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You might have done this yourself. After you speak on the radio, you released your PTT, then remembered that you needed to add one more thought, and pressed your PTT again to say what you just remembered. Well, that’s not so bad, right? I mean, we do it all the time on the phone. And I suppose that’s where the habit comes from, because we’re so used to speaking in full-duplex, which is that you and I can talk and hear each other at the same time.

This is a small annoyance known as double-keying. It can be irritating to the person you’re speaking with, especially if that other person believes it’s his or her turn to speak. The result is often that you two will be speaking on the radio at the same time, and unlike with a phone conversation, neither of you will have heard the other. Of course, this’ll require your friend to repeat what he or she just said.

Avoiding double-keying takes a little practice and a little patience. When you say something on the radio, then release your PTT, resist the temptation to press the PTT again, and train yourself to wait for the other person to respond before pressing yours. This might not come naturally, because we don’t talk that way, and we don’t use a PTT button when we’re on the phone.

It’s very possible that what you have to add at the end of your transmission is very important. Is it important enough to stomp on your friend’s transmission and cancel everything he or she said? Probably not. Now, are there times when double-keying is acceptable? Yes, if, for example, you’re delivering a training topic or telling a story over the repeater, it’s very acceptable to un-key, pause for a second, then resume, because nobody is expected to speak next except you. (By the way, there’s no need to say anything like pause for reset, although there’s no problem with saying it either.)

It doesn’t help a whole lot if you attempt to get on the air, and nobody hears you. Even if I have the very best equipment that money can buy, including a great antenna, and even though I feel certain everybody this side of Richland county can hear me, it’s still possible that they can’t. If you’re talking on simplex, your antenna could be oriented incorrectly, you might have a loose or corroded connection, you might not be speaking close enough to the microphone, or your battery is on its last breath.

If you’re trying to talk through a repeater, maybe your tone or offset isn’t set, maybe you are too far from the repeater to hold it open for proper communication, or maybe you have bumped the button, and you’re a little off-frequency, or maybe you just need to get out of the basement.

When you need to get on the air, especially in a hurry, it seems there are a number of obstacles that could hinder your otherwise perfect transmission. For that reason, one of the first things you should do before a net or a drill is to request a signal report. Maybe say:

This is W8ABC. Could I please get a signal report? and you’ll likely find one or more listening hams who’ll be happy to help you out by telling you how you sound.

You’re typically looking for three things as feedback to your transmission:

• The quality of your sound
• Your loudness
• And whether your audio is accompanied by any hiss or other noise.

A responding operator who can report these three sound properties is probably the most helpful. By the same token, you can offer the most help by reporting these same three qualities to people who are asking for a report.

On the other hand, those who say, “You sound fine” mean well, but might be just a bit too brief, and don’t give you a lot to go on, although it’s still kind of them to try and give you some sort of feedback. The brief exception is when a ham operator simply reports, “You’re coming in perfectly!” which, in a nutshell, means crystal clear audio, loud audio, and no perceptible background noise.

Once you do this, you’re relatively confident that the rest of your transmissions could easily be heard by those who need to hear them. Even after that, your signal or audio could still become less-than-perfect if you’re moving around, changing your antenna direction, or your battery starts failing. But, at least you’ve taken that initial step to ensure a smoothly running net or drill.

Just about every modern ham radio has two operating modes: Memory (also known as Channel) mode and VFO (also known as Frequency) mode. Memory or Channel mode is merely a set of memory channels that have a number of frequencies stored in them, along with the appropriate settings for each, such as offset, tone, and power level. You select each by simply scrolling through the stored channels. VFO or Frequency mode, however, doesn’t quite work the same way, and it’s often convenient to understand how to work it.

VFO stands for variable-frequency oscillator, which simply means that this mode will allow you to set your radio to almost any arbitrary frequency and other parameters needed for any desired type of operation on that frequency. That’s useful for manually tuning to a frequency, setting the parameters, and testing it before you commit it to a memory channel. Even though VFO mode is a kind of *scratch pad* location to get a frequency set up, most radios will preserve those settings in VFO, so that, after you turn off your radio, and then power it up again later, all the information you put into VFO will still be there.

Here are some of the parameters that can be set for a particular frequency:

• repeater offset
• repeater shift direction, such as plus, minus, or off
• ARS, which stands for automatic repeater shift, when it’s on, will automatically set your frequency offset and shift direction for *standard* repeater frequencies
• tone mode, such as TONE, TSQL, CSQ, DCS, and CTCSS
• tone frequency
• power level
• squelch level
• bandwidth, meaning wide or narrow
• Also, for HF radios:
• signal mode, such as AM, FM, LSB, USB, CW, and RTTY
• split, to indicate different transmit and receive frequencies

A number of other settings can be saved in memory, some can’t, depending on the radio model, but these are among the important ones.

As you can see, it might be difficult to remember all of the necessary settings, so it’ll take a little time and practice on your part, to manually set up your VFO set correctly for a given frequency on your particular radio. Once you get it set up right, you can then store the frequency and all the details in a memory channel, so that you can retrieve it later in Memory or Channel mode.

It’s helpful to know how to manipulate and program your VFO when you need to, without needing to rely on a manual or another person. Yes, it’s one more thing to learn, about amateur radio, but can be convenient, so that you’re not always dependent on somebody else to program your radio for you, especially when you’re not near a computer.

The new 60-meter frequencies approved by the FCC in December will become available to amateurs as of February 13, 2026, along with new power restrictions on those frequencies. It’s a bit confusing, as different rules apply to different segments of the band. The changes result from the FCC’s action to approve a worldwide 60-meter amateur allocation made by the World Radiocommunication Conference in 2015 (WRC-15). See https://tinyurl.com/mt8p8jpa.

