Amateur RadioFundamentals

Amateur Radio

• Amateur Radio is a fascinating hobby. It has many different things that you can do.

• The best thing is to join a Ham Radio Club so you can meet other hams and see some of the different aspects of ham radio.

• Over the years you will do different things and try out different modes etc.

• Because it has so many aspects it can be intimidating. (Find a mentor to help you get started)

Amateur Radio cont’d

• Another place you can get information are at Ham Conventions.

• These will have vendors selling all types of ham equipment.

• They will also have presentations on different subjects. Go to some of these, I set in a lot of them, some I’m interested in some I’m not but, in a few years you might be.

Amateur Radio cont’d

• Conventions– Ham Com – Plano – first of June (pretty big)– Rosenburg – March– Orange – February– Dayton – biggest in the World – May

• They will have vendors, presentations, tailgating, etc.

Licenses

• At present there are 3 amateur licenses – Technician, General, and Extra

• There are also 2 others that are grandfathered in (Novice, Advanced) – these are still good – but you can’t get them anymore

• The Technician is the entry level class and has privileges on 10M, and above

• General and Extra has privileges on all bands

Call Signs

• By International agreement each country is assigned call sign prefixes

• By the prefix you can determine where the ham is located.

• In the US the prefixes are W, K (original), then variations WA, WB, KA, etc. then we added N, and AA

• Your original call will be the prefix, number, and suffix

Call Signs cont’d

• Our area (Texas) is in area 5, so all call when issued will be XX5YYY. New calls will likely be KF5YYY.

• You can request a vanity call sign if you meet the requirements and get a new call sign – my buddy has call sign W5HAL (Hal is his name – he first had WA1HAL).

• If you hear a call sign that is different than above it is probably from a different nation.

A few years ago when you changed areas you would have to get a new call sign. (I have had WB4AOY (Alabama), WB6ZES (California) and now WB5CXC)

Bands

• HF Bands (bands below 50MHz) – 160M, 80M, 60M, 40M, 30M, 20M, 17M, 15M, 12M, and 10M.

• Other Bands – 6M, 2M, 1.25M, 70cm, and above.

• The original amateur bands – 80M, 40M, 20M, 15M, and 10M overlap with most other countries amateur frequency.

Bands cont’d

• The HF bands 80 – 10 are mostly divided into two sections – lower freq. CW and digital, upper freq. is for SSB

• Some of the bands have set freq. & power limits (60M)

• On HF bands different licenses have different restrictions etc.

• Need to down load the frequency chart from ARRL.

Notice the G, A, E, all have different frequencies

Notice that Novice and Tech can operate CW on 15M – 200 W max.

Notice that Novice and Tech can operate CW and some Phone on 10M

American Radio Relay League

• The national amateur radio association is the American Radio Relay League (ARRL)

• Membership is $ 39/ year

• They produce lots of amateur radio publications

• QST is the monthly magazine

ARRL cont’d

• The ARRL is divided into Districts and Sections

• We are in the West Gulf Division and the South Texas District

• They sponsor a lot of items – you probably already been exposed to some of it – as most of the test are done by VEs (volunteer examiners – by ARRL)

ARRL cont’d

• There are also field organizations. Probably the most direct one is the ARES, EC (Emergency Coordinator – County) –ours is Mark N5MDT

• They also sponsor Contests, Awards, etc.

Repeaters

• Tech license can operate 10M (partial), 6M and up.

• The most common bands to operate are the 2M and 70cm (440)

• Both of these bands use repeaters to provide increased coverage.

• They transmit and receive on different frequencies

Repeaters cont’d

• For the 2M band the separation is 600KHz and for the 70cm it is 5 MHz

• Most of the repeaters in our area also use CTCSS tones. This tone is used to activate the repeater and keep other stations from interfering.

• The 2M band separation is both + and – depending on the portion of the band.

Repeaters cont’d

• Most modern radios will have this already set into memory, so all you need to know is the frequency and the tone.

• The ARRL has a Repeater Directory that list the repeater in State, City etc.

• The listing is kind of cryptic

Conroe 147.020+ 136.5

Repeaters cont’d

• This means the receive frequency (on your radio) is 147.020 and your transmit offset is + (TX 147.620) with a tone of 136.5

• You have to set all of these parameters into your radio or it will not hit the repeater.

• On 70cm the offset is always +

Repeaters cont’d

• Most all repeaters are coordinated – that means some organization is responsible for what frequency are used where.

• There are certain rules to apply to keep repeater from interfering with each other.

• Our coordinator is the Texas VHF society. • On the 70cm band we share with other

organizations (we do not have exclusive use of this band).

Repeaters cont’d

• Now repeaters can be linked very easily by using the Internet and some hardware.

