10M is really quite today, 2/9/26.

[TNFrank]

10M is starting out slow again today. 1 POTA QSO in Tennessee. Should pick up later in the day like it did yesterday with any luck.

[Northcutt114]

3 hours ago, WRYS709 said:

Yesterday, I did a Late Shift Activation at a new Park starting later than usual.  

I started with 40 meters FT8 ... Last night I seemed to hit a wall at 6 contacts...I moved over to 40 meters SSB on my 100 watt Yaesu FT-857 and after calling CQ POTA for about 40 minutes, I finally heard a "VA7" in the mud...So I moved over to 80 meters but instead of recalibrating the HF-008 in the dark ... I called CQ again for about 40 minutes on various frequencies around 3750 - 3850 but was unable to get a QSO.  Moving back to the G106 for FT8, I could receive many different stations, but was unable to complete any FT8 QSOs. ...After starting slow, the band must have changed as suddenly I was knocking them out one after another including about a half dozen Japan calls that lined up for my CQ POTAs!  I ended the night with 16 QSOs.

I wanted to respond to this and condense your response so that people can see that sometimes activating a park is work, and far from easy. I think a lot of people watch these big name channels activate and hear them say things like "Wow, 12 contacts in less than 5 minutes" and then have that same expectation for when they try it. I, for one, appreciate your detailed account of the struggle. It validates my own frustrations. Thanks...and congrats on the activation!

 

[WRYZ926]

Nothing is as easy as it seams on YouTube videos. They cut and edit to condense everything down. 

I've had it take a 1-4 hours to get 10 contacts or on a really good day get 30 contacts in about 30 minutes. The latter is rare for me though. It all depends on location and band conditions.

[WRYS709]

1 hour ago, Northcutt114 said:

I wanted to respond to this and condense your response so that people can see that sometimes activating a park is work, and far from easy. I think a lot of people watch these big name channels activate and hear them say things like "Wow, 12 contacts in less than 5 minutes" and then have that same expectation for when they try it. I, for one, appreciate your detailed account of the struggle. It validates my own frustrations. Thanks...and congrats on the activation!

 

 

 

26 minutes ago, WRYZ926 said:

Nothing is as easy as it seams on YouTube videos. They cut and edit to condense everything down. 

I've had it take a 1-4 hours to get 10 contacts or on a really good day get 30 contacts in about 30 minutes. The latter is rare for me though. It all depends on location and band conditions.

Thank you both for these clarifications!

I just assumed my preference for Late Night Activations were the basis for the harder work involved!

I am also motivated to helping promote a more egalitarian approach on Late Night SSB/AM on 80 meters!

[WRYZ926]

It's harder to do a POTA activation at night since most parks close around sunset plus the fact that any type of wire antenna for 40m and 80m is going to require a lot more room. 

I've had better luck working overseas POTA stations on 40m compared to working US stations. I have yet to work any POTA stations on 80m.

Checking my Hunter stats and I need 5 states and DC to have worked all 50. 

[TNFrank]

The 17 minute video I posted on YouTube took over 4 hours to get the contacts I posted in it. Editing can make things look faster than they actually were. 

[TNFrank]

Japan is on fire today, 2 DX so far.

[Davichko5650]

2 hours ago, TNFrank said:

The 17 minute video I posted on YouTube took over 4 hours to get the contacts I posted in it. Editing can make things look faster than they actually were. 

Was watching a bit of it at work with the CC on (have to be able to hear the two-way radio, LOL) , not being sad-hammy here, but you showed a guy on 28.500. If you call on that frequency on USB, your signal would be out of band. The carrier at 28.500 and your signal would be about 2.8 Khz wide, putting a portion of your phone emission  above 28.500.  Would anyone really care or would the wrath of Uncle Charlie descend upon you? Doubtful, but just want you to be above reproach from the "some people" crowd.  Look at how Salty Walt got mega slagged for using an export radio, even at 12 watts, on 11 meters on his channel.

[TNFrank]

Are you sure the bandwidth(I set mine to 2kHz)isn't accounted for?  As a Technician's Class License I have privileges from 28.300MHz to 28.500MHz and I'm pretty sure they account for bandwidth in those frequencies otherwise I'd be "legal" on 28.297MHz since that would put it into the 28.300MHz range with bandwidth. 

It just doesn't make sense to say Technicians have phone privileges on 28.3-28.5MHz if they didn't include the bandwidth in the equation.  Otherwise it's 28.3-28.497MHz.

It'll all be a moot point in a week once I get my General Class License. 

[WRYZ926]

Per Part 97, you should be staying 5 KHz from the band edge for your license class anyway. So you should not be transmitting above 28.495 MHz on USB as a technician.

Yes I know if you do a google search you will anywhere from 3 KHZ to 5 KHz. Stay at least 5 KHz away from the band edge will definitely keep you out of trouble.

[TNFrank]

40 minutes ago, WRYZ926 said:

Per Part 97, you should be staying 5 KHz from the band edge for your license class anyway. So you should not be transmitting above 28.495 MHz on USB as a technician.

Yes I know if you do a google search you will anywhere from 3 KHZ to 5 KHz. Stay at least 5 KHz away from the band edge will definitely keep you out of trouble.

This is the first I've heard of this. 

[WRYZ926]

Just now, TNFrank said:

This is the first I've heard of this. 

It's actually one of the questions on the technician test.

[Davichko5650]

The band edges are based on the carrier. Using your 2 kHz bandwidth, in USB mode on 28.500, your modulated signal would be 28.502 MHz, and out of band for US Tech license.  You’ll see this once you can jump on 20, the highest you’ll hear a SSB signal there is 14.347 for the 14.350 band edge.

works the same in LSB , if you were on 28.300 LSB, your transmitted signal would be 27.298 and out of band again.

