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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
SDRplay SDRconnect demo at Friedrichshafen 2022
This video shows the demo we showed at Ham Radio 2022, in Friedrichshafen, Germany. This demonstrates the core underlying technology behind what we’re... Read more
Building a Yaesu FT-891 remote control box
Dave, KZ9V stops by the shack, and share with us his memory keyer remote control box he built for the Yaesu FT-891 Read more
4 Way Remote Antenna Switch with WiFi
Remote Antenna Switch 2022 saw the return of the Dayton Hamvention and also celebrated the 70th anniversary of the world’s largest ham radio tra... Read more
![Expert Linear 1.5-FA Solid State Amplifier [ Hamvention ]](https://qrznow.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/spe-190x122.png)
Expert Linear 1.5-FA Solid State Amplifier [ Hamvention ]
Solid State Amplifier Powerful: 1.5 kW typ. (+/- 0.5dB) Very Light: about 10 kgs (about 22 lbs). Very Small: H 12, W 28, D 36 cm. (4.72″ X 11.2... Read more
ADSB Exchange Deluxe Dual SDR Feeder Kit – Aircraft Tracking
Here we take a look at the ADSB Exchange Deluxe Dual SDR Feeder Kit for an easy installation experience. Metal case holding a Pi 4B, and two SDRs... Read more
Antenna
DIAMOND VX-30 Antenna Review
DIAMOND VX-30 Peter Waters G3OJV, explains why the Diamond VX-30 could be the ideal antenna for those new to ham radio who would like to operate on th... Read more
Eagle One Antenna – What Is it?
Thanks to Tristan and Jason for talking to me about the Eagle One Antenna. There seems to be some confusion about this antenna what it is and what it... Read more
Easy Modelling Your First Antenna in 5 Minutes – Vertical Antennas
5-minute video how to download the software and make your first ground mounted vertical – easy. Read more
COMPACTenna – Dayton Hamvention 2022
2022 saw the return of the Dayton Hamvention and also celebrated the 70th anniversary of the world’s largest ham radio trade show. Ham Radio Out... Read more
Inflatable Satellite Antenna
Inflatable Satellite Antenna GATR 2.4m Inflatable Ku & C Band Satellite Antenna VSAT Satcom Deployable Up for auction is an GATR 2.4m inflatable a... Read more
VHF
Amateur/RNSS Coexistence – 23cm Band
23cm Band After review and approval by the IARU Region 1 Executive Committee and the IARU Administrative Council a presentation on preliminary Amateur... Read more
World Debut of the SHF-P1, 2.4 GHz / 5.6 GHz Concept
SHF-P1 For more than half a century, Icom has created new technology for Amateur Radio. Our engineers have a new project, “Icom SHF Project – Super Hi... Read more
The ULTIMATE Challenges Facing the Icom SHF Project
Icom Japan have been working on a concept of a new radio looking to revitalize the use of the SHF (Super High Frequency) bands. Recently a concept mod... Read more
Yaesu FTM-200 vs FTM-300 at Dayton Hamvention 202
From the Dayton Hamvention 2022, John Kruk talks to us about the differences between the FTM-200 and FTM-300 radios from Yaesu Read more
Icom IC-T10 Rugged Dual Band HT @ HamVention
Icom IC-T10 Rugged Dual Band HT This New VHF/UHF HT from Icom features a Very Rugged Design, 1500 mW of loud, clear speaker audio, 2400 mAH battery, I... Read more
Review
Mini DIGITAL PWR / SWR meter review
This is the review of a Mini portable PWR and SWR meter with built-in battery and High SWR warning buzzer. There are also the Xiegu X6100’s outp... Read more
Radio Signals: What happens if there’s a hill in the way?
“Let us understand what happens if you have a hill or mountain in the way of your radio signal because I recently published a video showing you... Read more
10 Reasons Why GMRS is NOT Better Than Ham Radio
“This video is a response to a video I saw by @NotaRubicon Productions where he claims that GMRS is better than Ham Radio. I found the video fun... Read more
RFI from Solar Inverter
RFI from Solar Inverter Lee, KI5ODH, built an off grid solar system for his station. But he is having some trouble. “The inverter is putting out... Read more
XIEGU GNR 1 Noise Reduction Unit – Full Review
Xiegu GNR1 digital audio noise filter is an audio processing device integrating digital noise reduction and digital filtering. It will effectivel... Read more
![Expert Linear 1.5-FA Solid State Amplifier [ Hamvention ]](https://qrznow.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/spe-90x60.png)
![Expert Linear 1.5-FA Solid State Amplifier [ Hamvention ]](https://qrznow.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/spe-180x120.png)
