Love this! A view of a little understood role in a DXpedition. And another way for thos who can't go to pariciapte in those expeditons. KUDOS for enlighteneing us.
Very Interesting and innovative stuff. The tech is beyond me but as it progresses it will become more and more plug and play which is definitely a draw for guys like me. If it gets to the point where i can just log in and be contesting much like Pota on the hunting side. I am there.
This video is so disappointing and frustrating. You completely blew off VHF/UHF contesting! The attitude that comes across here is that if you are interested in contesting you can get your feet wet on 10m and then you need to upgrade. I was a Tech for 21 years before I “upgraded” because I like VHF/UHF and there’s a lot to do on those bands. I would have loved a video about contesting techniques for VHF/UHF that might be different from HF, or getting your station ready for VHF/UHF contesting. I work stations out 300-500 miles EVERY day on 2m and 432 with single yagis not more than 15’ long, even when the bands don’t appear to be “open”. There’s a lot to do above 30Mhz, and frankly I think it is more difficult to do it well compared to HF. You all come off as so one-dimensional here and really missed a big opportunity to talk about something more.
Mark, your critique is fair. I'll take responsibility for steering the conversation toward HF contesting and making that the focus. I'll look forward to a future episode where we tackle VHF/UHF contesting. Thanks for watching. 73, Kevin
But the video is titled HF contesting so he did nothing wrong by not talking about 2m/440. A 15’ yagi is not small and for most technicians I’d would say it’s more then they will be able to put up. Is your yagi on a large tower? I think it’s more rewarding to upgrade to general and get on hf then to spend a lot money on vhf/uhf and not be as successful.
Still blown away by how much information, tips and strategy you guys are willing to share. Thanks 🙏 I really enjoyed the IARU this year. I was limited to 10 hours on Saturday only but will put a bigger effort in next time.
Thanks for taking the time to make these videos, guys! They're very educational and entertaining. I worked Randy while running on 40m SSB as VE3MIS. I barely remembered to blather out "thanks for the youtubes", lol 73 VE3GKT
I"m also new to the hobby and I'm blown away by the friendliness and generosity of the community, mostly through the two local clubs I belong to. I'm not sure why the hobby skews so much toward older men but I've found I really enjoy hanging around them and absorbing their knowledge.
Hey All DE KG6DQL Here. I've known Bill Fehring for well over 6 years, I've done a couple contests with him at Tom's NW6P station in Cupertino and I guess I can say that I've seen Bill W9KKN progress. he is a very talented and dedicated contester. Great guy to hang out with and talk to.
Thanks for the video, unfortunately, my club does no contesting and I haven't the clue how and where to get started and have no clue what the attraction is, I hope to soon.
Great interview, thanks! It's so wonderful to see young people in the hobby. And Grace's passion for it is palpable. How wonderful that it's also inspired her career ambitions! It'll be wonderful to see what she does with the hobby, and I wish her all the best. Cheers and 73!
I have a lot of memories of field day growing up as a kid . My father the president of ICARS at the time . Which was a blast looked for it every year . Family would go camping , horseback riding and I would go fishing at Allison woods in NC . The Saturday night dinners was the best . And I would stay up all night long keying contacts .. that was 1990-94 .. my dad's been a h since the 60s . Wa1ehl / N1GC is his old call an new call . Had a tower set up on his 16;ft trailer and would go to 40 ft when done .
Nailed it re: new hams... Older hams, retired, with money to spend on the hobby... It would be good for ARRL to focus on the real user segment, not keep pretending they are going to have kids joining the hobby... Just sayin' 😎
Grace is pretty awesome on sats. I didn’t recognize her new call. Looks like she’s a handful away from gridmaster. Grace is accurate in saying fm birds prepare you for contesting. Rarely are they graceful! Hope to see and hear her more involved in Cw. It’s more addicting than grid chasing imo. 73 Jay N4GO,w4zxt GM#41
There is a Fieldday in New Zealand as well. Ours is in late February (our summer) and on 80/40 m in CW/SSB only. It is meant as an emergency preparation/testing event. Part of the time limit is the erection of the station/antennas starting at noon while "operating" starts from 3 pm. Since we are so few "active" operators here, we can work each other again in each hour. This way "top" stations achieve up to 500 QSO's in total. From midnight to 6 am we have a break and go to sleep. Logs have to be send in as paper logs.
