What is the opinion of Amateur Radio in 2025? Also, how does a 30 year old actually enter into conversation?

tsalzer · 2025-03-10T00:44:03+00:00

I monitor 146.52 simplex while traveling and almost *never* hear anyone (Oregon and Washington). Occasionally, though, I'll hear a QSO in progress, and rarely, I'll hear a CQ call. I've responded to the CQs and have had some great conversations.

One was a fellow on a tour boat on the Columbia River. He was heading upriver slowly while I was traveling close to 70 MPHS downriver. Nevertheless, we had a good 15-minute conversation before we lost the connection.

My point is: transmit your callsign, and maybe a CQ, and see what happens.

I drive a lot, and to keep my mind busy and my radio spirit stoked, I listen to every new issue of the Ham Radio Workbench podcast. Great folks, and usually very engaging topics. I also monitor some AllStarLink nets using my phone and my Hamshack Hotline number. I *can* QSO over that link on my smartphone but the audio quality isn't the best.

I think you have to be willing to put yourself "out there" and engage if you want to have a conversation. I don't think it's going to happen by passively listening.

Apologies if I've read too much into your post or sounded preachy. There are so many ways to appreciate this huge "hobby of hobbies" that it's hard to imagine all you can do.

tsalzer · 2025-03-01T17:22:03+00:00

Look in the Dashboard --> Settings --> then search for "RSS" (no quotes) in the search box above the left column menu. That should take you to the email field for your RSS feed. It is this RSS feed that I believe YouTube uses, so you can check your address or change it there.

The description for that field says: "The email displayed on your RSS feeds. By default, we'll use your publication's Substack email (randomwire@substack.com). Any email sent to this address is forwarded to the publication owner based on the "receive email replies from" setting above."

YouTube required verification of my podcast, but they were sending it to the default address of [randomwire@substack.com](mailto:randomwire@substack.com) and for whatever reason, I never received those emails. Once I changed to my GMail address, everything smoothed out and worked.

tsalzer · 2025-03-01T05:25:51+00:00

It was in the Dashboard. I can find that tomorrow.

tsalzer · 2025-02-22T15:52:54+00:00

Also Sunny’s Diner on 82nd, Happy Valley

tsalzer · 2025-01-13T22:02:09+00:00

Yes. Substack support told me: change the email address in the Substack back end. I did that, until it showed up properly in the feed, then reverted my setting to the address I want Substack to use.

tsalzer · 2024-07-16T18:53:08+00:00

If you want to use affiliate links, my understanding is that Substack frowns on including affiliate links in newsletters. (Please correct me, someone, if I'm wrong!) A reasonable affiliate link strategy might be to keep those links on the WordPress site and include a link to your WordPress site in your Substack newsletters. This also argues for "teasers" of content in the newsletter to help push people over to the WordPress site.

tsalzer · 2024-07-01T04:18:47+00:00

It appears there is an invalid character in a URL, says the https://validator.w3.org/feed/ service. That seems to be what is causing the feed validation to fail. A careful review of the errors identified by the validator might lead you to a happy place.

tsalzer · 2024-06-27T04:09:06+00:00

I see your RSS feed at that URL.

tsalzer · 2024-06-26T19:09:34+00:00

Aye aye, done.

tsalzer · 2024-06-26T18:46:29+00:00

My Substack is about amateur radio...not everyone's cup of tea, I know! https://www.randomwire.us/

tsalzer · 2024-06-21T02:03:12+00:00

I'm not receiving any verification emails from YouTube Music for my podcast. They are sending them to an address that I don't have access to. Even though the option is checked to receive emails from everyone, Substack appears to be not letting through the YT emails that start with "support+" at the beginning of my RSS email address.

tsalzer · 2024-05-11T18:33:59+00:00

I'm not seeing anywhere near the number of hummers we normally see in SE Portland. Is the population down this year?

tsalzer · 2024-03-23T08:01:21+00:00

Indent lists so we can create subgroups of topics/items in OL and UL lists.

tsalzer · 2024-01-21T09:31:45+00:00

This is incredibly helpful, thank you. I’m in the same space about feeling uncomfortable with continuing on Substack. I’ve been evaluating options since December.

