a long and detailed explanation, but I am going to focus on the questions I’ve been hearing lately. I’ll also provide some links for further investigation. Continue reading Should I Submit A Log?→
Recently, I’ve been getting questions about whether a ham needs to log radio contacts, whether they need to submit a log, and how to do it. Logging is a complex topic that can require a long and detailed explanation, but I am going to focus on the questions I’ve been hearing lately. I’ll also provide some links for further investigation. For starters, the ARRL has a good introduction to logging.
A paper ham radio log
Why Keep A Log?
The FCC does not require you to log your amateur radio contacts. Many radio amateurs, especially if they just operate casually on 2m and 70 cm, don’t bother to keep a log. Probably the most common reason for having a log is to have a record of your radio contacts, in terms of stations worked, on what band and what conditions. This might be just for your own personal satisfaction or you might want to keep track of these contacts so you can get credit for an award, such as the ARRL Worked All States (WAS) award.
Paper or Electronic?
The Old School way of keeping a log is on paper as shown in the figure above. This approach is simple and reliable technology but is quite limited in the information age. These days, most hams that record log information store it electronically. Imagine that you log thousands of contacts over time and then want to find a particular callsign or location. Much better to do this electronically. There are many good software programs available, too many to list here. I currently use Amateur Contact Log from N3FPJ. The good news is that there is a standard file format for storing and moving ham radio contact information: Amateur Data Interchange Format (ADIF). If you want to change logging software, you export an ADIF file and import into the new program.
I Worked a Contest Station, Do I Have to Submit a Log?
Sometimes radio ham works a few stations that are active in a particular contest and they wonder if they must submit a log to the contest sponsors so that these these stations get credit for the contacts. The almost universal answer to this is: No. Don’t worry about submitting a contest log if you aren’t really “in the contest.” The stations you work still get credit for your contact with them. (This is true for all major contests…I am still looking for a contest where this is not true.) Contests are designed to encourage activity, so they want everyone to join in, even if they aren’t all that serious about contesting. (The contest sponsors will appreciate any and all logs submitted, so consider that.)
If I Am Actively Working a Contest, What Do I Do?
If you are actively participating in a contest, you should use a logging program that is tuned for that particular contest. This is important because the contest logging software knows about the scoring for the contest and lets you know if you have already worked a station you hear. The most popular logging software for contesting is the N1MM Plus software. There are other programs you can consider. Typically, you would use N1MM during the contest and then export the info into an ADIF file, which is imported into your “main” logging program.
What is a Cabrillo File?
While the ADIF file format is most universal in ham radio logging, there is another file format used for contesting. This is the Cabrillo file format. Your contest logging software can generate a Cabrillo file for submitting to the contest sponsor. You may also want to generate an ADIF file to import into your normal logging program.
I Worked a POTA Station, Do I Have to Submit a Log?
Parks On The Air (POTA) is set up so that only the activator station submits a log. If you are working an activator station, you are a hunter station. The POTA scores are all based on the activator logs and hunters cannot submit a log. What you can do is register on the POTA website to see the contacts that the activators have submitted for you.
I Worked a SOTA Station, Do I Have to Submit a Log?
Summits On The Air (SOTA) is set up so that both activators and chasers submit logs to the SOTA website. However, the SOTA system operates on the honor system, so an activator can claim a contact with you without you submitting a log. So if you hear a SOTA station, go ahead and work them. You don’t have to submit a log. On the other hand, if you want credit for chasing a summit, you need to submit a log. So that activator is fine not having you submit a log but you may want to do that to get credit for you.
How Do I Get Credit For Working A Country?
The gold standard for chasing countries, I mean entities, is DX Century Club (DXCC). If you are interested in DX, you should register with Logbook of The World (LoTW) with the ARRL. To get credit for working an entity (country), you need to submit your log and it must match the log submitted by the DX station. This is a higher level of confirmation because both parties must submit the log info and it must match within reasonable error limits.
