Ham Radio Terms
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GLOSSARY HAM RADIO TERMS This is glossary contains general definitions of typical amateur radio terms. Not all of the defini- tion listed may apply to your specific model of radio. Consult the manufacture for further clarifi- cation of model-specific terms. A ACC (ACCessory) Antenna matching When the antenna’s impedance at resonance is at Adaptive filter optimum performance for your transmitter output cir- Digital filter associated with Digital Signal Process- cuit. ing. Antenna tuner Adjacent-channel interference Device used to match an antenna to the output im- When a receiver is tuned to a specific frequency and pedance of a transmitter. interference is received on a nearby frequency. APC (Automatic Power Control) AF (Audio Frequency) Current limiting of power amplifier to prevent dam- age to finals in high SWR conditions. AFC (Automatic Frequency Control) Automatically compensate frequency drift. APRS (Automatic Position Reporting System) In conjunction with a GPS and TNC provide position AFSK reporting. Audio Frequency Shift Keying, a form of digital sig- nalling. ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service) ARES is a public-service organization of the ARRL. AGC (Automatic Gain Control) Automatically optimize receiver amplifier gain. ARRL (The American Radio Relay League) The National Association for Amateur Radio in the ALC (Automatic Level Control) US. Limits RF drive level to power amplifier during trans- mit to prevent distortion. ASCII ( American National Standard Code for Informa- tion Interchange) AM (Amplitude Modulation) A seven-unit digital code for the transmission of tel- Amplifier eprinter data. A device used to increase the output power of a de- ATT (ATTenuator) vice. A network designed to reduce the amplitude of a sig- AMSAT (AMateur SATellite) nal. AMTOR (AMateur Teleprinting Over Radio) ATV (Amateur Television) A form of RTTY, radio teletype. FSTV, SSTV Anderson power poles Auto patch Used by many emergency radio operators to con- Used in repeater operation for telephone intercon- nect 12 volts DC to their radios. nect. ANF (Automatic Notch Filter) Average power Power measured on standard power meter. ANL (Automatic Noise Limiter) Eliminates impulse and static noise peaks. ANT (ANTenna) Antenna ground system Term used for a RF reference potential for some types of antennas. Most unbalanced or asymmetrical antennas need a good RF ground. Antenna impedance The impedance of an antenna at its resonance. Al- though an antenna’s impedance fluctuates with the frequency of operation, an antenna should be 50 Ω for most transceivers. 1 B Backscatter A Radio signals reflected back from ionized patches in the ionosphere. B Backstay C Rigging to support the mast in maritime mobile in- stallations, usually insulated for HF antenna pur- D poses. Balun E A simple transformer used to change an unbalanced input to a balanced output. F Band G A range of frequencies. Bandwidth H Frequency needed for particular type of emission. I Bank Memory bank J BCI (BroadCast Interference) K Beacons Ham radio signals used for propagation study, found L on specific frequencies. BFO (Beat Frequency Oscillator) M BNC (Bayonet Neill-Concelman) N A type of antenna connector. O BPF (BandPass Filter) Bunny hunt P Finding hidden transmitters, sometimes called “T HUNTING” and “Fox Hunting.” Q Busy lockout R Inhibits transmit on a frequency in use. S T U V W X Y Z 2 C Call sign CTCSS (Continuous Tone Coded Squelch System) Sequence of letter and numbers used to identify Adds a continuous sub-audible low frequency tone amateur radio operators and issued by the countries to the transmitted carrier. Receivers set for the same licensing bureau. low frequency tone can decode signal to hear the audio. CAP (Civil Air Patrol) Volunteer affiliate of the United States Air Force. CW 1) Carrier Wave Capture effect 2) ClockWise Only the strongest signal heard over an FM re- ceiver. CW filter Used to narrow the IF passband to improve recep- Carrier tion selectivity in crowded band conditions. An unmodulated transmitted signal. Carrier frequency offset (=Carrier Shift) Distance between mark and space of the carrier for RTTY or similar communications. CBR (Cross Band Repeater) A repeater which receive incoming signal and re- transmit it in different bands— e.g. receives 144 MHz bands and re-transmits 430(440) MHz bands. CCW (Counter ClockWise) CH (CHannel) Sequence of memory positions where frequency and related information is stored. CI-V Icom computer Control Interface allows multiple radio control simultaneously. Clipping Overdriving an amplifier circuit, causing the signal to drop out on voice peaks. (AKA: Flat topping a sig- nal) Contesting Working as many stations as you can over a specific amount of time. Conversion Number of IF circuits in the receiver. Coronal hole Sunspot activity that may lead to enhanced VHF and 10 meter propagation. CPU (Central Processing Unit) CQ Radio communications term used to call others. Crossband repeat A mode in many dual band radios where a radio transmits on one band, a crossband repeater trans- mits the received signal on another band, which is heard back by the radio on the other band. 3 D D-RATS Doppler shift A Multi-platform integrated tool for communicating Common in satellite communications, where signals digital information, developed for First Responders, may very up or down in frequency, as the satellite B using D-STAR radios. approaches and departs from view. C D-STAR Downconverter Digital Smart Technologies for Amateur Radio, an A device to take higher frequencies, and lower them D open protocol. to appear at a lower frequency, for reception. Data communications Downlink (↔Uplink) E Transfer of data between two or more locations. Frequency that repeater or satellite transmits on to a user. F dBd Unit of RF power as compared to an ideal half wave DSP (Digital Signal Processor) G dipole antenna. Used to improve the signal to noise ratio for clearer and more legible communications. Relatively new to H dBi the ham radio. Unit of RF power as compared to an isotropic an- tenna. DTCS (Digital Tone Coded Squelch) I A Selective call system. dBm J Decibels measure, 1 mW with a load impedance of DTMF (Dual Tone Multi-Frequency (=touch-tone)) 600 Ω (0 dBm=1 mW). Used for transmit/receive numeric information such K as phone number, PIN, remote radio control com- DC (Direct Current) mands, etc. L DC ground Dualwatch A connection point directly to chassis or battery Receiving two signals simultaneously. M ground to prevent build-up of hazardous DC volt- ages. Dummy load N A non radiating 50 Ω load connected to the transmit- DCS ter to replace the antenna for testing purposes. Digital Coded Squelch, a method of silencing radios O until a specific string of tones are received to open Duplex the audio stage. An alternate to CTCSS. An operation mode in which the transmit and receive P frequencies are different. Deviation Q A measurement for an FM signal for the maximum Duplexer frequency changes on either side of the carrier fre- A device which divides transmit and receive sig- R quency. nals. Digital communications Duty cycle S Information sent digitally, which may be decoded as The ratios of transmit to receive time. voice, data, and/or video. T Dx’pedition Dipole Trip to foreign land or rare entity to operate ham TU A half wave antenna, with a bi-directional radiation radio. pattern. V Distress call Signals a life-threatening situation. Most commonly W referred to as an SOS or MAYDAY call. X Distress frequency A frequency or channel specific for use in distress Y calling. Radiotelephone distress frequencies are 2.182 MHz and 156.8 MHz. Survival craft use 243 MHz. Maritime distress frequencies are the same, Z while general aviation frequencies are 121.5 MHz. 4 E F E LAYER F CONNECTOR The ionospheric layer usually responsible for most Found on 440 MHz and 1.2 GHz antenna circuits. 10 meter and 6 meter skywaves over 1500 mile paths. Appears especially in summer season. Fading Signal reduction due to atmospherics. EBS (Emergency Broadcast System) A system where at first an attention tone is trans- Feed point mitted over all station ad the second tone followed Where the coaxial cable or ladder line joins the ac- with specific instruction regarding the receivable fre- tive antenna. quency in the national emergency. Filter EEPROM ( Electrically Erasable and Programmable A circuit designed to pass only the desired Read Only Memory) frequency(s). EME FM Earth Moon Earth, also known as moon bounce, is a 1) Frequency Modulation radio technique where amateur radio operators op- 2) FM broadcast erate via reflected signals from the Moon. Making a Foldback signal path from an earth bound station, reflected off A circuit to limit power output when the transmitter the moon, back to another earth bound station. senses elevated SWR or temperatures. EMI FSK (Frequency Shift Keying) Electromagnetic Interference, sometimes caused by battery chargers and inverters. FSTV (Fast Scan TV) Graphics (and audio) communication using TV Emission broadcast signals, requires a wide bandwidth. Transmission of a signal Full duplex An operation mode, which transmits and receives on different frequencies at the same time, as a tel- ephone communication. Fuse An intentional weak link to guard against overload. 5 G H GaAs FET Ham A Sensitive transistor, found in VHF/UHF receiver am- A licensed radio operator who enjoys the hobby and plifiers, with a low noise floor. service of radio communications. B Ground Plane Harmonic C A type of Omni-directional antenna. Multiple of a fundamental frequency. Ground Wave Heat sink D Electrical wave directly travelling from transmitter. The heavy fins on the back of a transmitter to dis- sipate heat buildup. E Grounding Electrical connection to the earth. HF (High Frequency) F 3–30 MHz range signals.