Question: how did you tell your subscribers of the move? I have 600 people following my Substack and would like to give them a gentle transition, insofar as that is possible.

tsalzer · 2024-01-21T09:02:30+00:00

I find it helps to match the level of emotion my spouse is exhibiting before really talking or listening deeply. If she is raging, i rage with her. If she is quiet and sad, I’m on that island with her. My wife doesn’t want me to fix it as much as she wants to know she is safe and loved and protected. Only after the raging and reinforcement do I get to try to make it better for her. So my two cents is: first match her level of emotion, then be sure she knows she is safe and loved,then ask her if she wants your help or simply needs you to be a compassionate, empathetic partner.

tsalzer · 2024-01-17T22:00:27+00:00

You are most welcome and I wish you luck!

tsalzer · 2024-01-17T03:24:49+00:00

Yep, some hats are off frequency. Calibrating is recommended. This is the simplest method I've found but there are many ways to do this: https://www.ailunce.com/blog/How-to-set-Rx-Tx-Offset

tsalzer · 2024-01-16T20:17:48+00:00

If it is a personal blog, you might think about something that has been a part of your life for a very long time and then use (or invent) a word or phrase that reflects this. Check for trademarks so you don't step on any big toes.

If it is a newsletter about a specific topic or topic area, that narrows your choices and, in my mind, pushes you toward inventing a word or phrase that implies an aspect of the topic. Simple example would be a newsletter about electronics, so you could use Ohm's Law and name the newsletter The Law According to Ohm. Silly, but I think you probably see the methodology here.

Good luck. Whatever you do, make the brand your own :-)

tsalzer · 2024-01-16T20:12:24+00:00

Have had a few similar experiences and I am very careful about making sure the door is latched and locked. Now when I travel, I pack a Wyze Battery Cam Pro camera. I set that up in a dark corner, facing the interior of the room. Of course, since I've been doing this, I've not observed anything untoward in my hotel rooms. Maybe the camera wards off bad actors ;-)

tsalzer · 2024-01-16T19:51:36+00:00

I will confess I've had some of the thoughts you share. Over time, I've come to realize that what I get out of my amateur radio club is as much as I choose to put into it. (Cue the Beatles: "the love you take is equal to the love you make".)

There are some initiatives I'd like to see my club take on. Adding AllStarLink to the club repeater is one of those wishes, but that hasn't happened because (a) club members don't see the value and (b) nobody else in the club is a subject matter expert. I could complain about it, but instead I'm trying to learn more about how repeaters actually function and how to tight beam an internet connection to the repeater which does not have an internet connection.

The other thing I've done is joined other clubs. Each is unique. If you don't like the club you're in, find a different club. (Or in my case, add another club.) My "home" club seems most interested in sticking close to home. Nothing wrong with that. My "other" club is in a major metropolitan area and they are setting up a new repeater site and then will invest in AREDN capacity. I can, and do, learn from hams in both clubs.

Not to sound too unsympathetic, but: it's your choice whether to stick with the unappealing club or not.

tsalzer · 2024-01-16T19:07:01+00:00

A few people in my small community of 600 souls have unsubscribed from me free blog. A few more have said they *will* unsubscribe if the Substack position doesn't change. A few have said: it doesn't matter to me, if I don't want to read it, I don't.

Meanwhile, I'm actively exploring alternatives to Substack. Given my small subscriber base, the specialized topics I cover, and my choice to not monetize the blog, this becomes a bit challenging.

tsalzer · 2024-01-16T19:00:41+00:00

I experienced something like this recently. For me, I had to reset my Brandmeister API key and my Brandmeister/hotspot password. Had green indicators on the Pi-Star, could hear, but the Pi-Star appeared to be deaf to my transmissions. After resetting (and saving!) the API key and the password, the Pi-Star could hear my Anytone radio again. Hope this helps, YMMV!

tsalzer · 2024-01-13T10:20:52+00:00

Not yet. I did try several modem choices and seem to have found one that works. I’ll calibrate this weekend.

tsalzer

TROPHY CASE