This Week in Ham Radio
- I pulled my j-pole wire into a tree by string for tonight, so it’s outside the house.
- Started testing a longer 71-foot (21.65m) EFRW after months
of using the shorter 41-foot EFRW.
- seems mostly the same, so far.
- ARRL Internationl DX SSB Contest
- First time using SSB on HF
- Usually digital modes
- Not a rag-chewer: here to discuss tech
- 41-ft random wire
- 10 watts
- 42 valid contacts in 37 DXCCs
- Did hit Russia, but then realized I had tuned too low for my privileges
- Hit lots of other parts of Europe and South America
- I was Surprised how well SSB worked
- I might want a vanity url:
- Shorter: less room for error
- People don’t seem to expect “WW”
- People misheard 2 -> 3
- Might be easier to type
- It was nice to chase, since I could pause, relisten until I got the call, etc.
- First time using SSB on HF
Question about Tuning SSB
During the DX contest, people were tuned all over, not just on full khz. A woman with a higher voice confounded me for a moment as I tried to get her to sound right. I was tuning by 100hz, so some were boomy low, a bit high-pitched, and some were just right. Tuning people a little higher made them easier to read, but that probably makes me lower for them. I tried to keep them as low as I could understand. RIT/XIT might have been useful for longer conversations.
What’s the best practice tuning SSB to hear clearly and tx as clearly as possible?