Hello Everybody, Frank here.
Before we get into how radios operate, or sometimes don't operate, we need to understand where our government stands on rules and regulations. At this point right here, right now, it doesn't make any difference what you think or feel about the government. I wrote a piece recently about the government is the enemy, and I still feel that way, but they are the government, they have the big stick and we are slaves to their dictates. So let's try not to upset them any more than necessary.
Here are the basic rules governing the type of radio communication that we are interested in participating in. To be fair, there are reasons we have rules. They are not just there to punish us and limit our activities and freedom, and they're not always the product of some tyrannical government. Many rules involve safety. You don't want to fry your little girl's brain by being stupid. You don't want to burn your house down. You don't want to interfere with other frequencies and maybe cause a plane to fall from the sky, or a pipeline valve to open at the wrong time. So, there are rules and they do have a reason for being there.
DON'T BE STUPID. Don't try to prove to your buddies that you are the most stupid in the group. Radio can be fun, entertaining, it is a tool, you can use it for business, emergencies, it's a great hobby. You will hear me say frequently, DON'T BE STUPID. If you are offended by that, get over it. We all do stupid things.
If some of the information I put out is wrong, please let me know. That is not my intent. Let's get started.
Below is a link to Title 47, Chapter 1, Subchapter D. This link will take you to the rules that you and I need to follow. Open up this link and we're going to take a look at it.
Ok. Follow me here. Look down the list and you will see Part 90 and Part 95 and Part 97. This is where we will spend our time. You will notice Part 96 says Citizens Broadband Radio Service - this is a different frequency range than CB radios. The CB radios that we will be talking about are under Part 95.
A brief overview to start with. Part 90, or sometimes called commercial radio. That little Baofeng that you have in your hand? Take out the battery, look inside the radio, and it will probably say Part 90 certified. This applies to police departments, fire departments, ambulances, a lot of public service activities and private business. Can you listen to these frequencies? Absolutely. Can you transmit on these frequencies? Sometimes. If you are with, or affiliated with, an agency that gives you the authority to transmit on these bands or frequencies, then yes, you can transmit.
Example. You are with a volunteer fire department. Your Baofeng radio, if programmed correctly, will transmit on these frequencies. If the authorizing entity gives you permission to use this radio on a specific frequency, then yes, you can use it to transmit.
Can you use it to transmit on unauthorized frequencies? Absolutely. This is a case in point where you are trying to prove how STUPID you are. Do not mess with an ambulance call, running hot, to a crash scene just to cause confusion. Let me reiterate here. THIS IS STUPID.
By the way, if you are authorized to use your handheld on any of the above mentioned bands, and your kid gets a hold of it and decides to go play with it, remember, you are the adult, they are the kid.
Moving on. Part 95. This is the general concern for the vast majority of people. So click on that 95 from the link you opened above. You will see Subpart A, which is General Rules for Personal Radio Service. Scroll down a little farther, Subpart B, Family Radio Service, FRS.
Skip Subpart C, unless you're into remote control, which a lot of guys are.
Subpart D, CB Radio Service. You will notice it is called CBRS.
Subpart E, General Mobile Radio Service, GMRS.
GMRS and FRS are the frequencies preprogrammed into the handheld radios that you buy across the counter at sporting goods stores.
Skip Subparts F, G, H, I.
Subpart J, Multi Use Radio Service, MURS. MURS is a group of frequencies that you might want to consider along with GMRS, FRS and CB. Your Baofeng will transmit and receive on all of these frequencies except CB. To transmit on the CB frequencies, you will need a CB radio. Later on, we will cover stuff like VHF, UHF, HF, 2 meter, 11 meter, AM, FM, and SSB which are things you will eventually learn, but right now we're talking about rules.
Ok. Scroll back up to Subpart E, General Mobile Radio Service, GMRS. Look down the list just a couple of items and the third category down is licenses. Go down a little bit farther at 95.1761 and you will see GMRS transmitter certification. Your Baofeng radio is NOT certified to transmit on GMRS frequencies. Will it? Yes. Is it illegal? Listen very carefully here. Is it illegal? YES. Make no bones about it, you are using an unauthorized radio to transmit on an unauthorized frequency.
