• Good Amateur Practice

    From Daryl Stout@954:895/7 to All on Saturday, April 22, 2023 00:04:18

    GOOD AMATEUR PRACTICE BY DARYL STOUT, WX4QZ
    ===========================================

    Most of us think "good amateur practice" involves our conduct on the
    air...and it does. But, it also includes making sure your equipment is
    in good working order before getting on the air. This includes things
    like:

    1) Making sure you're on the right frequency, repeater, reflector, etc.
    It's easy to bump the button and change things...whether with your hand
    or the computer mouse. I heard of one ham who did his "net preamble
    spiel", but didn't get any contacts (he usually got a pile-up). Then, he
    looked at his rig, and embarrassingly saw that he was on 20 meters
    instead of 2 meters!!

    2) If you have sound card applications, make sure that you're not doing
    things like installing software, or running other audio applications at
    the same time. Windows is notorious for stealing the sound card
    interface, so when you key up, nothing happens...it's as if you had the
    mute box checked. Before using things like Echolink or DV Tools (D-Star),
    I always test the sound card, to make sure everything is connected...and
    that includes the microphone and speakers.

    3) Make sure your rig is plugged in...otherwise turning on the power
    switch is useless. Yes, I know that sounds like a DUH! moment, but I've
    known stations who have unplugged their gear to protect from lightning
    damage, and forgot to plug it back in afterwards. Along this line, after storms, make sure your antennas are hooked back up. Otherwise, you could
    end up frying the finals in your radio.
    --- SBBSecho 3.20-Win32
    * Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (954:895/7)
  • From Daryl Stout@954:895/7 to All on Saturday, July 22, 2023 00:04:04

    GOOD AMATEUR PRACTICE BY DARYL STOUT, WX4QZ
    ===========================================

    Most of us think "good amateur practice" involves our conduct on the
    air...and it does. But, it also includes making sure your equipment is
    in good working order before getting on the air. This includes things
    like:

    1) Making sure you're on the right frequency, repeater, reflector, etc.
    It's easy to bump the button and change things...whether with your hand
    or the computer mouse. I heard of one ham who did his "net preamble
    spiel", but didn't get any contacts (he usually got a pile-up). Then, he
    looked at his rig, and embarrassingly saw that he was on 20 meters
    instead of 2 meters!!

    2) If you have sound card applications, make sure that you're not doing
    things like installing software, or running other audio applications at
    the same time. Windows is notorious for stealing the sound card
    interface, so when you key up, nothing happens...it's as if you had the
    mute box checked. Before using things like Echolink or DV Tools (D-Star),
    I always test the sound card, to make sure everything is connected...and
    that includes the microphone and speakers.

    3) Make sure your rig is plugged in...otherwise turning on the power
    switch is useless. Yes, I know that sounds like a DUH! moment, but I've
    known stations who have unplugged their gear to protect from lightning
    damage, and forgot to plug it back in afterwards. Along this line, after storms, make sure your antennas are hooked back up. Otherwise, you could
    end up frying the finals in your radio.
    --- SBBSecho 3.20-Win32
    * Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (954:895/7)