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My contesting began as so many of my journeys begin – a simple entry with a great deal of discovery and learning along the way. Then, as with most of my efforts, I start thinking about changes that eventually become relentless efforts to improve from one contest to the next.
Now this is easy to do with anything in amateur radio. You can always get better and improve your station and your operating techniques. However, with contesting you actually have a report card on your efforts – your score for every contest you enter. Plus, you have a ranking against your fellow competitors.
It’s a short trip from seeing your ranking to start thinking about what’s needed to win, or at least to improve. That then leads to an examination of what contest category best fits you and your station, or at least ramps up the possibility of actually winning.
HF Contesting
I started out, quite some time ago, with HF contesting. What began as an effort to find more DXCC countries to add to my log moved pretty quickly into an improvement journey driven by scores and rankings. After all, it’s pretty nice to see your call sign in the listing of entries. Then you start thinking about getting better and finishing higher.
With me, it started out with CW contests and low power (100 watts) using a vertical antenna. The early improvements were to antennas and to spending more time in the chair, as well as using DX spotting assistance…..READ FULL ARTICLE
Equipment
LDG Z-100PLUS/IC-705
Auto Ant Tuner with 2000 Memories Pkgd For IC-705 The Package is IC-705 Ready and Includes The Following: 8 Heavy Duty AA Batteries Icom IC-705 I... Read more
Introduction for Icom AH-705 Automatic Antenna Tuner
JH1CBX Masaco introduces AH-705 designed for IC-705. Descriptions ・Covers the 1.8 MHz to 50 MHz bands 30 m, 98.4 ft or longer antenna: 1.8 – 54 MHz, 7... Read more
How to use a manual antenna tuner – Ham Radio Q&A
“Antenna tuners are a vital, yet slightly misunderstood ham radio station accessory. In this video we talk about what an antenna tuner does and... Read more
Finger Morse CW Straight Key / Finger mounted PTT switch
The Finger Morse CW Straight Key is a very simple product that allows you to easily continue operating your Morse Code QRP Ham Radio while walking aro... Read more
Nice presentation of Power Genius XL by Dan, N7HQ [ VIDEO ]
QSO Today Expo March 2021 – Dan N7HQ gives us an overview of the PGXL and its features. Read more
Antenna
80M Antenna with HOA Constraints
Welcome to the 400th Ask Dave video! Ken, VE7ZY, is having trouble with an 80m dipole mounted very closely to the roof flashing. He is seeking other a... Read more
Can I Put One End of a Dipole Next to my VHF Antenna?
Nick, KC3PWJ, has a flagpole and also a pole that holds up his VHF/UHF discone. He’d like to string a 20m dipole between the two poles, but is w... Read more
Wideband Antennas for SDR Radios
Flip, W4FLP, asked about options for wideband antennas for the popular RSP-DX software defined radio from SDRPlay. We cover three that should work fin... Read more
Bushcomm Horizon Multi-Band Loop Antennas LOOP-20
Antenna, Loop, Magnetic, 20-10M, 125 W PEP, Each Magnetic- loop antennas have existed almost since radio began. The recent resurgence of interest in t... Read more
Chameleon EmComm II Amateur Ham Radio Antenna Review
A slightly different form of hybrid is the Chameleon Emcomm II.The Emcomm II is a portable antenna, which can also be very good to use as a base stati... Read more
VHF
Wouxun REVEALS the KG-UV8H Dual Band 8-watt HT Radio
Brand new from Wouxun is the KG-UV8H Handheld, which features a different screen than earlier models, an 8-watt output power, and a 3200mAH battery. L... Read more
Amateur Radio Gets a Partial Reprieve on 3.5 GHz
Pending future FCC action, amateur radio secondary use of the 3.3 – 3.45 GHz band segment may continue indefinitely. The FCC, as part of a lengthy... Read more
Dump the UV-5R and Get the GT-5R
“For years the Baofeng UV-5R has been maligned as non-compliant with FCC regulations and a real spreader of spurious emissions. Further, it woul... Read more
Best Handheld Ham Radio Under $150 – 2021
“In early 2021, these are my recommendations of the Best Handheld Ham Radios under $150.” Read more
ANYTONE AT-779UV – Dual Band Mini Mobile Radio
The Anytone AT-779UV Dual band Mobile radio is a compact rugged 25 watt mobile radio Factory pre-programmed with the Moonraker code plug including all... Read more
Review
TOP 10 ACCESSORIES FOR IC-705
This week Jonathan goes through his top 10 must-have accessories for the IC-705! Read more
Traditional Amateur Radio Contesting Faces a Demographic Cliff
Frank Howell, K4FMH, followed up his two-part National Contest Journal (NCJ) series, “The Demographics of Contesting,” with a post to his Social Circu... Read more
Yaesu FTDX-10 Menu and Feature Overview with W9FFF Ham Radio Dude
New from Yaesu, the FTDX-10 HF Transceiver – today I’ve invited Sean, W9FFF, from the Ham Radio Dude channel to go though all of the menu... Read more
Renewing Your Amateur Radio License thru FCC Universal Licensing System
Renewing Your Amateur Radio License thru FCC Universal Licensing System Read more
NanoVNA-H4 Network Analyzer, $86 Antenna Analyzer Review/Demo
Today we are checking out the NanoVNA-H4 analyzer. This little gem does a lot more than just SWR, so check out this video and other videos on YouTube... Read more