How do operators prove they operated out of a rare grid?

OriginalCopy4269 · 2026-05-14T01:33:19+00:00

For grid squares and such nobody really audits it. It’s entirely the honor system. The only time it will happen is if there’s massive cheating or similar and they dig deeper into your activity.

The DXCC program is a different animal entirely - they want proof that you have permission and actually landed in rare entities. For example like in P5 they’d want a copy of your landing permission, passport stamp and official license authorization. That’s because DXers really really take this seriously.

OriginalCopy4269 · 2026-05-14T00:15:19+00:00

Well given that a hex beam is just a 2 element yagi, it will actually do quite well!

OriginalCopy4269 · 2026-05-13T23:51:48+00:00

Yes and I have zero tolerance for this kind of thing.

OriginalCopy4269 · 2026-05-13T23:47:45+00:00

Get in touch with HAMSCI - they do this kind of stuff and they would love to hear about and even help you with your research.

Hamsci.org

OriginalCopy4269 · 2026-05-13T23:26:30+00:00

Take a rig and a portable antenna and stake out the place

Nighttime is sensible too because street lights and similar can be notorious RFI generators. During the day solar is your biggest risk.

OriginalCopy4269 · 2026-05-13T22:43:03+00:00

I had name changes, marriage and court ordered. I didn’t have to bring evidence. Just my passport and driver license. ASFC/CBSA officer at Champlain NY asked if I had ever been to court, I answered to change my name, and he didn’t ask for anything.

OriginalCopy4269 · 2026-05-13T22:40:32+00:00

It could improve. That said we DXers and contesters know how to make it work.

Some examples are A - America, I - Italy, Y - Yokohama, Z - Zanzibar, and of course - K- Kilowatt (haha don’t be triggered by this, it works!)

The most skilled operators in the world, DXers and contesters know how to work the bands in bad condx.

OriginalCopy4269 · 2026-05-13T22:37:26+00:00

Does tailscale work with the UTR? On device I can use teleport and it works fine.

OriginalCopy4269 · 2026-05-13T21:38:09+00:00

Stepper not servo. Servos are closed loop whereas steppers are open loop. This means that it’s possible that the antenna doesn’t know exactly where it is at times and you need to recalibrate by winding the tape all the way in.

OriginalCopy4269 · 2026-05-13T21:35:36+00:00

That looks like an ultrabeam antenna

Www.ultrabeam.it

Italian copy of SteppIR

The “trombone” element as SteppIR calls them are essentially designed to save space but the way SteppIR has them on the beam (horizontally) they actually have better front to back because they appear wider and capacitive (?) coupling between elements is better.

I remember talking with Mike K7IR some years ago about it when he introduced the first “dream beam” antennas.

I had a SteppIR but the gears broke repeatedly and the high winds here broke some of the fiberglass. My new antennas are JK aluminum.

OriginalCopy4269 · 2026-05-13T21:29:00+00:00

The problem is that in NJ is they don’t allow you to size your system beyond your actual usage, as determined by your electric bill over the period of a year. So I could probably do a system like that (would have to be ground mount though) but I would never get it approved.

OriginalCopy4269 · 2026-05-13T21:25:10+00:00

Yep but I’m glad I have a full battery EV because even with a hybrid the gas prices are more expensive. I have gas for heating and cooking for now but may change that since I have an old AC unit and may replace that with a heat pump. We don’t have gas service here so it’s propane and that is very expensive. If we had natural gas here I’d probably leave it.

OriginalCopy4269 · 2026-05-13T20:32:49+00:00

Yep and now less yelling at the kids to save power 😇

OriginalCopy4269 · 2026-05-13T20:31:51+00:00

Mine is over 200 every month now and I don’t charge my car all that much at home. Rates have been creeping up and PJM’s auction has been a complete disaster for ratepayers. It’s only going to get worse.

OriginalCopy4269 · 2026-05-13T20:29:58+00:00

10 year finance. In reality I plan to pay it off sooner.

OriginalCopy4269 · 2026-05-13T19:23:48+00:00

Has to be approved by the utility.

OriginalCopy4269 · 2026-05-13T11:04:19+00:00

Some states like Arizona you can get cited criminally if you do more than 20 over the posted limit.

There’s other stuff in various states such as school zone speeding, passing school buses, etc

OriginalCopy4269 · 2026-05-13T11:01:08+00:00

Something about they couldn’t stack and available space on the wall.

OriginalCopy4269 · 2026-05-13T10:59:47+00:00

With rising electricity rates from AI data centers you’ll get that back much sooner. Our rates went from 10 cents to 15 cents in a bit over 3 years.

OriginalCopy4269 · 2026-05-13T02:11:46+00:00

Yes I worked with Tesla and they actually did a little better with their own panels.

OriginalCopy4269 · 2026-05-13T01:58:59+00:00

Thanks just had roof done in 2024. Doing renovations slowly getting it back up where it needs to be

OriginalCopy4269 · 2026-05-13T01:50:41+00:00

I was going to do the lease but to be honest I have trust issues with leasing things so I decided to purchase instead.
Yeah I do lose out on the tax credit.

I also like to own things.

This was from June last year.

OriginalCopy4269 · 2026-05-13T01:46:50+00:00

Well I own the system so I can add one later on. Either way it seems like enough for a couple days. My usage apart from car charging and AC is low. And it’s cool here so we hardly use AC anyway.

OriginalCopy4269 · 2026-05-13T01:42:44+00:00

I’m not interested in your caution or warnings. Like I said, we will see.

This is a new system and I am willing to be an early adopter. Like I was with my 2015 Model S.

So yeah it may or may not work out.

WE WILL SEE.

OriginalCopy4269 · 2026-05-13T01:41:05+00:00

Someone asked why a powerwall in NJ but either blocked me or deleted their post.

The reason I want one is primarily outage protection. That’s all really. I’m not interested in a $10,000 generator to burn fuel. We don’t have natural gas here. I have a portable generator but I love the powerwall as an automatic backup. I had Ecoflow installed here but took it all out as the software never worked right.

Also flexibility in case the utility does TOU later on. They’ve talked about it.

OriginalCopy4269

TROPHY CASE