• There are various systems that do this, one of the bigger ones is the International Radio Linking Project (IRLP)

• Texas has a big system called the Saltgrass Link System

Saltgrass Link System

Modes

• We are allowed different modes of transmission. The common modes are: CW, AM, SSB, FM

• Other modes are digital – RTTY, PSK, Packet, and others. We also do some transmission of pictures.

• You usually can’t operate all of these modes in one single band except maybe the VHF/UHF (more spectrum)

HF Operations

• CW and digital are narrow band signals and are on the low end of each band.

• CW (code) uses very little bandwidth and sometimes you can hear 5 or more signals all together (that is why you have filters)

• Digital modes – (also narrow bandwidth) most popular is RTTY and PSK – many signals can be put into one SSB channel

HF Operations cont’d

• SSB – is Single Side Band – convention is 29M and up uses Upper side band, and below 20M is Lower side band (60M Upper side band only – FCC rules)

• FM can only be used on 10M and above (it uses a large bandwidth)

Daytime

20M – 10M

Nightime

80M – 40M

Winter

Daytime

20M – 10M

Nightime

80M – 20M

Summer

Nighttime – 1 hour after sunset

Daytime – propagation will determine band usage above 20M

Operating

• You have different types of operating:

• Rag Chewing – carrying on long conversations with one or more hams

• Nets – organized for different purposes – rag chewing, awards, traffic, and emergency to mention a few

• Contesting – trying to contact as many amateurs in the contest

Nets

• All nets are Directed Nets. They have a Net Control that directs and controls the Net.

• They will usually have check-ins – people who want to participate in the net.

• Some have members and will have a roll call or special check-in for the members

• They will always break for Emergency Traffic

Nets cont’d

• Traffic Nets – pass messages like a telegram

• Awards Nets – these are for the purpose of getting a specific award (county hunters)

• Emergency Preparedness Nets – ARES Net

• Rag Chewing – group of guys talking

Nets cont’d

• These is probably a net on almost any kind of amateur radio activity

• You can go to the ARRL and they have a Net Directory that lists Nets (no all Nets are listed in this directory). It will give the frequency, time, etc.

Nets cont’d

• Local Nets– Monday 8:00 147.140 Rag Chew / Swap– Tuesday 8:00 147.020 ARES Net– Thursday 7:00 444.100 Woodlands Club

Logging

• We use to log (putting QSO information) in a Log Book.

• Now days most everyone uses a software Logging program.

• They come two different types – General Logging & Contest Logging.

• There are freeware and paid logging software.

Logging cont’d

• General Logging is for normal QSO logging, and will have built-in awards status.

• Contest Logging is for working contests, there are different logs for each contest (rules are different etc.)

• Some software programs has built in logging programs.

Logging cont’d

• General Logging I use N3FJP Amateur Contact Log and for the Apple I use Aether Log. These are both commercial software and costs $ 25 – $ 40.

• They make uploading your contacts to LoTW and eQSl very easy.

• Contest Logging will compute your score, find Dupes, etc.

Contests

• There are all kinds of Contests. They usually occur on the weekend or in the evening.

• The object is to contact as many stations as possible and get the biggest score.

• They will have Rules for the exchange and who you can contact, bands, etc.

• Some contests are for an organization and their member – most are open to all.

Contest cont’d

• You have to read the rules. They will tell who you can contact, exchange, times, bands, etc.

• They usually have types of entries to try and level the playing field somewhat.

• They will usually have multipliers – this might be different zones, states, countries, counties, etc. depending on the contest.

Contest cont’d

• I worked a PSK contest – I had 50 QSOs but had a score of 1,000 – this was due to the multipliers – each state, country counted as a multiplier - I had 20 multipliers (18 states and 2 countries)

• They usually have different power classes (QRP, 100W, > 100W)

• They may also have single or multi-operator.

Contest cont’d

• Contest contacts are very short – usually a call sign and the exchange –

CQ CQ Fest de WB5CXC k

WB5CXC de W%WF 599 599 TX TX k

W5WF de WB5CXC QSL 599 599 TX TX sk• This is a typical exchange – the exchange

for this contest was Signal Report and State (country). This took ~ 30 – 50 seconds (this was a PSK32 contest).

Getting Awards

• There are all kinds of awards that you can get. (sometimes call Wallpaper)

• Organizations have different awards etc.

• Some of the more popular awards are:– WAS – worked all states– WAC – worked all continents– DXCC – worked 100 different countries

• There are many different variations of DXCC

Awards cont’d

• Most awards have nice certificates that can be framed. (some cost money to get)

• Some have endorsements (additional contacts etc.) and variations – WAS VHF etc.

• Need to read the rules for the award and what backup documentation is required.

QSL Cards

• One of the ways to verify your contacts are by QSL cards

QSL cont’d

• QSL cards are printed cards that you send to the other operator with the QSO information

• Now days this can be done electronically

• There are QSL bureaus to help with the postage etc. if you send cards.