Ok. A parable here. Can you buy a car that will go 100MPH? Yes, you can. If the speed limit is 35MPH, and you are driving 36MPH, are you breaking the law? Yes. If you drive 96MPH in that same 35MPH speed zone, are you breaking the law? Yes. Which one will get you the most attention? 36 or 96? If you choose to use your commercial radio, your Baofeng, which is Part 90 certified, on the GMRS frequencies then you are violating the law. Do people do it everyday? Absolutely. Is it illegal? Yes. It is illegal to drive 36MPH in a 35MPH speed zone. It is also illegal to drive 96MPH in a 35MPH zone. Can you buy that car that will do 100MPH? Sure you can. Can you buy that radio that will transmit where you shouldn't be? Yes, you can.
Another example. If the power limit is 4 watts and you are using 5 watts, that is illegal. If the power limit is 4 watts and you are using 100 watts, that is also illegal. Which one will get you the most attention? Do people use these little radios everyday for unauthorized transmissions? Yes. Is it illegal? Yes. So is driving 36MPH in a 35MPH. CB radios are a perfect example. There are people that run power everyday on CB radios. I think the power limit for a CB is 4 watts AM. But some guys run 1000 watts and it's not uncommon at all for people to run 50 watts. Illegal? Yes. Common? Yes.
If your transmission interferes with someone else's activity. Example. Their television signal, telephone service, an intercom system between a baby's crib and a parent's room. Legal or illegal, you need to stop transmitting and make appropriate adjustments. Here is a case where using too much power, and this is not a joke, you can fry your little girl's brain. No joke.
Another topic. Amateur radio. On that same list you have there, it's Part 97. Amateur radio is a different ballgame. I will call it ham radio. If you get your ham radio license, this does not give you the authority or permission to transmit on any band or frequency that is not ham radio. Some ham radio operators are sadly delusional and believe that they can operate on unauthorized frequencies. This is not the case. As your learning curve increases, you will learn that CB frequencies come between two common ham frequencies. Can you use a ham radio to transmit on a CB frequency? Yes, you can. Is it illegal? Yes. Do not kid yourself that you get special privileges with a ham radio license.
One other sensitive topic. If you do choose to get your ham radio license, and you violate any of the above mentioned rules and regulations, you can lose your ham radio license FOREVER. Something to consider. Can you have a ham radio and a CB radio sitting right beside each other? Yes. Can they use the same power supply, coax and antenna? Yes.
Okay. For the brand new guys, a lot of information here today. I use my handheld, my mobile radios and my ham radios everyday. We use them on our little farm here and I use them to communicate 40-50 miles via use of a repeater. Everything that I do is legal. I have my ham radio license and I follow the rules. By the way, that little Baofeng radio is 100% legal on ham frequencies. That's what I use everyday.
Understand the rules. If you choose to go outside of the rules, that is your choice. If you go a little bit, or a whole lot, that's your choice. Let me finish on a negative note here. If you mess around on frequencies where you shouldn't be, let's say aircraft frequencies, and you think that your government is incompetent and stupid, then you will very quickly find out who is REALLY STUPID. These guys will track you down and shut you down, and rightly so. This is the same government that can send a missile thousands of miles and pinpoint a target to precise accuracy, whether it's launched from submarine, aircraft or ground based, monitored via satellite by a person sitting at a console in an air conditioned office. Never underestimate the power of the government. They are very good at what they do, and you do not want them breathing down your neck. DON'T BE STUPID.
Next time things will be on a more positive note, so let's start having fun.
We'll talk more later. 73, Frank
Hello, Frank here.
