Sorry for the late reply, I did not use nodes and as far as I know carnival is the only one still allowing ham radios

The text is the first paragraph of a voice over script that I wrote for a Field Day video that I never got around to making.

https://youtu.be/r3mHme8Kj-Y

footnote: Ron Anders K3RA, Field Day – A Mirror of Amateur Radio History, ARRL QST, Dec 1999, 28

Truth be told, I have milliwatted but a long time ago. It was actually a fluke but I will leave that story for another day and another thread.

Stupid question I am sure, but are there QRPP HF contests out there? The problem is obviously that as soon as a bigger station comes back, the other milliwatters would never get in. So I guess it would…

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One of my favorite aspects of ham radio is building transmitters running less than 1 watt and seeing how far I can be heard. Even the lowly Pixie kit has a decent transmitter.

Little transmitters are easy to build, either from kits or schematics you can find online.

I get crystals from KC9ON.com and use a low-pass filter board from Zachtek.com…

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I hear all words or even whole sentences. It’s like having a conversation with someone. The only thing I write down is the other person’s call sign.

But there’s different ways for different folks. Ask 10 hams how to lean morse code and you get 15 ways! Use what works for you and have fun!

I’m actually split. Sometimes I hear words, other times I hear letters. For instance, friends’ callsigns I hear as a word. Most Q-codes also. I also hear words towards the end of a sentence. I find myself listening to the first few letters and then ‘expecting’ certain words. Same applies to sending code. Q-codes, CQ, my callsign, all these…

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Actually, I did learn with letter groups. I learned 5 letters at a time. Yes, they created little words but mostly just random groups of those 5 letters. Gradually there were more letters added in groups of 5 and there were more words, but the random groups continued. Then there were the ARRL practice sessions. Text was from various issues of…

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The greatest thing about ham radio is it’s the hobby with thousands of hobbies! You can never learn it all, so just pick and choose what interests you.

I actually use ham radio to escape from all the high tech stuff in real life. Mostly analog QRP CW for me. I do have 2 digital rigs , but one’s display is morse code. The other is an 8 segment…

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Don’t over analyze learning the code. It’s nothing more than reading with your ears and writing with a key.

Did you learn to read by copying down random letter groups? No!

Once you have the basic characters memorized, get on the air and use them. Speed and head copy will come with use and exerience. It’s harder to find long conversations on the…

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Not particularly overwhelmed. I’m almost all of my operating is CW with a very rare op on SSB. Everything else is “that other stuff”.

I have seen on CW boards on Facebook advice to not learn to copy letters but rather go faster and learn to head copy whole words. The reason being that this will allow one to copy at higher speeds. It makes sense; I find myself “head copying” on occasion. However, this is because we speak in known words. However, it seems to me that if one…

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I was driving past a tall tower yesterday and the most trivial thought came to mind. I wonder how high the highest installed amateur radio antenna sits? Like, is there an antenna at the top of any New York skyscraper. I’m curious both about VHF/UHF repeater antennas and good old, simple HF antennas. I’m not yet talking about whether this is…

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We all know the drill: the radios work, the antennas are tuned, and the generator is gassed up. But do we actually have a place to set up?

For those who leave the home shack for Field Day, Winter Field Day, or special events, outdoor site acquisition is often the most stressful part of the planning phase. We look everywhere:

• Public…

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Trying to renew my license… no luck. Had a heck of a time getting the ‘sign in’ code to even log in. Now trying to access the ULS system with no success. If you read the Reddit or FB threads, you’ll see that this has been on and off for months. We landed on the moon!

Hi Lind. Yup, there is. Just sent you a private message. You should get a notification. BTW, not happy with the current direct messaging system. Thinking of changing it. Jim.

PS. If you look at the bottom right of your browser, you should see the Messages/Groups buttons.

Hello Jim.

Does this site have any facility to send a private message to another member?

Straight Key Night doesn’t seem to be a contest. Yes, we may compare our contact counts, but it’s not like Field Day where there are “points”. For me, Field Day iis a chance to do it outside.

Hello Jim. It’s been quite a while. What is the status of the CW contest that you mentioned?

To all who attended the 2025 Emcomm Station Meet at JHU/APL in Laurel, MD, thank you for coming out. For those who could not join us, you were missed.

(INFORMAL) AFTER ACTION REPORT

• The weather cooperated. The Tº was comfortably cool and the rain missed us.
• The location was perfect; abundant open space for portable stations, great parking area…

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2025 MCM News…is there any?

I’m interested in finding out if I’m registered to be part of the team of ham radio operators providing EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS for the 2025 MCM!

QSL. Hello all this is N3RDX. Thank you K3MRI for your efforts.

Can I suggest we all use some of the time today (say 1 hour) we now have open in our Saturday schedule, to have a telephone or online meetup to say hello and guve what would have been their intro of we were at the field?

Maybe you coyld give us a 1 line description (“the pitch” of…

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BUMMED. We decided to postpone to the rain date because the models showed there was a chance of rain in the mid-morning. Well, turns out that the models – every one of them – were inaccurate. At this point looks like if there is any rain whatsoever, it’ll come mid- to late-afternoon.

😠

Absolutely… here goes. Note that as I type this, the page is still under development. It should be complete by COB tonight, tomorrow latest.

https://ham.community/emcomm-2025

Any more information on this event?

This thread is for those who wish to discuss the Emcomm Meet planned for 27 September 2025 at APL/JHU in Laurel, MD.

Here is easiest way to do the calculation