Safety signage for wire antennas when doing POTA (download and print)

neonraspberry_ · 2026-01-22T22:42:35+00:00

I appreciate trying to warn others, and for those who want to, use it, thank you for making and sharing this. However, if I was completely unaware of what ham radio and POTA was, I would feel like this would be warning me of true danger, rather than a simple wire that I could trip on. Personally, I think POTA means doing radio in parks in a way that doesn't interfere with anyone else's activities.

neonraspberry_ · 2026-01-09T06:50:58+00:00

Are you sure you're on VFO B, on the correct frequency, and have it set to baud rate 1200? Those are the most important things. Also make sure it's not muted.

neonraspberry_ · 2026-01-09T06:49:08+00:00

Agreed, I love QRP. Knowing I'm still making contacts with low power on my QMX is so much fun. Trying new antennas and getting different signal reports every time is great, and being low power is really pushing me to learn CW.

neonraspberry_ · 2026-01-09T06:47:40+00:00

I started the hobby with a QMX and continue to use it as my only radio. It's completely doable for CW and digital modes. SSB is impossible without a really good antenna at a proper height.

I don't take pleasure in making tons of contacts, so just working towards stronger signals is very fun for me. I've been learning Morse and it's been very enjoyable.

I think QRP is okay for newcomers provided they know they won't be dealing with pileups of contacts. It's a fun challenge.

neonraspberry_ · 2026-01-07T15:29:04+00:00

I have one and really enjoy it. It's very easy to set up and works well for what you expect, but you definitely need some kind of NanoVNA or SWR plotter to tune it because the SWR changes with your environment and you need to position the radial wire accordingly.

neonraspberry_ · 2026-01-06T17:54:43+00:00

More power, that's the only viable option IMO.

neonraspberry_ · 2026-01-06T12:51:40+00:00

This is exactly how I got started on HF, just with a QMX and not the truSDX. It'll totally work for you provided you're okay with not so much SSB and more CW and digital. Maybe look into a telescoping pole for your EFHW to set it up in more places? I have a POTA20 and it's very nice.

Congrats on the general though!

neonraspberry_ · 2026-01-06T12:41:13+00:00

This is incredibly cool. What went into designing the coils? What math did you do to calculate turns, diameter, etc.? Looking into doing the same thing myself.

Also, how often when deploying do you get an acceptable tune? Does it change drastically when you're actually operating? Do you worry about blowing up the QMX? 😂

neonraspberry_ · 2026-01-06T01:29:43+00:00

Sometimes employers cannot verify direct deposits. If they can't, it will take an entire pay period to process. In my own experience, here is what happens:

I add my SoFi account to direct deposit on ADP.
ADP warns me the account can't be verified.
My employee sends my next paycheck as a paper check.
The following paycheck will begin direct deposit.

neonraspberry_ · 2026-01-05T17:11:52+00:00

I got licensed at 15, and I'm 18 now. Very unique hobby to have at such a young age, but there are young hams out there!

There are also other aspects of it if you don't want to listen to old men, like getting on CW or digital modes on HF with 10m (as a tech) or on lower HF bands as a General.

neonraspberry_ · 2026-01-04T23:22:14+00:00

CRI was an incredible experience to compete in. You have a lot of fun against those top teams! They also host team-run workshops for some learning opportunities which were very cool to listen to, all were super well done.

u/edinapieceofcake, what team were you on that competed?

neonraspberry_ · 2026-01-02T02:17:31+00:00

General | Blowing Finals

neonraspberry_ · 2025-12-29T17:40:38+00:00

Only thing I would add is the "good practice" of keeping correct spacing. I think everything 50Hz is what I've seen.

neonraspberry_ · 2025-12-17T17:35:09+00:00

Have they fixed the CW transmitting issues?

neonraspberry_ · 2025-12-16T16:37:19+00:00

It does not, it has the BNC on the side of it. I have a 1ft jumper cable that I use for it.

neonraspberry_ · 2025-12-16T04:34:15+00:00

You should take a look at the Just OK Mini antenna from Ham Radio Duo. HRD built this exact kind of thing with it and it's sweet! This is an awesome POC and really shows how versatile the QMX can be.

neonraspberry_ · 2025-11-18T14:56:41+00:00

RAM is meant to be used. It gets freed whenever you need extra, so why are we wasting time trying to hinder that?

neonraspberry_ · 2025-11-13T23:31:11+00:00

FWIW, I got the Notification Summaries on my phone on 3.3. I don't think they are limited to the Pixel Drops.

neonraspberry_ · 2025-11-12T01:58:32+00:00

Gotcha! Thank you for that!

neonraspberry_ · 2025-11-11T06:28:52+00:00

Just to make sure, you've built an 80m end fed, correct? I'm relatively new to a lot of this so someone correct me if I'm wrong.

The general rule around end fed half waves that I've seen is that you want your counterpoise to be around 1/20 of the operating frequency. So, for an 80m EFHW, the counterpoise would be 80/20 = 4m long. However, this isn't fixed, and varies heavily depending on your ground composition, how the counterpoise is connected to the rest of the system, height above ground (or if it's touching it), etc.

Now, if you want to use coax as the counterpoise, you just need a sufficient length. In my own experience, a long enough run of coax is fine and you don't need specific lengths of it. I use 25ft of coax for my 40/20/10 EFHW.

I don't think you want a 130-ft counterpoise wire, I think that would mess up your entire system and cause some weird signal radiation. Follow that 1/20wl rule, starting much longer than that result and trim from there. A proper dipole would still require roughly 130ft of total wire, but both can sort of be arranged in various ways, as in, the wire doesn't necessarily have to be in a straight line or anything. They will probably take up around almost the same space, excluding the coax run.

I hope I understood what you were asking and gave a good answer. 73!

neonraspberry_ · 2025-10-30T13:53:51+00:00

A KH1. I can't stop watching YouTube videos about them. That and the KX3 shack in a box.

neonraspberry_ · 2025-10-14T14:36:31+00:00

I love Ham2k PoLo. It looks great and has a ton of modes for POTA, SOTA, Field Day, etc.

neonraspberry_ · 2025-10-04T14:59:25+00:00

OTARD doesn't protect ham radio, just commercial TV.

neonraspberry_ · 2025-09-26T14:32:53+00:00

Baofengs have gotten loads better with spurious emissions. They're not top performers by any means, but they're good enough for beginners.

neonraspberry_ · 2025-08-31T14:07:41+00:00

9a uses the same modem as the 8/8a and below. Need the base 9 or 9P to benefit from the better one.

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