Hi all, hope everybody is doing well. What I want to bring you today is the update to the Romanchik Technician manual. Every
few years or so, the FCC, the Federal Communications Commission, gets together with a group of ham radio operators and reviews the questions for each level of testing. This year, in July, the new questions and answers were put into effect for the Technician level exam. Now, I don't know much about this process. I would presume that it is done through some type of coordination with ARRL, the American Radio Relay League. They get rid of some of the questions and answers and add some new ones. So, if you're using the Romanchik Technician manual, which I highly recommend, then you will want the upgraded, up-to-date, ink still wet version. Here it is.
I want to send you to a post I wrote a few months back, it's called Radio - Become a Ham. It has links to many sites that will help you get your Technician's license, or for that matter, your General or Extra licenses also. Look
around in the above mentioned site, which is Radio - Become a Ham, and it will answer most questions you have about getting your ham license. But, remember, ARRL is your best friend when you have local questions.
The FCC is the governing authority over all radio communications. There are three levels of tests, the Technician level, which for most people, with a little bit of study, is an easily passable test. The General level is just a little bit more complicated than the Technician level. The Extra class, I am told, is going to require some more work.
Some people think of ham radio as quite an expensive hobby, and it can be if that's the route you choose. There are some folks that get into the Technician class level with a $40.00 brand new, hand held radio. So, you can take it from $40.00 to as high as you want to go. Many ham operators never go past the Technician level because their goal is to work with a local ham radio club helping with search and rescue type operations. The minimum equipment required for this duty is the $40.00 radio I mentioned earlier. Then there are other folks in ham radio that want to learn Morse code and talk to folks all around the world, and this can be done also. By the way, you do not have to learn Morse code for any of the three levels of licensing. But if you want to learn it, good for you.
There are safety issues with operating a radio. You are emitting, if you are transmitting, an RF signal, radio frequency. These are things you will learn, but don't ever shortcut safety.
I have another short post I want you to read called Wanna Be a Ham? It's short, easy to read, and has some information you might want to consider.
FEMA and Homeland Security both use ham radio operators during emergencies. As you will find in my posts, I encourage people to get their ham radio license so that they will have communications during an emergency. Who knows, there may come a day when the electricity is off. It might be a natural disaster, a hurricane, tornado, flooding, earthquake, wildfires, natural disasters come in all shapes and sizes. Ham radio can be a very handy tool. There is also the possibility of disruption from government, martial law, quarantine, use your imagination. There are lots of reasons we need alternative forms of communication. And, besides that, it's a cool hobby.
Go to "Things To Read" then, "Frank's Radio Communications". Take a look at scanners, GMRS, CB and shortwave. You may find some other interests you enjoy. You don't have to be a ham radio operator to participate in radio communications. But if you are a ham radio operator, it will extend your world of emergency radio communications a great deal. There are also radio clubs if you're the type that likes to join groups. It's a whole lot safer than bar room fighting and you may enjoy a higher level of association with ham radio folks. Read the posts. Here is the new Romanchik manual. You can get your ham radio license from start to finish at a total cost of $15.00 from the included posts under Frank's Radio Communications. That $15.00 is the fee you pay to take your test to get your license.
That's about it for today. Here in a few days, I'm going to introduce this $40.00 hand held radio I'm talking about. I will also introduce you to some functional, commercial radios that are perfectly legal on the ham frequencies. If you're into the search and rescue thing, they're also perfectly legal there with proper permission. Take care. Safety first.
We'll talk more later. 73, Frank
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
Hello, Frank here.
Hi everybody. I hope everybody is well. This, ladies and gentlemen, will
be the last post for the Technician Class License Study Guide. Most of the information covered here will be basic FCC rules and regulations. You're going to see a couple of 'all of the choices are correct answers', and in most cases that is the answer. Again, read these next four or five pages, understand the basic rules and whether you think they are silly, stupid or wrong is an academic exercise in futility. These are the answers that are on the test.
