Ham Radio & Survival Communications, Volume 2

Hello Everybody, Frank here.

Well, Ladies and Gentlemen, six radio classes and one test day have passed. The radio class is now finished. Or, in the old radio days, we're over and out, or in the police world, we're now 10-7, which means out of service or off duty. But the sad fact is, the class is finished. Now, we can let the real learning begin.

As mentioned in the previous post, some folks were not interested in getting their ham radio license, and whatever the reason, it is theirs. Two of the gentlemen that chose not to pursue their license have purchased radios of high quality that can receive, transmit and listen. This is what they wanted and this is what they are doing, therefore, they can contribute to our neighborhood communication network. Both of them are in good locations. Radio is kind of like operating a business. Location, location, location.

You see, my house is a poor location for line-of-sight communications. But if I can reach one of these guys, which I can, they can relay information to me and from me, which is critical. So don't think that you have to have a ham radio license to be a vital contributing member for a radio communication system. One of these gentlemen is relying on CB radio for two-way communication. He also has a scanner and a shortwave radio, which are for listening. The other gentleman is a little bit more private. I know he has a capable VHF/UHF radio, and both of these gentlemen are in very good locations.

Now onto the ham radio part. I didn't really teach a lot about ham radio out of the Romanchik manual, but that was the manual we used for our information about what was on the ham radio licensing test. Some of the folks used QRZ.com for free online practice tests, others used Ham Test Online, which is a paid practice test service with tutorials. We spent time on some of the formulas, which are only about three for the Technician, and about the same for the General test. The concept that was taught was read the manual repeatedly, and take as many practice tests as you humanly can. Lots of people are busy right now. Some of the people in this class work a full-time job, go to school at nighttime, and attend school kid's functions, so as you well know, their time is limited.

The majority of the time we spent just talking about what I call radio. We talked about antennas, radios, power supplies, coax and other associated radio equipment. We talked about a lot of things that normally aren't covered in licensing classes. We talked about how you push the button and talk into the microphone, how you call somebody else on the radio. If you're using a handheld, which direction do you face? We talked about simple, practical things when it comes to using a radio. Like, don't put your antenna on your filing cabinet right next to your head and turn the power up. It's not cool to fry your brain. Some of us are already operating with diminished capabilities, we certainly don't need to increase that negative load.

It was a fun class. A couple of the people in there enjoyed my ultra dry humor. I learned a lot from them, too. Some of the questions that came up were things that I had never really thought about. But being a retired, professional teacher, I just made up an answer that sounded somewhat technical. They didn't know the difference anyway. Ultra dry. That's the way some people like it. On occasion we talked about the coming war, and most everybody was okay with that, because there is one coming, and it may be here a whole lot sooner than you think.

Back to the ham class. Well, test night came. We had to change location due to a scheduling conflict, and that went well. The people that came out to give the test, it was their first time, too. Our local emergency management office started a testing group. These guys are called VEs, volunteer examiners. They are a group of local ham radio operators that have qualified to be examiners, and volunteer their time, hence the term VE, volunteer examiner. So now our local emergency management office can offer ham radio test sessions without having to ask the help of a local ARRL ham radio club.

So how did test night go? We've got the building secured, the VEs showed up early, it is required to have a minimum of three, and there were five. We had nine people test.  Seven were taking their Technician's license, and I'm happy to say that all seven passed. Of those seven, one gentleman also took his General test which he passed. We had two folks that already had their Technician license that both took the General test, and they both passed. We had one woman in the group that tested. We had one young adult male, I think he is 17. If you've been reading along, you will know that everybody that took the test passed. In the mathematical world, that's 100% success. Now that was a good night.

One of the guys in the group had a concrete truck coming the next day to pour the base for his 'to be' future antenna tower. There were a couple of people that couldn't take the test that night due to a conflict in schedule. They will take the test at a later date. But our area now has seven new Technicians and three new Generals, and that Ladies and Gentlemen, is a good deal. We also have two local folks that chose not to take the test that are actively pursuing communication skills.

