Guest post, part four: Bands and Classes

This is the fourth of six in a series designed to give practical advice to new hams, written by a highly experienced anonymous operator. -KD0TLS

PLACES TO OPERATE

There are certain sections of the HF bands ,  down in the CW sections where folks with slower CW speeds go to hone their skills. Other ops go there as well for one of three reasons:

• They’re just like you, trying to improve their CW skills.
• Ops that used to be good at CW but have let their skills diminish over the years.
• Ops who are quite good at CW but come to help others become better ops.

These next few comments pertain to any mode. Take note and make note of certain portions of the HF bands which are set aside for DX stations. I won’t load Todd’s blog up with a bunch of frequencies so just hop over to the ARRL site and check them out for yourself. These sections of the HF bands are referred to as “DX Windows” DX stations operating in these “windows” will almost always operate split. No matter what the DX is running, be sure to stay clear of the windows when comes to firing up your transmitter. Keep track of your band edges so you don’t wind up operating out of your frequency range.

If you’re looking for DX, you will find the 10 and 15 meter bands great places to find DX if you are a Tech class licensee. Normally these are daytime bands, which mean they are normally open only during daylight hours. But there is a probability of extended usage depending upon the propagation. Never assume a band will be totally closed based upon the time of day. Get on there and call CQ! a few times.  Just because the band is quiet does not mean no one is monitoring the bands. The 10 meter band is notorious for this. You can turn the rig on 10 meters; hear very little QRN, very little activity and you might erroneously change bands. Call CQ! Lots of ops sit by the rigs listening with a good percentage of them rarely calling CQ.

LICENSE CLASSES

Another group worth avoiding is those who concern themselves with your license class. Your license class means nothing to me personally unless I think you are out of your band. Even then it isn’t that big a deal unless I’m an OO. No, I will not tell you if I am an OO.

Your license class isn’t as important as you may think it is. Or as other people think theirs is either. Other than a few license specific contests like the ARRL Novice Round Up your license class means very little to the rest of the amateur radio community. The only people you should be concerned about when it comes to your license class are the Official Observers. Or OO’s as they’re known. Otherwise none of the awards / clubs programs such as LoTW, EPC, CQ WW, or eQSL even mention license classes.

If you refer to yourself as “just a Tech”, then now is the time to stop doing so. You’re an amateur radio operator licensed to operate by the FCC. Although you may be limited to a portion of the 10 meter band when it comes to voice privileges, there are other alternatives. The digital modes or CW on 10 meters can surprise you at times, so don’t be afraid to try these modes out. Make use of the bands you’re licensed for until such time as you upgrade. It’s possible that you never feel the need to upgrade your license. You just might have found a niche in this vast hobby of ours that you’re satisfied with. This niche you’re involved with may satisfy your needs, so nothing says you must upgrade so don’t let anyone bully you into doing so.