On a side note, I have received some criticism for what some say is teaching the answers to the test. But I don't see it that way. Yes, there
is a whole, whole lot more information that you can learn from multiple Techinican level manuals. And if this is where your avenue of interest is, then by all means, please pursue it. And if all you want to do is pass the Technician's test and get you a VHF radio and talk to your buddies on the repeater, then this will provide you with that venue. Remember, it's a big stadium and we can all play whatever game we want to play. At this stage now, you should have been in touch with ARRL, located a local radio club, and made contact. These are the folks that will be giving you your test. Whether the test is at their local club headquarters, a special event like a ham fest, or down some dark alley on a late Saturday night, just wanted to see if you're paying attention. If the day the local club gives tests is not convenient for you, ask them about other local clubs testing schedules. Some have their test the first Saturday morning of each even month, some clubs offer it on a Thursday evening. So if you try, you will find a place that the date and time fit your schedule.
Also, you should be taking the practice tests. I read a ham radio study guide the other day that didn't even recommend a book or course of study. This guy recommended taking the practice tests, whether free or a fee is involved and just continue to take them
repeatedly, over and over and over and over. His idea was even if on the first test you make a terrible score, no big deal. Just keep taking them and your scores will get better. I knew a man, and still know this man, that when he took his first practice test, he scored poorly. He never took another practice
test. He was one of those type that could not handle failure. Remember, life is filled with failure, what separates most of us is how we handle it. Here is a retail outlet site that I have yet to do business with, so I can't speak pro or con. But at the bottom of the page is an interesting concept about taking the Technician's test. This might be of help to some of you. While you're there, I would take a look around the site to see if there is anything you're interested in.
While your at the local ARRL club, you also should have established contact with an Elmer or teacher. Remember, it's perfectly okay not to
know everything there is on the planet. If you have an Elmer and for some reason your personalities don't click, ask for someone else to help you. It's no big deal. If you want to get your license, find somebody to help you and let them teach you. There's a lot of new jargon and things that you're not going to know. It takes time for these things to soak in.
On a different topic. There are some great Black Friday
sales going on right now. If you have an idea of the type of equipment
you want or are going to need, this is a good time of year to save a few
dollars.
For those of you that are interested, I will start a General class in a couple of weeks. It's going to be a little bit more challenging, but it's not something that most people can't get over. You will need your General license to work the HF bands.
Okay. We're about to wrap up this post and I cannot stress safety enough. If you don't know what you are doing, DON'T DO IT. That's what your Elmer is for.
Next time, I'm going to give you my recommendations for entry level equipment. As I've stated before, there is no perfect radio. You can start listening right now. It just depends on what you want to use your ham radio license for. Guys like myself, I primarily listen. Other guys I know that have a sharply more competitive nature are into what's called contesting. Like I said earlier, it's a big stadium with lot's of areas to play in.
Now, read these last few pages. I hope you do well on your test. Each test will cost you $15.00. So, if you don't pass the first one, just make sure you have plenty of $15.00 bills. Take care.
We'll talk more later. 73, Frank
Hello, Frank here.
Ladies and Gentlemen, or should I say YL's and OM's, things are quickly coming to a close. I expect this to be the next to the last post for the
Technician's exam. This part coming up will deal with operating procedures. Before we get to operating procedures, let's say you have read the manual, taken practices tests, talked to the ARRL folks, got yourself an Elmer, maybe taken the test, maybe even passed it. As eager as you are, you still cannot transmit on the radio. Now you can listen, listen anytime, anywhere, to anything going across the airwaves. But you ask, "I passed my test?" Congratulations! But until you receive notification from
the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), you cannot transmit. But they will notify you 1) via U.S. mail, 2) via FCC website. You will need to have your exact name as it was turned in on your application. When it is posted on the FCC website, then you are licensed to rag-chew with anyone that will listen within your band of authority.
Okay, so what are these band authorities? 10 meter, 28.3 through 28.5 MHz, 6 meter and up. One other thing you need to know. When you put
your call sign on an email anybody can go to numerous websites, QRZ.com for example, and get your name, address, city, zip code and a friendly map to your house. So be cautious who you give this information to. If you choose, when you take your test, you can use for
your address a post office box. You say, "My Elmer told me I have to use a physical address." In the past you did, in the present you don't. A post office box is perfectly acceptable with the FCC. As most of you know, Frank and Fern are pseudonyms. This is why I have never given you my call sign. So don't feel slighted if I don't share with you my personal data. Fern and I are very
particular about operational security. You should be too.