Here in a week or so, I'm going to get back in touch with everybody to see if we can start practicing communication between individuals and groups. It will take a week to ten days for the folks that took the tests to get their FCC online approval and call sign. When I said

earlier now the learning begins, that means we're going to learn to communicate with each other. Different locations, different antennas, different radios, some AM, some FM, some VHF/UHF, some HF, CB which is HF, GMRS which is UHF, MURS which is VHF. We have folks out here that are strung out for miles, and a couple on the other side of a mountain. Without giving locations, if the testing site was the center of the circle, we have folks from the class about 25 miles north, 30 miles south, 20 miles east, and eight miles west. If the electricity is on we will use repeater connections. If the electricity is not on, we will use line-of-sight communications and NVIS (look it up).

So now the work begins. It's been fun. It's been challenging. I truly hope that this works, because folks, we have a war coming. Read into that whatever you want to, but it is coming and it can't be stopped. Some of us have made the choice that we want to be able to communicate. Maybe we can get a few more neighbors or a couple more relatives on board, because right now we cover a large logistical area. We need to be able to warn our neighbors, therefore, we need to be able to communicate.

We'll talk more later, Frank

Radio - Wanna Be A General, Part 6

Hello, Frank here.

Hi everybody, I hope there are still a few people out there following along. Okay, this session we're going to talk about amateur radio practices. I'm on page 38 of Romanchik. I want to remind you of a few things before we get  

started. When it comes time to take the General test, you will need to get in touch with the local ARRL club and check for when and where to take your test. There is no way around this, it's the only way. Check the price for the test. In my area, they are normally $15.00. If you plan on taking the test more than once, then bring a couple of extra $15.00 bills. Also remember that the manual I'm using here is not the only way to study. There are some free online sites, paid online sites and the ARRL manuals that now days come with a CD so you can study with your computer. For my General I used HamTestOnline and it worked well for me. I did not use the Romanchik manual for my General, it's just a common reference point for you and I to communicate, and it's free. Some of this information we are about to cover is going to appear to be a little outdated. The reason being, because it is. But this is what is on the test. So, learn the answers.

Okay, so let's talk about it some. The newer HF transceivers are pretty much plug and play. Back in the old days ham radio consisted of two different radios, one transmitter and one receiver. These were two separate beasts entirely. I don't believe these can even be bought new. So, here is where some of this information we are about to cover comes from, it's the old days. Also remember that not very long ago CW, or morse code, was a requirement for ham operators. That is not the case now days. Many still pursue CW, but that's strictly by choice.

These next few items are just ways to help you receive signals better. I seldom use these on my bottom of the line radio, but it does have them. One is a notch filter and one is an IF shift. Next we go onto RF amplifiers. You can run lots of power through a radio. This is where it's particularly important to understand the affects of RF and how to use it properly and not fry your brain. Remember, safety. If you don't know what you're doing, DON'T DO IT. And if you're going to do it anyway, do it at low power. 

Skipping on down here, other things you need to know about the operation of your radio. How to set up CW. How to operate in split mode, which you notice has a lot of questions. That means a lot of answers. Split mode basically means transmitting in one frequency and receiving in another.

I'm in the middle of page 39 now, and at the bottom it briefly mentions antenna tuners. Most modern operators use an antenna tuner and most use an automatic antenna tuner. Many radios come with them built in, but the less expensive radios, if you choose to use one, will need an antenna

tuner. I would recommend an automatic one, and I would recommend LDG. If you buy a matching tuner for your radio manufactured by LDG, it is basically plug and play. A word of wisdom here. A capable tuner will tune many frequencies, but in many cases you are losing a tremendous amount of power to do so. This is where a quality antenna is important. As stated before, your antenna is the most important part of your radio system. For most operators, a dipole antenna works great, and I would check out Alpha Delta antennas, but there are many other quality antenna manufacturers.

