Every operator makes these mistakes. Most of them cost more performance than any radio upgrade would give back. Each one below has a plain fix.
Station setup
| Mistake | Why it hurts | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Antenna too low, or tucked against the house | Signals go straight up instead of out, and the house adds noise. | Get it as high and as far from the house as you can. A few metres of extra height often beats a new radio. |
| Chasing a perfect SWR | An SWR of 1.5 or even 2 to 1 loses very little. A low SWR can also mean a lossy antenna or feedline. | Aim for “good enough,” then spend the effort on height, feedline and noise. |
| Long runs of thin coax (RG-58) on HF and VHF | Loss adds up quickly, especially on VHF/UHF and with high SWR. | Use RG-8X for short HF runs, RG-213 or LMR-400 for long runs and VHF/UHF. See Feedline & Matching. |
| Unsealed outdoor connectors | Water gets in, the coax corrodes, SWR and loss creep up over months. | Seal with self-amalgamating tape, then electrical tape over top. Re-check every spring. See Coax & Connectors. |
| No common-mode choke | RF comes back down the outside of the coax: RF in the shack, noisy receive, a “hot” mic. | Add a choke (ferrite or coiled coax) at the feedpoint and where the coax enters the house. |
| Grounding as an afterthought | Safety risk in lightning season, and more RF and noise problems. | Bond everything to one point and to the electrical service ground. See Grounding and Lightning Protection. |
| Weak or noisy power supply | Voltage drops on transmit cause distorted audio and resets; cheap switching supplies add noise. | Use a supply rated well above your radio’s draw, with short, heavy cables. See Power & Wiring. |
| Ignoring local noise | An S7 noise floor hides every signal weaker than S7. | Track down noisy chargers, LED lights and power supplies before buying anything. See RFI & Neighbours. |
On the air
| Mistake | Why it hurts | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Transmitting before listening | You walk over a contact or a net and make a poor first impression. | Listen, then ask if the frequency is in use. |
| Mic gain or compression too high | Splatter across nearby frequencies and harsh, hard-to-copy audio. Watch the ALC. | Turn mic gain down until ALC barely moves; use light compression. Ask for an honest audio report. |
| Overdriving on FT8 and other digital modes | Extra signals spread across the band, and your own signal decodes worse. | Keep the ALC at zero: set the computer’s audio level, not the radio’s power, to control drive. |
| Calling DX on its own frequency when it’s working split | You cover the DX station so nobody can hear it. | Listen for “up” or “down” instructions; check that split is on before you call. |
| Calling over and over | You can’t hear who they answered, and you add to the noise. | Call once, listen, repeat only if they didn’t answer anyone. |
| Very long CQ calls | People tune past before you finish. | Short CQs, repeated with listening gaps: “CQ CQ, VE6CV, listening.” |
| Staying on a band out of habit | Wasted time on a band that doesn’t fit the time of day or the distance. | Check two bands and use the one that’s working. See the Band-by-Band Guide. |
| Forgetting to identify | It’s a legal requirement, and other operators can’t tell who you are. | Give your call sign at the start and end of each contact and at least every 30 minutes. |
Troubleshooting
| Mistake | Why it hurts | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Changing several things at once | If it gets better or worse, you don’t know which change did it. | Change one thing, test, then change the next. |
| Blaming the radio first | Most problems are in cables, connectors, power and antennas, not the radio. | Work from the outside in: antenna, feedline, connectors, power, settings, then radio. |
| Blaming conditions for everything | A real station fault can go unnoticed for weeks. | Keep a note of your normal SWR and noise level on each band. If they change, look for a cause. |
| Not writing anything down | You fix the same problem twice. | Keep a simple station log: what changed, when, and what happened. |
More help: our Troubleshooting page and Antenna Testing.
Mistakes experienced operators make
- Too much power, too often. Use only what the contact needs. It’s kinder to the band and to your neighbours’ electronics.
- Skipping maintenance. Prairie wind, cold and UV wear out connectors, ropes and coax. Walk the antenna system every spring and fall.
- Assuming last year still applies. Solar cycles change which bands work. Re-learn the bands every few years.
- Forgetting what it was like to be new. Slow down for new operators, and be the Elmer you wish you’d had. I met my first hams at Radio Shack in the 1970s, and a few grumpy old-timers put me off getting licensed for decades. Don’t be that ham. See Elmer.
The short version: listen first, fix noise and antennas before buying radios, keep audio clean, change one thing at a time, and write things down.
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