[FARC] You are off frequency! (information for new hams on HF)

[Bob Moroney]

Joe,
That's a funny story.  It sounded to me like there were more than a few 
new Hams and new-to-HF Hams on the air for the QSO party, so it's not 
surprising that you'd get a comment like that from someone who maybe has 
some 2m repeater experience, but was probably just trying to be helpful 
and keep you on the straight and narrow...

One kid I talked to at an Anne Arundel club station on 40m sounded like 
he (or she) was about 10 or 11.  The kid was clearly having a tough time 
handling all the calls, the logging, the phonetics, the weak and 
interferring signals and whatnot, but at the end of the day I bet that 
kid felt pretty good about jumping in with both feet!

There's one thing I would add to your good advice on tuning when calling 
vs. answering someone else's call.  If you do use your RIT to fine tune 
someone else's signal, don't forget to turn it off when you're finished 
with the contact.  If you don't, you'll tune the next station in until 
they sound good to you, then be transmitting "off frequency" from 
whatever freq they've tuned to.  They may come back to you because 
you're not too far "off freq" for their ears and they can use their RIT 
to compensate.  But if you've both got your RIT tuned to one extreme, 
you may not even hear one another, particularly if one or both of you 
are using narrow filtering, as Jim mentioned.  Same with the narrow 
filtering; it's best turned off when you're done with a QSO, lest you 
forget that it's on.  Whether you're tuning around looking for a CQ to 
answer or calling yourself, wider is usually better until you establish 
contact.  If you simply have to use narrow filtering because of noise or 
strong adjacent signals, be sure to tune veeeerrrry sloooowly or you can 
easily zip right past that  rare station you might have been looking for. 

73, Bob K9CMR      
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Joseph M. Durnal wrote:
> I was calling CQ yesterday on 80 meters and someone who responded said
> that I was off frequency.  I guess he was a new ham or new to HF
> because the person calling CQ can't be off frequency.  This made me
> think about how new operators that may not be familiar with making
> contacts on HF, so I thought I'd share some tips.
>
> Calling CQ:
> -You can call CQ on any clear frequency within your license class for
> the mode you are using, it does not have to be an exact even number as
> amateur radio operators are not restricted to channels (except for 60
> meters).  There is nothing wrong with calling CQ on 3919.532  kHz,
> many radios do not have that fine of frequency resolution.  Don't get
> to close to the band edge to stay legal, and be aware of the band
> plans, it might be legal to call CQ using phone around 14.230, but it
> isn't being very considerate of folks who want to run SSTV.
>
> -Before calling CQ, first query "Is this frequency in use? this is
> K3ERM"  (or QRL? de K3ERM K).
>
> -If the station responding sounds a little off frequency, don't adjust
> your VFO, use the RIT (sometimes called clarifier) function on your
> radio to tune it in for the proper sound.
>
> Answering a CQ:
> -Tune your VFO until the station calling sounds right.  And respond
> with with the calling stations call followed by your own.  "K3ERM this
> is NE3R" (or K3ERM de NE3R NE3R K).
>
> -Once the QSO has been established, there should be no reason to
> adjust the VFO unless the other station requests a frequency change
> (they might hear interference that you don't).
>
> My "Off Frequency" QSO from yesterday (from memory):
>
> *BEGIN*
> ME: CQ CQ MDC QSO Party this is K3ERM, Kilo 3 Echo Romeo Mike
> KB: K3ERM de KB3XXX
> ME: Please copy Club Station Frederick County Club Station Foxtrot Radio Delta
> KB: You sound like you are off frequency
> ME: I was calling CQ
> KB: I have you now on 3919.532
> ME: Oh, I figure I'm close enough to 3920 to be found, it is a good
> thing the ham bands are not channelized.  Can I get your exchange for
> the MDC QSO Party?
> KB: Oh KB3XXX Standard PA
> ME: Did you copy Frederick County Club Station?
> KB: QSL
> ME: Thanks for the QSO I'm going back to 40 meters now, look for me around 7230
> KB: 73 KB3XXX
> ME: 73 this is K3ERM clearing the frequency going to 40 meters Kilo 3
> Echo Romeo Mike
> *END*
>
> I think the radio said 3919.8, I had moved it down a few hundred hertz
> because I was hearing a station calling up around 3922.5 or so that I
> was hearing when I had it tuned exactly to 3920.
>
> My advice is not to worry so much about what your frequency display
> says, but to tune in the signals by ear (or by waterfall if you are
> using a digital mode).  If you are aware of the band edges and band
> plans, you'll be fine.
>
> 73 de Joe NE3R
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