Learn to be a good operator
My observations are that many of the new appliance operator hams have not taken the time to understand what it is there are doing poorly.
A hand held with a week battery sounds like crap to those that listen to your garbled signal. Know you HH battery state of charge, carry a spare or use outboard power.
A hand held with a lousy antenna sounds the same. Get an SMA to SO239 adapter and run an outboard antenna.
Help the repeater do its job with a good antenna and proper battery voltage. People remember a lousy operator.
Be aware of how you sound on the radio. Talk normal, even in a loud or noisy enviorment. PLEASE!!!! The microphone will do all the amplification needed. PLEASE.
Don't use phonetics or 10 codes. You look and sound like a Lid.
Know what simplex or Talk Around mean. Know how to use these features.
Program your memories with two of the same frequencies.
ie 147.195 +600, PL123 And 147.195 Simplex, PL123. Then you can easily switch over to Simplex and not bother the world while you discuss fire permits with the vehicle in front of you.
Be aware of the other operator. Is he on the repeater and your not? You need to make up your mind and do something!!
What do the various repeater courtesy tones mean?
Don't talk car to car using the repeater.
Use the proper Private Link for what repeater you are attempting to use. Don't bring up a multi county/state repeater when a one watt local one will do.
I could go on but I am hoping people get the message. Study and understand your new hobby.
A bad radio operator is like a band member showing up and playing out of tune. Everyone hears him and is embarrased for him.