QSL cont’d

• There are several electronic QSL agencies, LoTW and eQSL are the most popular.

• LoTW is part of the ARRL. You have to set up an account and each contact has to be digitally signed (this is part of LoTW)

• eQSL is www.eQSL.cc – this is a free service that you can upload your contacts to and it will cross check them from the other operator QSL info.

QSL cont’d

• If you are trying to get an award read the rules to see what form of documentation they will accept!

• You can get you own cards printed up – do a search for QSL cards.

• On eQSL you design your own card. You can also print one or have eQSL print it and send it to you (small cost).

Field Day

• Field Day is held the last weekend in June. • Clubs, individual setup temporary operating

locations to test for emergency preparedness.

• It goes from Saturday at noon until Sunday at noon.

• This is a good opportunity to show the public what amateur radio is all about.

Field Day cont’d

• This is a great time to get Technicians a chance to experience the HF bands etc.

• Field Day is also a contest to see how many contacts you can make.

• Set ups go from a single transmitter and minimal antenna to multiple transmitters using towers with beams (all temporary setup after the start of the event).

Field Day cont’d

• This is usually a Public event as part of the purpose – it shows what we can do.

• Usually will have brochures etc.

• They can have special stations setup for visitors to talk on.

• Some will operate the whole 24 hrs. and others will just operate part of the time.

• But, a good time is had by all

Radios

• Before purchasing a radio, talk to some of the mentors about the different types etc.

• See if you can borrow a 2M hand held radio from someone to get on the air.

• This will get you on the air and will give you some experience in what kind of radio you might need and some of the features that you may require.

Radio cont’d

• All newer VHF/UHF radio (hand held or mobile) will have memory channels. These can be set to the repeaters you usually operate.

• When you get your new radio you will have to learn how to program it (set the receive frequency the offset, tone – save to memory)

• It is very handy to get programming software to load your radio.

Technician Class Radios

• The Technician can operate 10M and up.

• Most new Technicians will get on 2M and 70cm (440) repeaters.

• This you can do using a Hand Held radio.

• A dual band Hand Held radio can now be purchased for ~ $ 130 and up.

• These will usually put out 5W on 2M and 4W on 70cm.

Technician Class Radios cont’d

• You can also get you a mobile radio.

• These come in different configurations.

• You can get a 2M 50watt mobile radio for ~ $ 125. A 70cm single band radio will be a little more.

• You can also purchase a dual band mobile radios.

Technician Class Radios cont’d

• Dual band mobile radios come in several different configurations.

• The first configuration is a dual band radio that you operate only one band at a time.

• The other type of configuration is dual band with dual receivers/transmitters, this radio will receive on two channels at the same time – left side 2M, right side 70cm

Technician Class Radios cont’d

• If you travel a lot you should think about getting one of the dual band radios. In the bigger cities there will be lots of repeaters on 440. These radio last a long time, I had a 2M radio that I bought and used for 15 years and then sold it to a new ham and he has been using it for 4 years now (operates just like the new ones). So your purchase pays off for a long time.

HF Radios

• The most common radios are 100 watt output.

• They will usually cover all the bands 80M – 10M, some will also cover 160M and some will cover 6M.

• A good entry level HF rig will cost ~ $ 500 - $ 700.

• You can get a good used rig for ~ $300+

HF Radios cont’d

• There is also low power rigs – these are often called QRP and operate 5 watts or less.

• You can get some of these in kit form.

• These radios can be a lot cheaper than their big brother.

HF Radios cont’d

• Some radios will cover most of the bands from 160M to 70cm.

• On the purchase of your first HF rig you should get with a mentor and ask for advice on a purchase.

• Some of the things that you should know is what type of operating are you gong to do? (If you are new you probably don’t know yet!!!)

HF Radios cont’d

• Buying a used transceiver can be a good choice – ALWAYS compare prices from the Internet etc.

• You can get used transceivers from other amateurs – they have several swap nets around Houston area.

• You can check out eBay, QRZ and other sites for used transcievers

HF Radios cont’d

• There are other things you will have to purchase before you can get on the air:– Power Supply – most transceivers require a 12

VDC source– Antenna – you can build your own – will need

help from a mentor– Antenna tuner – you might need this if your

antenna is not tuned correctly– SWR meter if your transceiver hasn’t got a built-

in SWR meter

International Clubs

• There are several International Clubs for amateur radio

• You will see some of them on QSL cards, they have a short name/initials and numbers

• Most of these clubs sponsor awards and contests

• Almost all the clubs are specialized – QRP, CW, PSK, Band

International Club cont’d

• 10-10 Club – this club promotes 10M operations

• They sponsor contest throughout the year

• They have awards for operating – only on 10M

• Most of the contest are open to members and non-members

• www.ten-ten.org Web site

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