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On the 7th day of Hamming, my radio gave to me:

7 Nights Of Net Logs, 6 Meter Clean Sweep, 5 Band DXCC. Four sets of
antennas, three different radios, two license upgrades, and a license,
callsign from the FCC.

There are literally nets on every night of the week, on various bands and
modes...whether HF, VHF, UHF, AllStar, D-Star, D-Rats, DMR, Echolink,
Fusion, M17, P25, WIRES-X, or VoIP (Echolink, CQ100, HamSphere, etc.);
and can be phone or digital.

The nets can be for formal written traffic, traders nets (where ham radio
operators can list ham radio equipment that they want to buy, sell, or
trade)...on a special topic (such as trains, weather, cooking, ham radio
technology, or even Bible Study)...or just a general ragchew or roundtable
net...the format of each is determined by Net Control.

With very few exceptions, all nets are DIRECTED, and all stations will
contact Net Control before attempting to contact another station on the
net. Plus, all stations checking into the net are required to follow the
instructions of Net Control, as well as the protocol and format of the
net. Stations failing to do risk being muted or blocked from the net.

As a side note, on D-Star, the callsign of the transmitting station is
automatically sent when they key up...whether to speak, or for what's
known as a "quick key checkin to a net"...done either into a D-Star
repeater, or a D-Star Reflector, if these are connected into an internet
gateway. So, there basically is "no way to hide ones identity" on
D-Star...whether one is transmitting via:

1) Their computer with a DV Dongle, a DVAP, a ThumbDV, or a DV MegaStick
30...all which connect to the computer's USB port.

2) Their rig, which also may have a cable connected to the computer, if
they are running a certain software for the particular mode.

D-Star is affectionately known as "Echolink On Steroids", and I personally
use it more than Echolink for nets during the week. Several nets also
meet on D-Rats during the net, on various Ratflectors, where they can
chat, exchange files and messages in real time, and find other hams
with the Maps Feature.

There are several files in my D-Rats Shared Folder on getting started with
D-Rats, mostly in PDF format...and other files are in the D-Star Users
Group on groups.io (Yahoo Groups is no more, due to security issues).

For that matter, any DIGITAL mode transmits your callsign each time you
key up, or type in a message...but it's still a good idea to identify
your station, per the amateur radio rules of your country. In the US and
its territories, it's every 10 minutes, and once you sign off.

**

On the 8th day of Hamming, my radio gave to me: 

8 the Hamfest Start Time, 7 Nights Of Net Logs, 6 Meter Clean Sweep, 5
Band DXCC. Four sets of antennas, three different radios, two license
upgrades, and a license, callsign from the FCC.

Most hamfests are just half day events for a few hours...usually on a
Saturday...although some can be as much as 3 days, such as Hamvention (tm),
held in mid-May each year in Xenia, Ohio. Venues of where the activities
are held, the availability of license exam sessions, the number of forums,
dealers, and flea market vendors, etc.; plus costs for transportation,
lodging and meals in the area, event admission, prize tickets, prizes
offered, and tables for vendors, among other things, vary by event. Note
that these costs, especially for transportation and lodging, can be rather
expensive...about what you'd pay for buying a nice piece of RF gear.

In most cases, the start time for these events is 8am local time. And,
for many, that means an "early wake up call"...so, they can make the
long drive, to get there when the hamfest opens, to either get good
deals at the flea market, or from dealers; or taking part in a forum,
a license exam session, and more. Some 2 day events may start on a
Friday afternoon, and then continue for much of the day on Saturday.

With these hamfests, you must be a licensed amateur radio operator to
win the radio prizes. Everyone must be present to win any of the prizes
awarded...the exception is the grand prize, awarded at the end of the
hamfest...when the crowd then usually "parts like the Red Sea" (hi hi).

**

On the 9th day of Hamming, my radio gave to me:

9 modes on digital, 8 the Hamfest Start Time, 7 Nights Of Net Logs, 6
Meter Clean Sweep, 5 Band DXCC. Four sets of antennas, three different
radios, two license upgrades, and a license, callsign from the FCC. 

Operating digital is the beauty of ham radio, as you can go farther on
that mode than with voice, although many hams refer to voice as "phone".
Nine such modes are CW (also known as Morse Code), Packet, APRS, PSK31,
radioteletype (also known as RTTY or "ritty"...there are at least 2 big
RTTY contests each year), JT65, Amateur Television, MT63, and Amtor
(Amateur Teleprinting Over Radio).

There are many more modes in the hobby...digital and otherwise...but
for now, this will do. And, the digital modes can be used on the
"digital portions" of nearly all amateur radio bands available to your
license class...digital modes are not just for HF.

As a side note, when I was still able to have an HF setup and indoor
antennas at my residence; one day, on 20 meters, using an indoor antenna,
with just 15 watts of power, inside my apartment with the windows closed,
I worked a station in Utah, 1000 miles away, on JT-65!! Plus, I was
seeing other stations on the other side of the world!!

And, one time, I saw a demo of PSK31, where you had around 10 QSO's in a
narrow bandwidth space. Various software programs, freeware and shareware,
are available, for these digital modes.

For those who don't want to "talk" on ham radio, digital is the mode for
you!! Depending on the mode of operation, and the software used...the
computer will do the logging, and identify your station for you. You just
type in what you want to say. Also, "mic fright" is a very real fear for
new hams.

Awhile back, I heard of 2 amateur radio operators in the Hawaiian Islands,
who could not get a decent voice QSO. So, they went up into the digital
portion of the 70 centimeter band, fired up their computers, software, and
went to PSK31 mode. They reportedly "never had such a good QSO".

While PSK31 is not "error free", as packet radio is, you can still get a
good idea as to the conversation, with what is being typed.

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