Chapter 10: Operating on the Air #

Calling CQ on a quiet band takes little planning. Someone answers, and the contact goes at whatever pace you both like. Many contacts run on terms set by something else: a contest’s rules, a digital mode’s clock, a satellite’s orbit, or a network’s relay path.

Those terms don’t have to stop you. Once you understand them, you can plan around them and still complete the contact, whether you face a busy pileup, a signal that lasts only a moment, or a satellite about to set. The same planning helps you choose a mode that fits the message and the path.