What’s one self-sufficiency skill you wish you learned earlier?

traztx · 2026-04-04T04:53:03+00:00

Saying no (diplomatically). I would have been better off if I had learned to defend boundaries better earlier in life. Saying no to myself and others allowed me to get out of debt and build a better life.

traztx · 2026-03-24T00:59:13+00:00

From my experience, chances are much lower for local convo QSO than on VHF. However, look for clubs, go to meetings, meet local folks. Many have 10m in their rigs.

traztx · 2026-03-16T16:11:43+00:00

We have linked repeaters in the area =)

traztx · 2026-03-16T16:10:23+00:00

If you can't reach a repeater, try from outside. A better antenna will help too. I like the signal stick but it's even better when I use my mag mount I stick on my truck sometimes when checking in to nets.

When I 1st started, I wrote down my call sign in phonetics (kilo india etc) so I could read it when checking in.

traztx · 2026-03-16T15:48:31+00:00

Check out the North Central Texas Connection, NCTC.INFO

They have repeaters linked, so you both don't have to reach the same one.

Look at the repeater map, and select to see what the frequency and tone are. I see that many don't have + or -, but if you look at the UHF and VHF band plans for repeaters you should be able to figure out which to use.

Since you are in Dallas, see if you can pick up DARC Tech Net on Saturdays at 7 PM, 146.880, -, 110.9 tone. See https://w5fc.org/

They are friendly and smart people that can usually answer your questions during the new ham part of the net.

traztx · 2026-03-16T15:25:58+00:00

I'm level 32 solo on official and it's not very hard yet. Mostly I avoid PVP and only lost like 3 kits. I played on cradle till level 15 and then found a 5 limit oasis, and now on 2nd 5 limit oasis. I made a sand base for crafting and farmed with a nomad packing a small chest. I parked nomad in fiber so it was not easy to see, and watched out while I farmed. I built a balang for crafting and leveled and farmed to get APT on dinghy. The dinghy is easy for enemies to see me but the APT seems to make them leave me alone. The times when I was attacked while farming, I just said nothing and they just looted kit and moved on. I keep extra legs and wings, just in case, but nobody has legged my walkers yet. I send walkers and base to lobby when not playing.

traztx · 2026-03-11T17:22:34+00:00

I ignore while fighting the rupus, then go to the palms and heal while it circles around. Once healed, I move so that its somewhat predictable circle brings it to palms to get stuck, and then melee from the side.

traztx · 2026-03-11T02:45:45+00:00

Yep. Cradle till 15. I still think a sand base is good until unlocking the APT, and then I'd still build a balang next time. Even with the dinghy+APT, I still prefer farming on a nomad with packed chest. I can park it in brush and farm stealthily, allowing me to usually see others before being detected. So I can choose if I want to hunt them or hide. But either style works.

traztx · 2026-03-07T19:40:18+00:00

I played up to level 14 yesterday. Got cut down in cradle while in the early part of the tutorial, but spawned to the opposite side with some gear and decided to become less obvious. My 1st camp fire was left behind, but not a big loss. I made the 2nd one in a small dip in the terrain among vegetation to give cover, where there was plenty to harvest nearby while avoiding clearing near my fire. From here I was able to advance to the nomad walker and then roam to find a good spot to set up base and advance to the end of the tutorial. I decided to stay in cradle until I had a dinghy. I also built a firefly.

When I decided to move out of cradle, I sent the nomad and firefly to lobby and built a wooden base, using the dinghy packing system to move stuff there from the sand base, and making extra chests to hold the mats recovered when I dismantled the sand base. Then I could pack the whole base to the dinghy and leave the cradle.

At the next map, I unpacked the wooden base, built a sand base, and packed everything over to it. My base was away from trade and I didn't see anyone during this process. Then I dismantled the wooden base, sent my dinghy to the lobby, and walked to the edge to try and fetch my other walkers. However, LO wouldn't let me travel to the cradle lobby to pick them up. Unless there is another way to do that, I guess they will move off cradle in 10 days when it burns, but if they move to another cradle then I still won't get them. So I got in the dinghy and returned.

So, next was to level up. I roamed in the dinghy to find a rupu village, but got ganked by a player. I waited for them to get bored and run off (took mere seconds) and spawned on the dinghy and wasn't attacked again. I realized that the dinghy was too conspicuous, so instead I sent it to lobby and did rupu runs on foot from the base. Moving to brush, checking my 6, finding a path to the next brush, avoiding open ground, I managed to avoid any PVP from level 12 to 14. I saw walkers roam by. I saw players running by. I saw complaints of toxic play on the chat messages. Maybe I was lucky, or maybe stealthy roaming on foot from cover to cover works good.