There are other award systems for working countries, offered by QRZ, eQSL, etc.
How Do I Get Credit For Working a Grid on VHF/UHF?
The VHF UHF Century Club (VUCC) is the VHF/UHF equivalent to DXCC. Here the emphasis is on working maidenhead gridlocators on the bands above 50 MHz. Again, Logbook of The World is the database that authenticates confirmed contacts on these bands. Both parties must submit the log info and it must match within reasonable error limits.
What If Someone Needs My Log Submitted?
Most of the time, us normal hams are not considered DX. That is, that other station in the Cayman Islands doesn’t really need our contact confirmed. But there are exceptions. You might be in a state the other station needs confirmed. Or maybe it’s your county they need. In such a case, you might want to make a special effort to provide your log information to the right database. It will depend on what the other station needs…if they are going for an ARRL award, then Logbook of The World is the right place to upload your log. But they might be after a QRZ award or eQSL award, in which case you would need to provide your log to those websites.
Wrap Up
These are some of the questions I’ve been hearing.
What did I miss?
Anything else to add?
Everyone wants to know how their signal sounds on the air and often the best way to find out is a signal report from other ham radio operators. The standard signal reporting method for amateur radio is the RST (Readability-Signal Strength-Tone) system. See Practical Signal Reports on HamRadioSchool.com. When using 2m FM on Summits On The Air (SOTA), we can Continue reading SOTA Signal Reports Using 2m FM→
Everyone wants to know how their signal sounds on the air and often the best way to find out is a signal report from other ham radio operators. The standard signal reporting method for amateur radio is the RST (Readability-Signal Strength-Tone) system. See Practical Signal Reports on HamRadioSchool.com. When using 2m FM on Summits On The Air (SOTA), we can Continue reading SOTA Signal Reports Using 2m FM→
Everyone wants to know how their signal sounds on the air and often the best way to find out is a signal report from other ham radio operators. The standard signal reporting method for amateur radio is the RST (Readability-Signal Strength-Tone) system. See Practical Signal Reports on HamRadioSchool.com.
When using 2m FM on Summits On The Air (SOTA), we can simplify the signal report. Because it is a voice mode, we drop the reading for Tone and just give RS reports, so a perfect signal on voice is RS 59 or simply “five nine.” The Readability report is a number between 1 and 5, while the Signal Strength report goes from 1 to 9. (See the listing at the bottom of this article.) The signal strength generally corresponds to the S meter reading on your radio but most FM rigs have very basic meters. Some don’t provide a meter reading at all. The photo to the left shows a typical bar graph on a Yaesu FT-60. Don’t expect high accuracy, so if the meter reads full scale, give an S9 report. If it reads half-scale, that’s probably S5, etc.
On VHF FM, signal reports may also be given in terms of FM quieting. A strong FM signal is said to “quiet the receiver” since there is virtually no noise present in the received audio. As the signal strength is decreased, noise starts to appear on the received signal. At lower signals levels, the noise increases dramatically and the signal becomes unreadable. This dramatic increase is called the threshold effect, meaning that FM signals do not gradually fade out, they tend to fade quickly into the noise. The key idea here is that you want your signal to be strong enough to be above this noise threshold. In terms of a signal report, a strong signal may result in a “full quieting” report. If the signal is less than full quieting, you may hear a report like “90 percent quieting” or “you have about 10% noise”, which both describe the amount of noise present in the signal. If the signal is really noisy, the report might be “50% quieting.”
Keep It Simple
For practical 2m FM operating, don’t overthink these signal reports. If the signal is easy to hear and is full-scale, give a 59 report. If it is easy to hear but the meter reading is less than full scale, reduce the signal level report to something like 56 or 57. If there is some noise present, you might want to reduce the readability to 4, so maybe give a 44 or 45 report. (Usually, if there is a readability issue, the signal strength will also be lower.) If you are having a difficult time hearing the signal, it’s probably a 33 or less. Readability of 1 or 2 is rarely used because it indicates you are not actually hearing the other station.