Okay. FM operation. You've got your VHF/UHF radio and you want to program it. I would highly recommend some type of computer program.
Most manufacturers provide either a disc or a download so you can program your radio. If you have an extra $40 to $45 I would highly recommend the RT programming systems. This makes life a whole lot easier. Okay. To program your radio, let's start with simplex. This means you're talking directly to another person, line of site.
Your transmit (TX) and receive (RX) frequency will be the same frequency, example: 146.52 MHz, which is a frequency that you might want to put in your radio. It is the national simplex frequency. That's not on any test anywhere, I just thought you might want to know it.
On rare, rare occasions, simplex will have a CTCSS subtone - rare, rare, rare. You ask, "What is CTCSS?" Hold on, and I'll let you know. If you want to use a repeater, which you probably will, it gets just a little bit more complicated. It is commonly called duplex operation. The reason being,
when you transmit to a repeater on one frequency and it rebroadcasts your transmission out on a different frequency. For VHF this is plus or minus 600 kilohertz. If you have a scanner, then the frequency in your scanner is your receive frequency. So when you are programming your radio, if you put in the receive frequency, most newer radio programs will automatically set the offset. This is not difficult. Remember 600 KHz is 0.6 MHz. So either add or subtract 0.6 in the ham bands 144-148. Look at the little ICOM chart. You will see frequencies set up for repeaters above 146 and below 146. Play with it, figure it out. And it's the same thing for UHF, except the plus or minus is 5 MHz.
Well, if you say that that was easy enough, what's this CTCSS? Most repeaters, but not all, require a PL tone or CTCSS to activate the repeater. This is normally used for transmission to the repeater. Otherwise you will
not be able to access the repeater and it retransmit your signal. So, you will need to put whatever the PL tone is for that repeater in your radio via your program. In rare, rare cases a PL tone is also used on the transmit side of the repeater, but this is very rare. These are normally used by police departments.
How to make a transmission: You've got your radio programmed, you put in the transmit frequency, you've put in the PL tone to open the repeater and you've put in the receive frequency. Here's how you do it, this applies to duplex and simplex. You don't go, "Break one nine, good buddy." Do not use CB lingo. No ten-four. I do CB, I like CB, but I do not use CB talk on
ham radio. So, you want to call somebody. Let's say their call sign is KF7MOM. You start off by calling them first, "KF7MOM" and then you give your call sign. Let's say, "W7NEW". You wait about ten seconds and you say it again, "KF7MOM, W7NEW", you wait about ten more seconds, if you do not get a response, then give your call sign and you are finished. That's it. Okay, why do you wait ten seconds if radio waves travel at the speed of light? Good question. Because KF7MOM might not have a VHF radio on and is receiving your radio's transmission on the scanner. This will give KF7MOM the time to turn on the VHF radio and respond. Be patient. Okay, let's say that you want to talk to anyone out there. Listen for a minute, make sure no one is on frequency
and put your call sign out. Some people will put out their call sign and say monitoring. How do you end a conversation? Just talk on the radio like you normally would, then say, "See you later." and give your call sign. These rules are not set in concrete. There are local variations everywhere and no one is going to laugh at you, not that you will hear anyway. So just key up the mic, hold it about six to eight inches from your mouth and talk in a normal voice. Make sure that your finger is not covering the little bitty hole where the microphone is.
