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[DU2XXR]

Almost every afternoon, I deploy my portable HF go kit, try to make contacts, and check into the nets. This kit consists of a 10-watt battery-powered SDR. I string up a QRP EFHW across several trees for operating on the 40-meter band.

For the most part, I have been successful at making contacts from Antipolo to Nueva Vizcaya, Baguio toward the north (around 300 Km), and Cebu, Mandaue, Iligan City, Cagayan de Oro toward the south (around 800+ Km).

The east is often my blind spot. This evening, 2024-04-12, I was not able to get heard by the net controller of the evening DU Net, who was in the Bicol region.

This is why we test. This is why we try to improve and improvise. We want to know our gear and our capabilities, and hopefully improve on them.  In my case, QRP can only go so far. But I know it works in at least most scenarios except for super noisy environments.

One thing I realize, net members don't usually relay weak stations, which makes the net a little less effective than it probably intends to be, in terms of being a means of grid down communications. Sometimes, we have relays from strong stations or nearby stations.

I am happy to have had Romy DU1SMQ relay my call this evening. Romy is the NTS chairman, and I've always wanted to discuss my suggestions to improving the NTS. He has consistently relayed stations that the net controller has been having difficulty hearing.

This is also one reason one of my club's nets is evolving into a traffic net. We want to contribute toward a better traffic system. Hopefully, we can go to the next phase soon (radiograms, relays to other club Nets, etc.).