I Just Shipped My Pants And Other Ham Radio Misadventures
Ten meters roared, the waterfall glowed, and somewhere in the chaos, a “maritime emergency” calling spot was buried under contesters. We stepped straight into CQ Worldwide and asked a hard question: who really owns a frequency when the world shows up? From band etiquette to practical emergency options, we unpack the culture and the realities that matter when the dial is full and you still need to make smart choices. We also get our hands dirty with a portable radio. A Rybakov vertical goes from “set up wrong” to “set up right,” and the difference is dramatic: transformer near ground, wire up the mast, radials laid out, and 10 meters becomes a runway. We share our favorite tactics for activating a park during a major contest, including working the WARC bands, hunting first, and a fun twist—dialing power down as we approach a park kilo to finish at one watt. Along the way, we wade into AI in the context of contesting.
Yes, it’s crisp and efficient. But does polished audio and instant logging sap the soul from operating, or raise the bar for everyone else? There’s road life too. One of us heads to Florida in an RV for a months-long stint at a skydiving dropzone, mixing ground crew, canopy drills, and HF from the field. We talk practical mobile ops: strapping gear before travel, choosing electric-only sites, using facility showers, lashing masts to bumpers, routing radials out of walkways, and when to leave the RV hitched. Harvest Hosts vs parks, the joy of a local shuttle ride, and why portable antennas still win under pressure. And we zoom out with perspective:
POTA’s core community is small compared to worldwide ham numbers, but its impact is huge—thousands of operators learning pileup discipline, propagation timing, and clean audio by simply getting outside and calling CQ. If you’re here for the rants, you’ll get them. If you’re here for the tips, you’ll leave with a handful you can use this weekend. Subscribe, share this with a friend who’s POTA-curious, and leave a review telling us where you stand on contest crowding and “sacred” calling spots. Your take might shape the next show.
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Eric (N1JUR) - @N1JUR
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