Okay, I'm sliding over to page 40, test equipment. Do you have to have test equipment? No. Do you want to blow your radio up? No. Here's what I

would recommend. A decent mulitmeter, an antenna analyzer, and an appropriate frequency SWR meter. Let's talk about these. A multimeter measures voltage and resistance. They are relatively easy to use, just ask somebody to teach you. That's where your mentor, or Elmer, from ARRL will come in real handy. They make $10.00 multimeters and up. If you don't know how to use one, make your first one a cheap one, because if you're going to fry something, you'd rather fry $10.00 than $100.00. Okay? Okay.

Your antenna analyzer, not a piece of equipment that you have to have. Once your equipment is set up and running, you may not ever use it again. They cost $250.00 and up. An SWR meter is highly recommended. Normally it goes between your radio output and your antenna. Extremely high SWR will damage or kill a radio. Once it's set up and operating,

it'll operate for years just fine. They make meters that cover wide frequency ranges, and they make meters specific to certain frequency ranges. Some radios have built in SWR meters. Most operators still use an external meter, though. Inexpensive meters start at about $60.00. SWR is important. There are analog type meters and digital, find one that works for you. This is not a piece of equipment that you have to have, but it is highly recommended. It's very important if you're choosing to operate out of the ham bands on the VHF/UHF frequencies. Many of the commercial VHF radios are built to operate outside of the ham bands, but just because the radio will transmit on those frequencies does not mean that your antenna will. This is where an SWR meter comes in very handy. There are antennas made that will operate out of the ham bands, but you might have to have more than one antenna. If you choose to stay within the ham bands, then as a general rule your antennas will work fine. But you still need to check your SWR.

The stuff we just talked about, you need to read these pages and understand the answers. I'm heading on to page 42 now where we're going to talk about interference. I'm not going to cover all of the information on pages 42 and 43, but you need to understand some very simple concepts. If you put up a ham antenna and your

neighbor is having a problem with their TV signal, and they didn't have one before you put your antenna up, then you are probably the problem. And if you are the problem, you need to stop being the problem. It's real simple. Your transmissions can affect television, telephone, baby monitors, heart and respiratory equipment...so you don't want to be interfering with these signals. And it's real simple, under the law you have to stop transmitting until the problem is fixed. No if's, and's, are's or but's. There is no point in arguing with your neighbor that your signal is clean and pure. Any questions about that? This is one of those cases where grounding your equipment well will help solve a plethora of problems.

Okay heading on to page 44, down toward the bottom of it, it talks about single side band operation. You will see a lot of this on the test, it is important and you need to understand it. One, if you understand it, it's

a whole lot easier to figure it out. But if you are on frequency and you're

operating on LSB or USB, then your signal extends out to the edge of your operating frequency, which in most cases is 3 KHz. If you need to get a piece of paper and draw a little signal, we all know 3 + 3 = 6. So, can you go right to the edge of a band and operate on SSB? Sure you can. If it's the top of the band, then you can operate on LSB. If it's the very bottom of the band, then you can operate on USB. Let that sit in your brain for a while. Get a piece of paper and a pencil and if you need to, draw it out.

Okay, on to page 45. I do not recommend mobile HF operation for new operators. For the most part the antennas are very expensive and they don't operate particularly well. Again, if you're using a 100 watt transceiver, then you need to connect directly to your battery and make sure it is fused correctly. Your cigarette lighter plug as a general rule, will not provide enough power to operate 100 watts. Remember, P = E x I. Go ahead and read page 45 and 46 because you will see it on the test.

