Was out in EL96 today at a park 65 feet up for my very very first Tech CQs on 10m. This past December I picked up an IC-7300 and finally got some time to go out. I put my kit together, wired the radio directly to the car battery and went whole hog. In one hour I logged eight contacts.

While I have a 7-band OCF antenna I received as part of the starter kit, I don’t yet have all I need to get it standing for portable ops, so I managed to turn up what seems like a quarter wave mag mount CB whip I found in the garage. I tuned it up with the built in tuner, ran barefoot at 100W and managed to QSO as far as 1700mi.

I can’t tell if it was propagation or local equipment configuration, but nearly all of my contacts were to the northeastern seaboard region, including one in Rochester, NY.

The most distant contact was in DM79 Colorado, though he indicated he was picking me up out of the noise floor.

Everyone I met on the radio was very charismatic, and I really REALLY enjoyed my first outing. In a few days I plan to haul my gear out again, including the OCF, plant it, and see where else in the world I can reach.

#hamradio #amateurradio

  • 6daemonbag@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    6·
    9 months ago

    This post appeared on my everything feed. I don’t know shit about radios, but it looks like your first venture into this hobby was a huge success. Congrats!

    • 667@lemmy.radioOP
      4·
      9 months ago

      Thank you! It was a great deal of fun and the barriers to entry have fallen so much over the last couple of decades I couldn’t find reasons to delay it any longer. More importantly, it’s getting me back into the outdoors which crept out of my life quite insidiously.

  • m_randall@sh.itjust.works
    2·
    9 months ago

    Congrats! If you haven’t yet, check out pota. Gives a nice little set of goals and community for outdoor operating.

    And start studying for your general! The test isn’t much more difficult than Tech but the increase in privileges is night and day!

      • m_randall@sh.itjust.works
        2·
        9 months ago

        Parks On The Air.

        Essentially a spotting/sked network for people operating out of state parks. You can “hunt” stations from home or you can “activate” a park by visiting one with your equipment, setting up and making 10 (IIRC) contacts. It’s a nice way to get out and explore some local parks!

        https://docs.pota.app

        There’s also SOTA - summits on the air, which is similar but operates from the tops of mountains.

    • 667@lemmy.radioOP
      1·
      9 months ago

      I appreciate that! POTA is what’s driving me to get the last bit of gear for the OCF. Heading to the hardware store today in fact, and I have a LiFePo4 scheduled to arrive Wednesday.