Check Your Equipment Before You Need It, Not After

I checked into the Grayson County ham club’s information net on Sunday, March 2nd, just as I normally do. I don’t have a station built in my house yet, so I used my HT in my upstairs office. When I was called upon to talk about what’s been going on over the past week, I hit the PTT button and spoke like I usually do. When I finished, someone responded that they heard a few words, then a carrier signal but not my voice. I moved closer to the window and tried again, but the second time the report was even worse – no carrier. Within seconds I received both a text message from Wade KF5AUD and a phone call from Rick K5ECX confirming what they did (or rather didn’t) hear. Wade suggested switching to the secondary repeater and testing again. I moved around to other parts of the house, and he was eventually able to hear me but the audio was weak. Continue reading