Okay. Let's switch over to HF for just a second. If you know who you are calling, the same protocol applies. If you just want somebody to talk to,
which remember is between 28.3-28.5 MHz, which is 10 meter upper side band. Turn your radio on, that is probably the most important step - the ON/OFF switch. Wait for a minute, make sure no one is on frequency and say, "CQ, CQ, CQ" (calling any station) and then give your call sign. Proper phonetics is used more often on HF, so use proper phonetics. Whiskey Seven Nora Echo Whiskey (W7NEW). For those of you that are long winded, you are required to give your call sign every ten minutes VHF, UHF or HF. Don't forget, 10 meter is upper side band.
Once you get to playing on your radio, you will find that most people are very, very polite, courteous and helpful. So please do not be the new, rude jerk. If you have an emergency and need to break into a conversation,
the standard procedure is to wait for a break in the conversation and say "Priority" or "Emergency" followed by your call sign. If you are rag chewing with your buddy, be it simplex or duplex, and anybody breaks in with an emergency, be prepared to take notes, but first clear the channel immediately. Let me repeat that. You clear the channel immediately and be prepared to help.
It's recommended that you use the least amount of power required to operate your radio. The VHF repeater that I primarily use is about 25 miles away. I can activate the repeater comfortably with five watts. But, if there is a torrential downpour, I might need to use more power. Use the appropriate power level. This is one of those cases to where you really don't impress anybody by using the most power that you can.
Okay, there's some other stuff here that we didn't talk about. I finished up through page 42. Next time we will pick up with rules and regulations and it should be the last post for the Technician exam. One last thing. After you get your Technician ticket and you decide to take your General test and pass it, then you will have General operating privileges at that time. Just thought I would throw that in.
Get in touch with ARRL. Schedule a test and take it. Take the practice tests, either free or paid for, it's your choice. If you don't feel comfortable, or that you're not ready, go back and reread the posts again.
Read the other posts about CB, 10 meter radios and scanners. There is lots of good information in there. Get you an Elmer from ARRL. They give them away free. And one extra last thing. Don't try to be a hotshot and fry your little girl's brain. Being stupid is not pretty or funny. It's kind of like being drunk, it ain't cute. Safety first.
We'll talk more later. 73, Frank
Hello, Frank here.
Hi, Ladies and Gentlemen, I hope all is well. We're going to pick up the tempo a little bit now. Today we're going to cover antennas, feed lines, amateur radio signals and be safe.
As you are aware, I am in the No Nonsense Technician Class Study
Guide on page 19. We've talked about a lot of this already - about
horizontally and vertically polarized antennas. But there is something on this page that you definitely need to know and remember. It's wavelength in meters equals 300 divided by frequency in MHz. Here comes your 'T' formula again. Draw a 'T', put 300 on top, underneath the 300 put meters, and on the other side put frequency in megahertz, MHZ. Now this is not a precise formula, but it will get you in the general ballpark. The 300 is constant, it does not change. Here is an example. You have a 2 meter radio.
Take 300 divided by 2 (meters) and you get 150 which is your frequency in MHZ. The VHF band for ham use is 144 to 148 MHZ. Let's take
one more. You're operating on 10 meters. Take 300 divided by 10 equal 30.
Now that's 30 MHZ, and the 10 meter HF band is 28 to 29 MHZ. Remember, this
is not a precise formula, but you're going to use it and you're going
to use it on the test. Remember we talked about: on a clean sheet of
paper, after you start the test, to write down some formulas? This might
be one you want to use. So, write down P = E x I and E = I x R.
Remember to make them into a 'T' and the problems of the universe are
solved. There will be one more 'T' formula I will share with you later.
Don't forget horizontal and vertical.
Here we're going to talk about beam antennas. To understand the difference, a vertical antenna sticking up in the air is an omni directional antenna. Most horizontal wire antennas for the most part
are omni directional. But a beam is a directional antenna. We all know what a dish antenna is because of satellite TV. But the most popular directional antenna used by hams is the beam antenna. Okay, so what does one look like? Picture the older type TV antennas used to receive free air TV signals. This is called a Yagi. These antennas are directional and you will point them where you want to beam your signal. This is very similar to granny pointing her TV antenna toward the TV broadcasting tower. So, now you know what a Yagi is.
