Sunday was my day to get some chores done and then sit down at the radio/PC to put in about two hours in the Real Time Contest. I had taken part in this relatively new contest in the past and had a great time.

The exchange is your report, serial number, and grid square. Another great feature of this contest is that you are allowed to self-spot, which is a real bonus for a small gun like me!

I sat down, thinking I had just two hours left in the contest. However, between the time change and forgetting to change a few clocks in the shack, my two hours quickly turned into one. And from there, things went downhill!

When I set up the contest in N1MM, I entered my FULL grid square, FN76nb. Not sure why! My first contact must have thought I was a poor op because he had no idea what I was sending him. On top of that, I had forgotten to include the 599 report. It might not sound like a big deal, but when the other station is expecting the exchange in a certain order, it can throw things off.

After the first couple of contacts, I clued in and made the necessary changes. BUT, in a CW contest, 599 is sent as 5NN. Well, once again, I'm not sure why, but I had entered 599 instead of 5NN. So, on my next contact, I sent two number 9s along with my full grid square!

Back I went into the settings and changed 599 to 5NN and my grid square to just FN76. All good to go, I thought!

Well, I sent the exchange, and after all those changes, something still didn't sound right. After the third attempt, I realized there was a backslash in the exchange! Back into the settings AGAIN to make another correction. Not sure how that appeared. 

Finally, the exchange was correct, and I had about six contacts in the log. I was feeling pretty good until I remembered something else. In this contest, you have to be logged into the Contest Online Scoreboard. If you aren't logged in, your score won't count!

So, I tried to log in, but for some reason, my PC wouldn't auto-fill the password. I looked up the password, only to discover it wasn't correct. Another ten minutes of fooling around, and I finally managed to get logged in. Once again, I was good to go!

One of the features of this contest is that you can self-spot yourself on the cluster. For me, this is great because it gets my call out there and hopefully brings some contacts my way while I'm calling CQ TEST.

You have to remember that I never run assisted, always unassisted, so I hardly ever use a cluster. Anyway, I have self-spotted before in contests that allow it.

N1MM didn't seem to be behaving as it should when it came to self-spotting. I kept hitting ALT+P, then checking the RBN (Reverse Beacon Network), but nothing was showing up.

Then I realized I had to log into the cluster first. AGAIN, the password was wrong, and more time was wasted while I sorted that out.

Finally, I made another contact, and it was time to self-spot and hopefully get some contacts going. I hit ALT+P, but nothing happened. I tried it a few more times, but I still didn't see my call on the cluster.

Then it dawned on me. I needed to put my own call sign into the N1MM contact window before hitting ALT+P. It seems N1MM was remembering the last station I had worked and was spotting that station rather than me on my frequency!

By this point, the contest had only an hour left, not the two hours I had originally planned. Between the time change, the incorrect exchanges, the passwords, and the self-spotting confusion, I had managed to turn what should have been a relaxing couple of hours of contesting into quite an adventure.

The final result? Ten contacts in one hour!

I guess you could say it wasn't exactly my finest hour in the shack. But hey, I had fun, learned a few things, and that's what it's all about. There's always next time!

In this episode, we join Martin Butler M1MRB, Dan Romanchik KB6NU, Caryn Eve Murray KD2GUT, Edmund Spicer M0MNG and Ed Durrant DD5LP to discuss the latest Amateur / Ham Radio news. Colin Butler (M6BOY) rounds up the news in brief, and the episode's feature is AI Advancements for Ham Radio

We would like to thank our and monthly and annual subscription donors for keeping the podcast advert free. To donate, please visit - http://www.icqpodcast.com/donate

• eBay Tightens Rules on Radio Equipment Listings — But Ham-Band-Only Gear Is Exempt
• Pilot Dies After Helicopter Strikes Ham Radio Tower in Florida
• "Payment Labyrinth" Named as Obstacle to FCC License Renewals
• Wind-Up Radios Sell Out Across the UK After Government's "Be Ready" Call
• Say Goodbye to the Leap Second
• ARRL Survey of Members and Licensees Now Underway — Here's What to Expect
• HamSCI Lands Nearly $5.5 Million NASA Grant to Bring Space Science to Communities Nationwide
• OsTrax Launches for Windows, macOS, and Ubuntu — A Fresh Take on Satellite Tracking
• Free Bilingual Practice Bank Now Available for China's CRAC Amateur Radio Exams
• No Leniency: FCC Upholds $20,000 Fines in Three Pirate Radio Cases

Welcome to The Communicator

Get ready for an exciting journey into amateur radio tech in the November–December 2026 issue of The Communicator. This milestone edition celebrates 60 years of emergency communications support with the Surrey Emergency Program, bridging a passion for amateur radio with essential public safety response.