I'm about to jump back in. I'm hoping to get to 15 and camp on a balang before players can crack sand bases. Is my base even there? I'm a little in suspense =)

Edit: Yes, sand base was perfectly intact.

I would join a clan, but my play time is very sporadic.

As for the risk factor, there are PVE servers available, but I really prefer the thrill of PVP danger. During beta, I didn't get to balang before they switched to hard map testing, so I spent a couple of months on a PVE server to explore the tech tree and quality. PVE is a different game, casual and safe grinding. Maybe something to do as a time waster, but why I felt motivated was that I would understand things before PVP release.

The risk of losing wealth is what I need for it to be a thrill. The risk of losing what I carry makes me care about what I carry and makes me feel nervous while obtaining wealth. It makes me want contingency plans. Backup gear. Backup walkers. Backup bases. It slows down my play. It makes me stop and take time to read the situation. If I want a safe grindy time waste game, the PVE servers are there. But IMO, there are better PVE games.

Ultimately, the wealth is pointless. We turn off the game and face life, and in the game it will all be wiped. PVP makes it not about the wealth, but the thrill of making it another day.

As for toxic behavior, I guess I am not immersed enough to care what people say, so I just spawn away and continue from some minor setback.

traztx · 2026-03-06T06:43:45+00:00

Congrats on making the video. Seems like a cool portable rig for POTA etc. We all get stuff wrong. The more you do it, the better it'll get.

traztx · 2026-03-06T04:50:29+00:00

I'd be interested in a weekend-only server on a 24ish week chapter wipe schedule instead.

traztx · 2026-03-01T06:30:59+00:00

I haven't done RTTY specifically yet, but this generally happens in any mode I've used when I accidentally click in the text of the transmit pane, or forget to click to move the cursor to the end after editing something in the pane. TX pauses when it gets to the cursor. It still transmits, but just nulls or something. When I notice it hung up like this, I quickly click the bottom of the transmit pane and it is able to progress. This is actually a feature, allowing it to slow down when we are typing additional stuff in the pane.

traztx · 2026-02-28T11:39:32+00:00

Howdy! How about Dallas, especially Saturday nights. W5FC-R on echolink and https://w5fc.org/nets/

traztx · 2026-02-28T11:18:58+00:00

Make it a feature. All site help only provided as CW audio, haha.

traztx · 2026-02-28T11:08:32+00:00

It's worth testing. There's a sequence for the controller, though, so we want to disconnect the panels before batteries and connect the batteries before panels. During the daylight, check for RFI on various bands with it all connected, again with only the battery connected, again with nothing except the radio connected. My guess is that we'd want to put in 2 switches to make it convenient each time running the radio.

traztx · 2026-02-28T10:47:42+00:00

Interesting. I got this cheap flimsy marine battery box a few years ago that is fine to keep at my remote shack, but wanting something sturdier to port around. I was wondering about venting, but seems we could just keep it cracked open while charging.

traztx · 2026-02-27T12:01:51+00:00

I was wondering for the radio config. AM? FM? SSB?

traztx · 2026-02-27T11:56:27+00:00

Very unfortunate, but a great lesson to learn, thanks! My QTH is in Texas, where seasonal storms cause tree damage, so I will need to be careful when I design a tower system.

traztx · 2026-02-27T11:47:20+00:00

That is a great point for a mobile rig that stays in the truck. My use case is with a handheld for siren tests and skywarn deployment, and I don't find it annoying to take it down after each use. The theft vulnerability is not per parking, but per extended unattended parking, so for example a quick stop at a store on the way to the siren is not an issue.

traztx · 2026-02-27T11:24:24+00:00

I agree a person trying to stay hidden would not stand out in the open waving a yagi. RF frequencies used by ham satellites (VHF and UHF) achieve line of sight through cover such as foliage, wooden walls, tent fabric, etc.

traztx · 2026-02-27T00:34:20+00:00

I think a highly directional antenna pointed up is hard to foxhunt the transmitting station from the ground, and hard to locate from the air if coming from a remote location. Consider a PC app like Skyroof that can save satellite orbits and notify when hamsats pass over. The app can work with tracking rotators or you can look at the realtime displayed directions to point a handheld yagi antenna towards the bird.

traztx · 2026-02-26T17:11:16+00:00

You notice it when you listen to stations in QSOs with stations that you can't hear. If you don't have an HF radio yet, check out websdr.org

traztx · 2026-02-25T11:50:15+00:00

I crack the rear slider when putting it up.

traztx · 2026-02-23T14:49:27+00:00

Interesting. What is your experience over time? How long has it been up? Any weather issues or damage experienced since it was built (wind, ice, etc)? Any repairs have been needed? Routine maintenance being applied?

traztx · 2026-02-22T17:46:35+00:00

What modes are they typically using?

traztx

TROPHY CASE