Now we are going to talk about SWR, standing wave ratio. Standing wave ratio can be looked at as loss. The more the SWR, the more the loss. What this means is when you're sending a signal from your radio through your coax out of your antenna, in a perfect world you would have a one to one
ratio. But, we don't live in a perfect world, so you're going to get a little bit of feedback. There are lots of reasons for feedback: poor antenna radio match up; your coax is too small or in poor condition; and there are many other reasons also. If your radio signal went out the antenna perfectly, again, it would be 1:1. But, let's say that your antenna is not matched with your radio, or you have water or moisture inside your coax, or your coax is too small to carry the power you're trying to put through it, or it's short distance coax that you're trying to run a long distance. All of these are factors, but what happens is part of your signal starts to bounce back. When the signal bounces back, your SWR, your standing wave ratio, increases, therefore, part of your power is lost or absorbed fighting waves coming back. If your SWR gets too high, you can overheat coax, or you can ultimately fry your radio. So, this is SWR.
You're getting to the point now where you need an Elmer. We've talked many times about the ARRL website. It is an excellent place to get human help. Now is the time.
Amateur radio signals. We've talked about this a bunch. We'll talk about it a little bit more. FM is frequency modulation. Yes, there is an FM radio in
your car, and it is FM. But in this case, it is referring to a band of numbers or frequencies. AM is amplitude modulation. And, yes, you have one of these in your car also. And it is also AM. But then again, this is talking about a group of numbers or frequencies. SSB is single side band. There is upper side band and lower side band. It's the same stuff as when I talked about CB radios, there is no miracle here, it's the same stuff.
Continue reading this section. There is stuff here you're just going to have to figure out on your own. Some free test advice here. You're going to start seeing questions where the answer is, "All of these choices are correct."
If you know that all of the choices are correct, then great, just pick all are correct. But I found on the test that the vast majority of the time when you have a choice of, "All of these choices are correct", then that is the answer. This is not the case every time, but if
you're not sure if they are all correct, then it's a pretty good guess. Here is another freebie. If the answer has one of the choices as the FCC, then that is more than likely the answer. This is not to say that there are not other answers besides FCC, it's best to know the answers to the questions, but if you don't know the answer, then guess FCC.
Okay, folks, the next part is be safe, page 24. You've heard this multiple times, "If you don't know what you are doing, DON'T DO IT!" You've also heard this before too, "You do not want to fry your little girl's brain." Read this page, then read it again and again. There is no substitute for safety. It is not advisable to bring a lead acid battery into your house. Notice at the top of page 25. What causes explosive gas is that the lead acid battery is charged or discharged too rapidly. So figure it out for yourself. A slow charge does not produce explosive gasses. But for safety purposes, do not bring one in your house.
There are many questions here about putting up a pole for your antenna. More than one good person has electrocuted themselves on a windy day trying to put up some type of antenna or pole near a power line. I can't repeat this enough. If you don't know what you are doing, DON'T DO IT. Read the information about antenna, RF burns and you will see numerous references to, "All these choices are correct."
As I mentioned earlier, we are going to pick up the tempo a little bit. Please read ahead. If you have questions, try to figure out the answers first. There are numerous publications online and there is your public library. Or even,
surprise, surprise, contact the ARRL. Some of these guys there have been doing ham radio since before I was born. They will be happy to help you. They don't want their little granddaughter's brain fried. I don't say that to be funny, because it can and does happen. Keep taking the free practice tests, or the paid ones, if you went that route. If you want a more thorough understanding the ARRL sells excellent manuals and most of them come with a CD version attached.
Now I have a favor to ask. I need feedback. Have any of you taken your test and passed it? And are any of you actively pursuing your license? This is information I need for my own personal satisfaction. Please leave a comment. Because, ladies and gentlemen, if you can't see what is happening around you, then I am just spitting in the wind. But if you can see, and you plan to include communications in your long term future, then now is the time to get it done. Every day, your options diminish. Get it done.
We'll talk more later. 73, Frank
