Geekspace for Women

Posted by ubergeeke on September 5th, 2008 in blogpost

Back in March of this year, I sat for the Technician Class exam and passed. Just a few days later, I checked the FCC site, and confirmed that I had officially received the call sign KE7SLS.

Within just a few short weeks, I got my hands on a shiny Yaesu VX-170. I read the freakin’ manual (because that’s what smart people do with new tech, thank you very much), and proceeded to transmit my call sign on numerous frequencies within my privileged range.

As you may recall, I got no joy.

At first, I thought that I’d picked the wrong frequencies. Then I thought that perhaps I’d programmed something incorrectly, or that I had missed a crucial setting. I even received some suggestions from folks to set the CTCSS tone on my HT. I took my HT on vacations, and tried to log contacts in other states or while camping. Nothing.

Until now.

Turns out I was doing everything just fine. The offsets were automatically configured in the HT’s software, and the CTCSS was covered.There just wasn’t anyone talking on the frequencies I was working. Or, quite possibly, they weren’t talking to *me*.

Last night, however, I heard a couple of hams on the Council Crest repeater, and broke in with my call sign. Lo and behold, they heard me and responded. I was happy to tell them that they were my first contacts. They were thrilled! My signal kept breaking up, though, which means I’ve still got a bit of work to do to clear things up, but in the meantime, the ink is still drying on the first entries in my logbook. Thanks to KB7VTC for helping me out, and working with me to clear up the communications.

Hopefully, this will be the first of many more contacts in the future. (And it means I can remove the plastic from the display, since I told myself I couldn’t take it off until I’d actually talked to someone. Goofy and superstitious, but these are the quirks of which geeks are made.)

My next step was to configure the ARRL’s Logbook of the World software. The instructions were quite clear, and I’m currently waiting for additional confirmation from the ARRL.

Onward!

73!