Slim
Active Member
Nice. I had an FT817 when I was abroad, mainly to receive, but tried a few transmissions. No one heard me, as far as I can tell. Using a 40-6 Meter OCF Dipole. Antenna and propagation paths certainly matter, but a 5w radio makes it tough.I'm trying to make HF contacts for the first time, I'm on 20m. My radio is a 5w Yaesu FT-817. I've been calling cq every couple of minutes for three beers now and I haven't had anyone respond. Is that normal? I've never made a contact with this radio so I'm not sure if it is even transmitting. I've heard other hams in conversations but can't get a qsl. Is it normal to keep calling cq without a response back?
Good advice. This has worked for me when trying to check in to VHF and UHF nets. Usually with an HT, no one hears you because guys with huge shacks full of gear are putting out 100W. Appending “Portable” to my callsign usually got the attention of one operator nearby who would let net control know.When running 5w on an antenna like that, you're gonna have to get used to that. Running QRP is fun, but only when you get a good signal path.
Here's a tip, try calling out "CQ QRP" and try to seek out contesting stations. I've had contesting stations actually stop everyone to pull me out of the mud when I was running 5w QRP in a national park.