We should have about three more lessons, three, at the most four, for your General. I hope you're enjoying this particular teaching style. What I'm trying to do is get a few people set up for emergency communications when things shut down. If you

choose to pursue other routes, wonderful. Amateur radio has a place for just about everybody. An example. Some guys still like to build their own radios. Some of these guys have a tremendous amount of knowledge. Others like to contest and there is a large arena for these folks. My goal is to help get people in the door using the least amount of equipment possible and doing it safely. The equipment I recommend is the equipment I use, and this is just one man's opinion. But if you see a need for communications, then you need to get started. There are lots of ways to communicate in ham radio and outside of ham radio. In the section called Frank's Radio Communications there are articles about CB's, GMRS, scanners and lots of other good, solid information. You might want to skim these areas. Remember, a CB is an HF transceiver that operates between 10 meter and 12 meter, and has the ability in some cases to operate on SSB. 

There's an old saying around, "I'd rather be a day early, than a minute late." and if you're reading this, then you know what I'm talking about. Today the stores are open, the internet is working and the electricity is on. No guarantees about tomorrow. If you're a fence sitter, then get it done.

We'll talk more later. 73, Frank

Radio - Wanna Be a General, Part 1

Hello, Frank here.

Time to put our thinking hats back on, tin foil inserted or not, is entirely up to you. But, I kind of like tin foil in my hat. The General test is going to be more complicated than the Technician. This is just the nature of things and it is nothing to be afraid of. The formulas are going to be a little bit more sophisticated, but as before, there are only so many formulas on a test, and if you can't figure them out, then memorize the answer. 

This first post over the General test is going to re-familiarize you with some former sites that you used during your Technician test. But before we start, let me remind you of safety. Not only can you electrocute yourself, or your cousin Billy, you can also do internal damage with RF signals. This is not a joke. You heard me talk earlier about frying your little girl's brain. Studying your General test, you're going to step into more power, a lot more power sometimes, and if you don't know what you're doing, DON'T DO IT. Pay attention to safety. 

Again, throughout this series of blogs, I'm going to reference Universal Radio, because I find their website easy to use, and they provide data and information about the equipment they carry. I will also be referencing many other radio websites.

Whatever style or mode you choose to use, whether it be the Romanchik, General Class No Nonsense Study Guide, the ARRL manuals, online tutorials, or a combination of the above, use what works for you. I have a friend that studied QRZ.com only, which is a free online service, for his Technician and General, and it worked for him. So, if your goal is to just pass the test, then this is one way. I needed more information, so I used the Romanchik manual for my Technician and the QRZ website. For the General, I did not use the Romanchik manual, but instead chose to use the paid version of Ham Test Online. This worked well for me. Ham Test Online provides tutorial information about subject material. This is what I used, it works for me. By the way, the Romanchik manual, online version has links at the end of the units for additional information that the Technician manual did not. Just more food for thought.

Practice test resources:

   QRZ.com

HamTestOnline

   HamStudy.org


A resource that I found very valuable was ARRL. Their website has so much information, it's just hard to discuss. But if you need to locate a local club, which I would recommend, and find yourself an Elmer, that you

can easily communicate with. Most of these guys are good, down to earth people. There are some things that you just can't figure out from a book or a manual, so I highly recommend that you get in touch with ARRL and find yourself an Elmer. ARRL also has a catalog section where they sell manuals for the Technican, General and Extra, as well as other manuals for these tests also. This catalog also contains a plethora of books on ham radio and SWL. Use ARRL, they're a handy, handy website.

FCC. The FCC is the group that controls the rules, regulations and licensing. I'm going to include a section for ham radio rules and regulations. I'm also going to provide you with a link to their licensing webpage. Amateur radio is pretty open to making your own modifications and adaptations, but you don't want to get out of the rules. An example, if you're broadcasting and you're interfering with Gramma's TV down the road, whether you're legal or not, doesn't make any difference. You need to stop and fix the problem. Another example, if you live close to an airport, again, whether legal or not, you don't want to be messing or interfering with aircraft communications. So, there are some rules you do need to know and you do need to follow. But if you want to build your own antenna that looks like Sputnik, go ahead. Try not to burn your house down in the process. So, follow the rules. Did I mention safety? The General will cover significantly more information about RF emissions and proper grounding.