One final note is that sometimes the operator on the other end is looking for a more critical evaluation of his signal quality. If he says something about “checking out this new microphone” or “have been working on solving an audio problem”, that may be the clue to spend a little extra time really listening to the signal and providing more comments on how it sounds. For most of us, we don’t actually get to hear our own signal on the air, so it’s very helpful to get quality feedback from other radio amateurs.
Lately, I’ve encountered many people who apparently believe their radio is a Talisman. What is a Talisman, you say? Talisman – An object marked with magical signs and believed to confer on its bearer supernatural powers or protection. These people purchase some kind of two-way radio and have it stored away in their desk or closet, believing that having it Continue reading The Talisman Radio→
Amateur Radio Fun in the Colorado Mountains August 2 through 5, 2024 www.ham14er.org Amateur Radio operators from around Colorado will be climbing Colorado Summits On The Air (SOTA) peaks and communicating with other radio amateurs across the state and around the world. Join in the fun during the annual event by activating a summit or contacting (chasing) the mountaintop stations. Continue reading 2024 Colorado 14er Event (SOTA)→
News Flash: I found a cheap economical VHF/UHF handheld that I really like. The TIDRADIO TD-H3 is getting a lot of attention from YouTube reviewers. You can think of this as an improved Baofeng UV-5R, with a few key features that grabbed my attention: Improved Look and Feel: This radio looks like a quality product, much improved over the plastic Continue reading TD-H3 VHF/UHF Radio→
Lately, I’ve encountered many people who apparently believe their radio is a Talisman. What is a Talisman, you say? Talisman – An object marked with magical signs and believed to confer on its bearer supernatural powers or protection. These people purchase some kind of two-way radio and have it stored away in their desk or closet, believing that having it Continue reading The Talisman Radio→
Lately, I’ve encountered many people who apparently believe their radio is a Talisman. What is a Talisman, you say?
Talisman – An object marked with magical signs and believed to confer on its bearer supernatural powers or protection.
These people purchase some kind of two-way radio and have it stored away in their desk or closet, believing that having it will confer communication powers during an emergency. (Not to pick on Baofeng owners, but these radios are almost always a Baofeng UV-5R.) In many cases, they have the radio programmed with a long list of radio frequencies that have been identified as being good to have during an emergency. These are usually a mix of amateur radio, Family Radio Service, General Mobile Radio Service, Multi-Use Radio Service, search and rescue, and local fire and police frequencies.
Usually, the owner of the Talisman Radio has no real idea of how these frequencies are used. Again, someone told them they are good frequencies to have in a SHTF scenario. They often don’t know how to operate the radio or know what to expect in terms of its communication capabilities. It is simply a magical device that will save them when bad stuff happens.
Sometimes these people take the basic step of getting their amateur radio Technician license. I applaud this decision as it is the first step towards learning about ham radio. It also provides the proper license for legally using the radio on the ham bands. Unfortunately, many of these people just memorize the questions long enough to pass the exam and don’t gain any useful knowledge. This is a fundamental error. A much better approach is to focus on acquiring skills, knowledge, and equipment as part of their emergency preparedness plans. (Serious preppers know and practice this.)
If you are the owner of a Talisman Radio, I urge you to build your skills and get your ham license (if you don’t already have it.) There are many good license books available and the Ham Radio School online course is an excellent approach to learning this material. If you encounter Talisman Radio owners, please encourage them to get some training and learn how to use the radio. Don’t offer to program their radio with a bunch of frequencies they are not licensed to use and that may cause considerable trouble in the frequency spectrum. Encourage and help them but don’t enable their dependence on a Talisman Radio that will only let them down.
Training, training, training.
That’s what I think. What’s your opinion?