 

 

[Davichko5650]

3 hours ago, TNFrank said:

The 17 minute video I posted on YouTube took over 4 hours to get the contacts I posted in it. Editing can make things look faster than they actually were. 

Great to hear you working someone I know on 10m here in MN on the video. Could definitely hear the effects of the QSB on the band that day!

[Davichko5650]

14 hours ago, WRYZ926 said:

It's actually one of the questions on the technician test.

Somehow the screenshot did not come thru or got deleted. The question as state on the Test (reminder not all question in the pool are on every test) is:

Why should you not set your transmit frequency at the edge of an amateur band or sub-band?

A - To allow for calibration error in the transmitter frequency display

B- So that the modulations sidebands do not extend beyond the band edge

C - To allow for transmitter frequency drift

D- All the choices are correct

 

D is of course the correct answer here.

[TNFrank]

Sounds to me like the FCC needs to clarify the frequency range for 10M Technician Band privileges to include the bandwidth offset. 28.3MHz to 28.5MHz should be just that, it shouldn't be 28.3MHz-28.497MHz USB or 28.33MHz-28.5MHz LSB.   

[SteveShannon]

56 minutes ago, TNFrank said:

Sounds to me like the FCC needs to clarify the frequency range for 10M Technician Band privileges to include the bandwidth offset. 28.3MHz to 28.5MHz should be just that, it shouldn't be 28.3MHz-28.497MHz USB or 28.33MHz-28.5MHz LSB.   

No.  It’s a matter of very simple arithmetic and personal responsibility. The FCC established simple band edges. It’s up to each of us to understand the bandwidth of our radios and keep our transmissions within the bands.

 

[TNFrank]

It just seems like they'd make it a little more clear. When I see 28.5MHz I figure I'm good to 28.5MHz.

[SteveShannon]

41 minutes ago, TNFrank said:

It just seems like they'd make it a little more clear. When I see 28.5MHz I figure I'm good to 28.5MHz.

Yes, but that’s your center frequency.  Your signal has a width to it. It’s up to you to understand that and avoid having the width of your signal go outside of the band limits.

[Northcutt114]

8 hours ago, TNFrank said:

It just seems like they'd make it a little more clear. When I see 28.5MHz I figure I'm good to 28.5MHz.

Right, but that 28.5 has to account for the bandwidth of the signal. 28.5 is the center of the frequency. If you're tuned up to 28.5 and transmitting on USB, you're actually transmitting somewhere between 28.5 and 28.528, depending on your bandwidth and vocal modulation.

 

ETA: Nevermind. @SteveShannon literally explained this immediately after you posted. Should read the whole thread first.

 

[Northcutt114]

18 hours ago, WRYZ926 said:

It's harder to do a POTA activation at night since most parks close around sunset plus the fact that any type of wire antenna for 40m and 80m is going to require a lot more room. 

I made my first two late shift contacts last night. Got the ICOM 7300 hooked up to a Chameleon EFHW in a semi permanent installation and managed to get a two operator contact in AZ. First contants on 40m...and at night.

As someone who has spent his - yet brief - ham career operating outside and during the day, it felt really odd to be doing it inside and at night.

[WRYZ926]

@Northcutt114 I think you will like the 7300, it's a nice base station radio.

The thing about 40m and 80 is that they are better for DX at night. 40m works better for closer contacts during the day. I haven't messed with 80m during the day.

[Northcutt114]

54 minutes ago, WRYZ926 said:

@Northcutt114 I think you will like the 7300, it's a nice base station radio.

The thing about 40m and 80 is that they are better for DX at night. 40m works better for closer contacts during the day. I haven't messed with 80m during the day.

I am honestly a little bit gobsmacked by the 7300. My youngest daughter, who occasionally goes on radio outings with me, walked by last night and said "Wow, Dad. That radio sounds why nicer than your other ones." And she's far from an audiophile. I managed to get WSJT-X installed last night and kind of got FT8 running...but I couldn't figure out how to make a contact. K8MRD's got a good video on that I'll watch, but I saw the waterfall and the callsigns, so I know I have it set up correctly, just need to learn how to run the software.

This EFHW is cut to 40m, but the 7300 will tune it for 80m. I made a contact with some random guy on 40m last night. Some kind of 'net. "Big booming 59plus twenty, man" was his response. I suppose that I'm going to have to get used to that. It's not the norm on my little G90. 

[Northcutt114]

17 hours ago, WRYZ926 said:

Nothing is as easy as it seams on YouTube videos. They cut and edit to condense everything down. 

I've had it take a 1-4 hours to get 10 contacts or on a really good day get 30 contacts in about 30 minutes. The latter is rare for me though. It all depends on location and band conditions.

The thing is, though, sometimes they don't cut or edit anything. I was watching K8MRD's in field review of the new 7300 Mk2. Mainly to see if I should have FOMO about having just the 7300. Anyhow, he started calling CQ with some sort of automated message. (I need to figure that out, by the way). He did that for about 10 or 15 seconds and then got one call back. But after he spotted himself, the pile up really began. People want to get on the video so he get's the attention.

I was naive in the beginning and didn't realize it. Those of us without "a channel" will never know how easy it is to park on one channel, call CQ, and get triple digit QSO's.

[WRYS709]

1 minute ago, Northcutt114 said:

I was naive in the beginning and didn't realize it. Those of us without "a channel" will never know how easy it is to park on one channel, call CQ, and get triple digit QSO's.

I think my Late Shift Activations on 80 and 40 attract attention and response when they see "CQ POTA" on FT8 at that hour.