As of February 13, FCC-licensed amateur operators holding General Class or higher licenses may operate on a secondary basis anywhere between 5351.5 and 5366.5 kHz, subject to a maximum bandwidth of 2.8 kHz and maximum transmit power of 9.15 watts ERP (effective radiated power). For the purpose of computing ERP, the transmitter PEP (peak envelope power) is multiplied by the antenna gain relative to a half-wave dipole antenna. A half-wave dipole is presumed to have a gain of 1 (0 dBd). Amateurs using other antennas must maintain in their station records either the antenna manufacturer’s data on the antenna gain or calculations of the antenna gain.

Here’s the confusing part: The existing 60-meter channels centered on 5332, 5348, 5373, and 5405 kHz remain as secondary amateur allocations with maximum power of 100 watts ERP. However, the old channel at 5358.5 kHz is eliminated as it is now part of the new 5351.5-5366.5 kHz subband and subject to the lower power limit.

For all 60-meter transmissions, emission bandwidth is limited to 2.8 kHz or less and amateurs must not cause harmful interference to, and must accept interference from, stations authorized by the United States (NTIA and FCC) and other nations in the fixed service; and all other nations in the mobile service (except aeronautical mobile). Data or RTTY emissions in particular must be limited in transmission length so as not to cause harmful interference. Digital mode operators must be familiar with offsets in order to stay within the authorized frequencies.

Your ham radio station is a system of equipment and antennas. To operate properly, each piece of equipment expects certain signals and settings at each of its connectors and controls. You can trace many station problems to those signals and settings, often without using any test equipment more sophisticated than a voltmeter.

Most station problems fall into two categories: RF and operational. RF problems are things such as high SWR, no signals, and reports of poor signal quality. Operational problems include not turning on (or off) properly, not keying (or keying inappropriately), or no communications between pieces of equipment.

RF problems

Some RF problems occur when RF isn’t going where it’s supposed to go. These problems generally are caused by a bad or missing cable, connector, or switching device (a switch or relay) that needs to be replaced. Try fixing these problems with the following suggestions:

Replace cables and adapters one at a time, if you have spares that you know work.

Note which combinations of switching devices and antennas seem to work and which don’t. See whether the problem is common to a set or piece of equipment or specific cables.

Bypass or remove switches, relays, or filters. Leave yourself a note to put the device back in.

Check through antenna feed lines. Take into account whether the antenna feed point has a DC connection across it, such as a tuning network or impedance-matching transformer. Gamma-matched Yagi beams show an open circuit, whereas beta-matched Yagis and quad loops have a few ohms of resistance across the feedpoint.

Note: Recording the normal value of such resistances in the station notebook for comparison when troubleshooting is a good idea.

Other problems you may come across include “RF hot” microphones and equipment enclosures, and interference to computers or accessories. (You haven’t fully lived until you get a little RF burn on your lip from a metal microphone case!) Usually, you can fix these problems by bonding equipment together. Try these suggestions:

Double-check to ensure that the equipment is connected to the station RF ground bus. The equipment may be connected, but double-checking never hurts.

Check the shield connections on audio or control cables. These cables are often fragile and can break when flexed or yanked. (You never yank cables, do you?)

Change the location of the bonding wire, or coil up an excessively long cable.

Add ferrite RF suppression cores to the cables.

On the higher HF bands (particularly 21, 24, and 28 MHz), cables and wires begin to look like antennas as their lengths exceed ⅛ wavelength. A 6-foot data cable, for example, is about 3/16 wavelength long on 28 MHz and can have a sizable RF voltage at the midpoint, even though both ends are connected to the station’s RF bus.

If you have RF pickup problems on just one band, try attaching a ¼-wavelength counterpoise wire to move the RF hot spot away from the equipment in question. A ¼-wavelength wire left unconnected at one end can look short-circuited at the other end.

Attaching the counterpoise to the enclosure of the affected equipment may lower the RF voltage enough to reduce or eliminate the interference. Keep the wire insulated and away from people and equipment at the unconnected end.

Power problems

Power problems can be obvious (no power), spectacular (failure of the high-voltage power supply), or subtle (AC ripple, slightly low or high voltage, or poor connections). The key is to never take power for granted. Just because the power supply light is on doesn’t mean the output is at the right voltage. Try these solutions to fix your power problems:

Check to see whether the problem is caused by the equipment, not the power supply. You can easily isolate obvious and spectacular failures, but don’t swap in another supply until you’re sure that the problem is, in fact, the power supply.

Connecting a power supply to a shorted cable or input can quickly destroy the supply’s output circuits. If a circuit breaker or fuse keeps opening, don’t jumper it. Find out why it’s opening.

Check for low output voltage. Low voltage, especially when transmitting, can cause radios to exhibit all sorts of strange behavior. The microprocessor may not function correctly, leading to bizarre displays, loss of external control, and incorrect response to controls. Low voltage can also result in low power output or poor RF stability (chirpy, drifting, or raspy signals).

Check the supply with both AC and DC meter ranges. Hum on your signal can mean a failing power supply or battery. A DC voltmeter check may be just fine, but power supply outputs need to show less than 100 mV of AC.

If you suspect a poor connection, measure voltage at the load (such as the radio) and work your way back to the supply. Poor connections in a cable or connector cause the voltage to drop under load. They can be difficult to isolate because they’re problematic only with high current, such as when you’re transmitting.

If you suspect a poor connection, measure voltage at the load (such as the radio) and work your way back to the supply. Poor connections in a cable or connector cause the voltage to drop under load. They can be difficult to isolate because they’re problematic only with high current, such as when you’re transmitting. Voltage may be fine when you’re just receiving. Excessive indicator-light dimming is a sure indicator of poor connections or a failing power supply.