Amateur Radio Fun in the Colorado Mountains
August 2 through 5, 2024 www.ham14er.org
Amateur Radio operators from around Colorado will be climbing ColoradoSummits On The Air (SOTA) peaks and communicating with other radio amateurs across the state and around the world. Join in the fun during the annual event by activating a summit or contacting (chasing) the mountaintop stations.
This event is normally held the first full weekend in August. Again this year, we will add two bonus days to the Colorado 14er Event. The main two days remain Saturday and Sunday (Aug 3 & 4), while the bonus days are Friday Aug 2nd and Monday Aug 5th, for those SOTA enthusiasts that need more than two days of SOTA fun! Be aware that many mountaintop activators will hit the trail early with the goal of being off the summits by (1800 UTC) noon due to lightning safety concerns.
The 14er event includes Summits On the Air (SOTA) peaks, which provide over 1700 summits to activate. (See the W0C SOTA web page or browse the SOTA Atlas.) The Colorado 14er Event was started in 1991, about 19 years before the SOTA program was set up in Colorado. As SOTA grew in popularity, this event expanded from just the 14,000-foot mountains (14ers) to include all of the SOTA summits in the state. We still call it the Colorado 14er Event because, well, that’s where it all started and the 14ers are the iconic summits in the state.
Important: The recommended 2m FM frequencies have been changed to 146.58, 146.55, and 146.49 MHz, to align with the use of the North America Adventure Frequency for SOTA (146.58). The National Simplex Calling Frequency (146.52) may be used as appropriate. There will be plenty of action on the other ham bands, for more information see the operating frequencies page.
Amateur Radio Fun in the Colorado Mountains August 2 through 5, 2024 www.ham14er.org Amateur Radio operators from around Colorado will be climbing Colorado Summits On The Air (SOTA) peaks and communicating with other radio amateurs across the state and around the world. Join in the fun during the annual event by activating a summit or contacting (chasing) the mountaintop stations. Continue reading 2024 Colorado 14er Event (SOTA)→
News Flash: I found a cheap economical VHF/UHF handheld that I really like. The TIDRADIO TD-H3 is getting a lot of attention from YouTube reviewers. You can think of this as an improved Baofeng UV-5R, with a few key features that grabbed my attention: Improved Look and Feel: This radio looks like a quality product, much improved over the plastic Continue reading TD-H3 VHF/UHF Radio→
News Flash: I found a cheap economical VHF/UHF handheld that I really like. The TIDRADIO TD-H3 is getting a lot of attention from YouTube reviewers. You can think of this as an improved Baofeng UV-5R, with a few key features that grabbed my attention:
Improved Look and Feel: This radio looks like a quality product, much improved over the plastic Lego-style industrial design of the Baofeng radios. It feels and looks solid in my hand. The rubber duck antenna seems higher quality although I haven’t tested its performance.
One Radio, Three Modes: The firmware can be set to operate in three distinct configurations: Ham (transmit on 2m and 70cm ham bands only), GMRS (standard FCC Part 95 GMRS channels) and Normal (which is basically unlocked). You can easily switch between these modes but the memory information does get reset. So in most cases, you will need to reprogram the radio with your favorite frequencies after you change modes. The exception might be GMRS mode which will reset to standard GMRS channels. The flexibility of these three configurations is quite nice: The Ham configuration is great for normal ham operating with no risk of going “out of band.” I can loan out the radio in the GMRS configuration knowing that the user won’t inadvertently transmit on the ham bands. And, of course, the Normal mode provides access to a wide range of frequencies, to be used carefully, abiding by the relevant regulations.
USB-C Connectors: The radio battery has a USB-C connector for charging and a USB-C connector for programming (with Chirp or the TIDRADIO app). This may seem minor, but using a common industry-standard connector is a huge convenience factor. For example, I recently packed my gear for a trip and found that the USB cables I normally carry for my smartphone and tablet will handle the TD-H3 just fine. So there is no need for a drop-in cradle, extra charger or special programming cable.
