Category: Operating

  • Contest Logging Software: N1MM+ vs. N3FJP

    N1MM+ is free, N3FJP is inexpensive, and both will log a contest correctly. The real difference between them comes down to complexity versus simplicity.

  • Using the Real-Time Spectrum Scope to Find Band Openings Faster

    How I use the IC-7300 Mark II’s real-time spectrum scope and waterfall to find band openings and activity instead of tuning around blind.

  • State QSO Parties: Low-Stakes Contesting for Beginners

    Major DX contests can be intimidating for a first-timer, fast exchanges, huge pileups, serious competitors who’ve been at it for decades. State QSO parties are a genuinely gentler on-ramp into contesting, and they’re worth trying even if you’ve never considered yourself a contester. What makes a QSO party different Most state QSO parties run shorter…

  • ARRL Field Day and Winter Field Day: What They Are and When They Happen

    A plain-language look at ARRL Field Day and Winter Field Day: what each event is, when they run, and what you actually do out in the field.

  • Contest Calendar 101: ARRL, CQ WW, and the Contests Worth Your Weekend

    Hundreds of contests happen every year, and most of them aren’t worth your time. Here’s a guide to the handful that actually matter and when they happen.

  • Building the Ultimate POTA Go-Bag

    A good POTA go-bag is the difference between setting up in ten minutes and fumbling around a picnic table for forty five. Here is what actually lives in mine.

  • Common FT-891 Problems and How I’ve Solved Them

    The actual problems I’ve run into with the FT-891 across shack, mobile, and manpack use, and what fixed each one.

  • Special Event Stations: How They Work and How to Run One

    A special event station is one of the more approachable ways to organize something bigger than a regular contact, marking an anniversary, a local festival, or a historic date with a dedicated operation that other hams specifically seek out to work. What actually makes it a special event At its core, a special event station…

  • Setting Up N1MM+ for Your First Contest

    N1MM+ is the free logger most serious contesters run. Here’s how to get it installed, configured for your station, and ready before the contest starts, not during it.

  • Contesting 101: Why Bother, and How Cabrillo Logs Work

    Contesting turns a normal weekend on the radio into a fast paced game of finding and working as many stations as possible. Here is why it is worth trying, and how your log actually gets submitted.

  • Common IC-7300 Mark II Problems and How to Solve Them

    The actual problems that have come up running the IC-7300 Mark II, and what fixed each one.

  • G90 POTA Field Kit Walkthrough

    Part of our Xiegu G90: The Complete Guide. People ask me why I still reach for the G90 for POTA when I own an FTX-1 and an FT-891. The honest answer is size. The G90 is genuinely small, and once you’ve hiked a mile in with a radio on your back, you stop thinking of…

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