So, we've talked about manuals and ways to get there, ARRL contacts, FCC, safety. The need for communications. During your Technician studies we covered mostly VHF and UHF and, of course, we learned about bouncing a signal off of an asteroid, which was on the test, wasn't it?

 And we covered a teeny, weeny portion of the 10 meter band. Getting your General license will open up the HF frequencies, plus the 160 meter band. The HF bands are what most people consider to be ham radio. It provides the opportunity to talk and listen very long distances, so this will open up a new world. Getting your HF radio will also provide you with a first class SWL radio. I enjoy listening to radio news stations from other countries and continents. This is really not ham radio, it's just a bonus feature. 

The radio equipment, overall, is going to be little bit more expensive. The radios will have bells and whistles that you will not have heard of before. The antennas are going to be more sophisticated than sticking a 2 meter mag mount on your car. There are a number of different types of antennas, and everybody and their cousin will have a preference as to which one is

the best. If you remember from my previous posts, there is no best of anything, it's all up to you. But then there's that deer in the headlight look, "I don't know which one is best." So, you go to one of these ham club meetings, sitting in this room is a world of knowledge, mostly guys, and everyone of them has a different opinion of what is best. So, what do you do? That's a good question, I can't answer that one for you. I will tell you what I think is best. So, just pretend like I'm number 15 in that room full of guys.

I got into ham radio for the communications aspect of it only. I have no intention of ever contesting. I'm not trying to "work all states". And for the guys doing this, that is fine. It's a big stadium, and there's lots of room for

everybody. I spend most of my time listening. I listen to Beijing Radio often on shortwave. I listen to folks all around the country and spots around the world. I use very simple equipment, and simple generally equates to less expensive. My entire purpose for listening is to ascertain information from around the world, around the country and local. Some of us believe that someday some catastrophe is going to happen, who knows what it will be, but there is a probability we are going to see reduced electricity and more government control. This is why I want to be able to listen. A couple of days ago, I was playing on my CB radio, which is an HF radio 11 meter. I was on AM and talked to a man in Boston and one in California, and I live in southeastern Oklahoma. 

So, during the Technician's test, we talked about GMRS, FRS, MURS, these are forms of local communication. Now, with the General, we're going to step into long distance, or DX. So, as mentioned above, this will open up a new world. If you will look at the ICOM band chart, you will notice that 10, 12, 17 and 160 meters are entirely open to the General class. ARRL also has a band chart that is a little bit different, but you can figure it out. The other bands not

mentioned above, are partially open to the General. So getting your General license will open up the majority of the HF bands. Don't forget, you don't need morse code for any level of amateur license. Decide how you want to pursue this. If you want to use Romanchik, go ahead and download the manual, borrow, or purchase any other books that you want to use. Check out the websites for tutorials, and I didn't mention earlier, that local ARRL clubs often have free classes for the Technician and sometimes for the General. Another reason to check out your local ARRL. 

The pace on this particular class will be sharply quicker than the Technican. I will primarily use the Romanchik manual, but at a much quicker pace. This manual starts off like the Technician did, covering formulas and using some general math that occasionally intimidates people. As mentioned earlier, if you can't master the formulas or the math,

then just memorize the answers. After the formulas and math, it is just general knowledge like it was in the Technician's manual and it is a whole lot easier to learn. There are some old salts that disagree with this idea and technique, but don't worry about them, they're not the ones taking the test. So, if you need to, memorize the whole test. That's what my wife did, she just memorized the whole test. She learned a little bit, but not much. I on the other hand, have a background in electronics and some of it I just memorized. So, do whatever you need to do to pass and don't worry about what somebody else thinks, it's a waste of time.

So, gather up the tools you're going to use and we'll get started here shortly. But, please do not wait on me, if you are a self learner, then you may be finished by the time I start. If you have your Technician license, and you take your General and pass it, you do not have to wait for the FCC to post your new license before you can start transmitting. If you pass your General test, you can start that day.


We'll talk more later. 73, Frank