Video Reviews
Apparently, TIDRADIO gave away a gazzillion radios to ham radio Youtubers and asked them to review the radio, so you’ll find many reviews out there. This one gives a good overview of the radio’s capabilities:
This radio is not quite the One Radio To Rule Them All, primarily because it won’t be convenient to switch between configurations. However, the radio is legal for GMRS and ham use, so that is definitely a plus. Will the FCC object to this kind of flexibility? Who knows, but they haven’t so far.
This video from KS6DAY shows how to switch between the three radio configurations:
Some Problems
Early on, several Youtube reviewers reported high spurious emissions coming from the radio. They fed this information back to TIDRADIO, who responded with a design change and some updated radios to test. They appear to have corrected this problem…the three radios in my possession tested out fine. There have also been some complaints about how a few features work and TIDRADIO has responded with a firmware upgrade to address those issues. So we can give TIDRADIO a good grade for responsiveness but poor marks for releasing a product that was not completely baked. Unfortunately, there are many videos in the etherwebz claiming the radio has problems and it is a challenge to sort through the actual situation today.
To become familiar with the radio, KS6DAY has a series of videos that explain how to use the radio. Lots of good information here:
Summary
As I mentioned, I have three of these radios and may be going back for more. For me, they fit the role of that “spare radio” that is kept in my vehicle, loaned out to other people, or just stored away for When All Else Fails.
The Colorado Search and Rescue Association is promoting FRS (Family Radio Service) Channel 3 as “the default during backcountry search and rescue (backcountry SAR) emergencies.” FRS channel 3 is the same as GMRS (General Mobile Radio Service) channel 3. There is more GMRS info here. To keep things simple, no CTCSS (“privacy code”) is used…carrier squelch only. See the CSAR Continue reading FRS3 For Colorado Backcountry→
The Colorado Search and Rescue Association is promoting FRS (Family Radio Service) Channel 3 as “the default during backcountry search and rescue (backcountry SAR) emergencies.” FRS channel 3 is the same as GMRS (General Mobile Radio Service) channel 3. There is more GMRS info here. To keep things simple, no CTCSS (“privacy code”) is used…carrier squelch only. See the CSAR announcement here: FRS Radio Use for Backcountry.
For backcountry exploring, it is important to emphasize self-sufficiency and to avoid reliance on electronic gizmos that may fail. Avoiding an emergency situation is way better than having a device to call for help, which may be many hours away. See this article for a discussion of The Ten Essentials for Hiking.
Still, the FRS3 concept has merit. Many backcountry hikers already carry FRS or GMRS radios, so designating a preferred channel makes sense. My read on this is that randomly calling for help on FRS3 will not be very effective due to the limited range of FRS radios. However, it does not hurt to try. More likely, FRS3 can be used for local comms once Search and Rescue crews have been deployed and are within a few miles of the party in distress.
Ham radio operators may want to carry a handheld transceiver capable of transmitting on 462.6125 MHz. For emergency use only, of course.
Yesterday I did something I rarely do. As I was travelling home, I heard the NJ2SP repeater identify while I was in a location still pretty far away from South Plainfield. I picked up the microphone and announced that I was listening. Marv K2VHW came back to me and we had a nice conversation while I drove the rest of the way home.
What was so satisfying about it was when Marv told me my audio was rock solid and that I was making it into the repeater quite well. What a difference between this Hustler Hy-Gain antenna I'm using now and the cheap piece of ______ that I had been using before!
Our repeater is low profile by intent. It's mainly used for CERT activity , as well as for club activity throughout South Plainfield and the immediate surrounding area. For me to hit the repeater so well from Greenbrook, which is three towns away meant that my signal was travelling through North Plainfield, Plainfield and into South Plainfield. I was pleased to say the least.