Experience real-world emergency operations as volunteer cavers deploy custom digital radio equipment to send vital text messages through 500 metres of solid limestone during a rescue in Canmore’s Rat’s Nest Cave.

Trace how British Columbia’s call-sign license plates were born out of the catastrophic 1948 Fraser River flood, and review emergency preparedness from the ShakeOut 2026 earthquake drill, and master amateur satellite tracking with specialized software.

Dive into electrical engineering history with physicist Gustav Robert Kirchhoff’s foundational circuit laws. Read about Spy Boy, a 12-year old thought to be operating a World War I spy station. 

In this issue's projects,  explore automated lightning-disconnect protection for your station, POTA antennas and APRS messaging, a rotator refit, Yaesu FT-817 DSP board installation and a new soldering pencil.

A review of a portable Morse code keyer, and a global DX contest action making contacts across 11,000 kilometers. Whether you operate on HF, track satellites, or experiment with gear, this issue delivers an inspiring look at the amateur radio world.

Read about an exciting new Canadian amateur radio study website.

So power up, tune in, and turn the page—The Communicator has something for every level of amateur radio and every communicator... now reaching 165+ countries.

73, and enjoy the read!

(And no, I didn't script this)

Please note that there are active links for additional content when viewed on your device.

~ John VE7TI, Editor

Contents for this issue: 

Ham College episode 145 is now available for download.

General Exam Questions Part 6
G2A – Phone operating procedures: USB/LSB conventions, breaking into a contact, transmitter setup for voice operation, answering DX stations.

Download
YouTube

This video is part of the Ham College series, specifically episode 145, which focuses on preparing viewers for the Amateur Radio General Class License exam. In this session, the hosts cover Part 6 of the General Question Pool, section G2A related to phone operating procedures.

Throughout the video (0:33-46:54), the presenters walk through several official exam questions, explaining the correct answers and the underlying radio theory or operating etiquette required.

Key topics covered include:

Sideband Conventions: The hosts discuss the standard practices for choosing Upper Sideband (USB) or Lower Sideband (LSB) based on the frequency band in use (14:51-20:06).
Operating Etiquette: They explain the correct procedures for interacting with other hams, such as how to properly break into an existing conversation (29:15-30:42) and how to respond to DX (long-distance) stations effectively (33:43-36:10).
Technical Setup: The discussion touches on proper transmitter configuration, including the use of controls like ALC (Automatic Level Control) for clean voice operation (36:17-37:44).
Standard Practices: Various questions regarding general operating best practices, such as the use of specific terminology and identifying stations (33:43-34:50).
The episode provides a comprehensive review of these specific operational procedures to help students memorize the necessary information for their FCC exam.

Once a month or so, I back up the SSD (Solid State Drive) on my PC. I do both a clone backup and an incremental backup. One clone is saved to another SSD, while a second is saved to a SATA connected drive. The incremental backups are saved to two separate SATA drives.

Why two backups for both the clone and incremental backups, you ask? Redundancy is my answer. Just in case things go really wrong! Yes, I also have an automatic cloud clone and incremental backup.

Anyway, this past month, I was doing a clone backup to the SATA drive. As you can imagine, it takes some time because the drive is nowhere near as fast as an SSD.

Partway through the backup, I needed my PC, and I needed it NOW! As the drive clones from one to another, a progress window appears with a Cancel button. I'd never used the Cancel option before, but this time I decided to give it a try. I cancelled the clone to the SATA drive, everything seemed to go well, and I was able to use my PC for whatever I needed.

The next time I started my PC, a message popped up informing me that drive H was being repaired! There was nothing I could do but sit back, watch, and hope the repair went well. Drive H was the SATA drive that I had been cloning to, and it was the drive I had cancelled the operation on.

Fortunately, everything worked out, and the disk was repaired. Lesson learned! Sometimes things don't work out quite as planned, and I have to learn the hard way.

Having said that, if the drive had not been repairable, it wouldn't have been a problem. It would simply have been replaced with a shiny new SSD! 

Show Notes

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