HF radio in action

[usmcveteran]

You can renew online for free I'm pretty sure. What kind of radio do you have?

[Ham_Chu]

Yaesu VX-3 FM Xmitter. I can only find stats for the VX-3R....idk if there is any functional difference. Been a long time since my Signal Officer days...but the word 'propagation' still resonates in my loins...

[usmcveteran]

Should definitely look up your local repeater frequencies on 2 meters and 440 and get on the air!

[Lord Timelord]

I'm trying to figure out the purpose of the shout out. You fiddled with your knob, made a connection, spent 2:30 minutes trying to get the guy on the other end to recognize your call sign, and when he did you ended the connection. Purpose?

He was just trying to make contacts as quickly as possible. Amateur Radio Operators contest several times a year practicing contacting as many other hams as possible all over the world. Most do the same even when there isn't a contest going on to become and remain skilled with their equipment.

So with nothing but a long piece of wire, 3 watts of output power, and a small sophisticated radio, USMC made a legible contact with another HAM over several thousand miles of ocean. That is impressive!