As a Ham for 45 years, I know (in my head) that you should never skimp on the antenna and that it's the most important link in the whole radio station chain. But sometimes you just get frugal (read that as "cheap"), hoping that something less expensive will work just as well. This is especially true for mobile VHF/UHF antennas ----- most times it doesn't work that way, and you only end up spending more money to fix your mistake. Don't be like W2LJ, don't be tempted to go the cheap route!
Homebrew HF antennas, on the other hand, are a whole other story that I won't get into right now. Suffice it to say that many times you can roll your own skyhook that will will perform just as well as a commercial antenna for a lot less money.
I don’t need much but I do need a reason to get on the air. This can take many forms as I wrote in this blog post some time ago. I see quite a few new hams struggling with the problem of “I got this license but now what?”
Operating goals or awards are a fun way to keep focused on accomplishing something via ham radio. Really, it’s a specific reason to get on the air and make radio contacts. I am not big on idle chit chat via the radio (“the weather here is 65 deg and raining”) so having a reason to make contacts helps me get on the air. I’ve tended to pursue awards in a serial manner…once I hit some level of accomplishment, I usually declare victory and move on to something else.
Way back in the wayback machine, the first award I pursued was Worked All States (WAS). It does take some effort but I was pretty active on the HF bands at the time, so many of the states just showed up in my log. But to really drive it home, I kept track of which states I still needed and actively looked for opportunities to work them. Later, I pursued Worked All Continents (WAC), which obviously requires working some DX. But then I decided that if I had any DX cred at all, I needed to get DX Century Club (DXCC). Recently, the popularity of FT8 has been a game changer and I currently have about 175 entities confirmed (thank you, Logbook of The World). I don’t chase paper QSL cards anymore, which is just too much trouble for a Slacker DXer.
The VHF and higher bands have always been a passion for me, so I pursued the VHF/UHF Century Club (VUCC) awards. First, it was 6 meter VUCC, the easiest one to get. A really good run during the ARRL June VHF contest can produce the 100 grids you need for the award in one weekend. Later, some mountaintop activity resulted in 10 GHz VUCC. At one point, I got into working the LEO satellites and confirmed the required 100 grids for satellite VUCC. (Hey, Technicians, this is something you can do right now!) I still don’t have very many grids confirmed on 2 meters, so that one is still calling to me.
Summits On The Air
If you read my blog, you know that Summits On The Air (SOTA) is my number one activity lately, both activating and chasing summits. This is a natural fit for me as I’ve enjoyed mountaintop operating in various forms, mostly on VHF and UHF. (See my SOTA blog postings.) My hiking partner and wife, Joyce/K0JJW is almost always activating with me. Her #1 ham radio activity is also SOTA. We both achieved Mountain Goat status (1000 activator points) using only VHF and higher frequencies. (Technicians can have a lot of fun with SOTA on VHF!)
The SOTA program has a wide variety of awards, supported by a comprehensive database used to record SOTA radio contacts and keep track of the scores. It is not really a competition but there is friendly rivalry between SOTA enthusiasts as they monitor each other’s posted scores. Here are the “badges” that pop up when I check my SOTA info.
Parks On The Air
In the past few years, we have added the Parks On The Air (POTA) program. It turns out that not all regions of the country have interesting SOTA summits but they all have state or national parks. This fits nicely into our outdoor hiking/camping/4WD activities.
Many of our SOTA activations are in parks (national forests, national parks and state parks), so we usually try to make the SOTA activation count for both programs. This means that many of our POTA activations are done using VHF/UHF only, if from a summit. More commonly, we use the HF bands for POTA activations. Our standard POTA setup is a Yaesu FT-991 driving an endfed wire antenna, usually on SSB or FT8.
POTA also has a great database, good tools and plenty of awards available. Here’s what shows up on my POTA awards page. Just like SOTA, POTA is not a competition but it is interesting to see what other hams are doing and compare you level of activity.
So those are my thoughts.
What motivates you to get on the air?
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