I admit that I did not consider the risk of RF damage to my machine, which I raw dog directly via the provided USB port on my 7300 to my MacBook. Risky, but those 16 thread FT8 decodes in JTDX are too tempting. My computer doesn’t even seem to notice it’s running 28 Firefox tabs, an NTP time sync, JTDX, and GridTracker.
I would like to use some remote tools to interact with my rig, but the one solution I was able to find was $100. Dumb, I know, to fret over $100 having just spent a pretty penny to obtain a 15m mast… but still, the cost for the remote software has less perceived value than the mast.
I’ve just been introduced (like, literally yesterday) to FreeDV, but haven’t made any QSOs yet.
The digital space is wonderful, and I love it so much.
I’m captivated by the 2200m band but I balk at ever being able to use it because of what I perceive to be substantial technical challenges with respect to antennas, and then the low likelihood of actually making a QSO. If I ever have a fixed QTH this might change.
Just because you use a resonant antenna on 20m, doesn’t mean you need one on 2200m. Additional loading is perfectly reasonable. If you look at the local AM broadcasters, their antennas are loaded.
The trick is to just start small. One thing at a time. Just use the thing and put it back in the same place. If you find that you need two things at the same time, put them together. Rinse and repeat.
I like your perspective, and hope to offer a new facet.
I travel a lot for work, and as a result, we gave up a fixed QTH about four or five years ago. My life is /M or /P. I also noticed in retrospect that I had nearly stopped going to any kind of park or outdoor space; this intensified during the pandemic whilst living in a country which took the lockdowns quite seriously.
When I recognized that my spouse and children were not getting to enjoy the outdoors as much as they should, and I not as much as in my youth, I decided to make portable and mobile ops my radio life. Sure, it won’t always be that way, but I needed to start somewhere. Without a fixed QTH, this leaves portable and mobile ops. My shack is a pelican case and a larger military style backpack. No idea where the soldering iron I just picked up will go.
But I’m happy for it, my spouse seems supportive, and my kids get to touch grass (or sand, as I recently tried to activate White Sands Nat’l Park), and I get to play radio for a portion of that outing.
In short, you’re right, the ops I enjoy are the ones I’ve incorporated into my life, this necessarily includes my spouse and kids. For me, it’s the only way I get to be on air, though sometimes I am a little envious of having a fixed QTH radio shack.
For most of my first decade as an amateur my shack was the family car. I had a radio in my office to access the local repeater, but HF was strictly QRP potable.
Having a “fixed” shack means that it’s theoretically always ready, but I have rarely been on HF for several years. One of the reasons is that my voice carries throughout the house, so being on-air is a disturbance when I’m not home alone.
I’ve been working on alternatives, but I’m not there yet.
So, envious as you might be, it’s a double edged sword :)
I like this open-minded view of what contitutes a ham shack. I feel that ham radio would be in a much better place with this kind of acceptance. My ham shack is two side-by-side folding TV trays, a hacked-up CB radio made to work on ham bands, and a used mag loop because that’s all that works under my physical home restrictions. I sit on on old step stool.
We recently wrapped up a cross-country road trip across the US where I operated /M a few times.
During the drive, I anticipated some EMI, and the “turn-off, turn-on” game to isolate sources of noise.
As we drove, the diesel igniters of the semi-trucks I passed were coming through 59, and the hum of the AC compressor would bump up the noise floor a little. What I expected—and completely forgot about—was an aftermarket USB charger splattering noise all over the 10m band (and probably others).
Once I unplugged that, I was able to make contacts.
Fascinating! I probably won’t be available on the 18th, but I will be trying to setup my 7-band OCF during the eclipse on the 8th and making some contacts as far as I can from near Radar Base, Texas.
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