Got Your Ticket, Now What?? Introduction to Operating in Today's Ham Radio World Estes Valley Amateur Radio Club (EVARC) Part 1 -- April 21, 2012 Estes Valley Amateur Radio Club 2 Why Ham Radio Exists Many diversified interests and opportunities for many. In the U.S., recognition as a voluntary noncommercial communication service. Particularly emergency comm. Continuation of hams’ proven ability to advance the radio art. Extension of ham radio’s unique ability to promote international goodwill. Oh – It’s FUN, too! Estes Valley Amateur Radio Club 3 Activities of all Sorts! In a Confused Order! - DX (long distance) ops Ionospheric fun! - Mountain Topping Colorado - duh! - CW Morse code More bang per watt out - Emergency Comm. Stay tuned next week - Mobile & Portable ops RVs, cars, bikes, ….. - Moon Bounce (EME) Think big antennas! - Am. Satellite Ham Sats piggybacked - Digital modes ops All kinds of bits & bytes - QRP ops <5 watt output, worldwide Estes Valley Amateur Radio Club 4 . And more - Kit / homebrew construction Back to the future! - VHF/UHF repeaters Armchair talk, home or away - Radio / Internet hybrid IRLP, Echolink, . - Competitions Contacts galore! Awards. - DXpeditions Ops from remote turf! - ISS Contacts Since STS-9, 1983. US Station NA1SS - Amateur Image Comm. Both “stills” and TV images A good ref.: http://www.eham.net/newham/ Estes Valley Amateur Radio Club 5 Operating from Estes Park Note the CW key in the right hand and the computer screen straight ahead. The old and the new. Estes Valley Amateur Radio Club 6 How do we become proficient Hams? Listen, listen, listen!! Estes Valley Amateur Radio Club 7 7 Base Stations http://www.hamuniverse.com/setuphamstation.html 8 Estes Valley Amateur Radio Club Mobile Stations http://www.dxzone.com/cgi-bin/dir/jump2.cgi?ID=12686 9 Estes Valley Amateur Radio Club Portable Stations Estes Valley Amateur Radio Club 10 Antennas & Antenna Stuff Remember: halfwave dipole ~ 468/f(MHz) feet long Good “antennas” reference: www.ad4dx.com/pdf/basic-antennas.pdf Estes Valley Amateur Radio Club 11 Pick a (Frequency) Band Amateur Band Frequency 160 & 80 meters ~1.6 & ~3.800 MHz 60 meters Channelized, ~5.3 MHz Large 40 & 30 meters ~7.1 & ~10.1 MHz 20 meters ~14.2 MHz 17, 15, & 12 meters 10 meters ~28.5 MHz 6 meters Antennas 2 meters ~146 MHz 70 cm ~430 & 222 MHz Small 33 cm 902 MHz and UP Estes Valley Amateur Radio Club 12 Many Variations on the λ/2 Dipole 2 typical HF dipoles Estes Valley Amateur Radio Club 13 Common VHF/UHF antennas Example Calculation: Freq (mhz) 146 A (inches) 19 5/16 (Note "A" length is to the SO-239 insulator but not critical) B THRU E (INCHES) 20 3/16 LENGTHS FROM FORMULA ( 234/FREQ MHZ) + 5 % LONGER FOR RADIALS http://www.hamuniverse.com/antennas.html Estes Valley Amateur Radio Club 14 Antenna Safety Issues - Grounding - Electrical Safety - Lightning Protection - RF Exposure Good reference on ARRL website: http://www.arrl.org/safety Estes Valley Amateur Radio Club 15 Table 1 You must perform an RF environmental evaluation if the peak-envelope-power (PEP) input to the antenna exceeds these limits. Band Power (W) 160 meters 500 80 500 40 500 30 425 Threshold Power Levels for 20 225 17 125 15 100 RF Exposure Evaluation 12 75 10 50 6 50 VHF 2 50 1.25 50 70 cm 70 33 150 UHF 23 200 13 250 HTs SHF (all bands) 250 EHF (all bands) 250 Repeaters: Non-building-mounted antennas: If the distance between ground level and the lowest point of the antenna is less than 10 meters and the power is greater than 500 W ERP. Building-mounted antennas: If the power exceeds 500 W ERP. Estes Valley Amateur Radio Club 16 Antenna Safety RF radiation hazards Estes Valley Amateur Radio Club 17 What Frequencies and When? 160 and 80m Bands 80 is great “ragchewing” band, phone and CW Longest distance contacts at night (>200 mi.) 160 is “topband”, and similar capabilities to 80m Estes Valley Amateur Radio Club 18 60m Band – “Newbie” Only channelized HF band Max. radiated power limitation 100W ARRL bandplan updated & effective 3/5/12 Check details at: http://www.arrl.org/news/new-60-meter-privileges-now-in-effect Estes Valley Amateur Radio Club 19 40 and 30m Bands 40m is home to many! Phone and CW – good daytime & nighttime propagation (hundreds of miles +) 30m has similar prop. to 40m Limited to 200W output, CW & Digital only No Phone Ops Estes Valley Amateur Radio Club 20 20m Band Workhorse of DX (long distance) bands Usually, 20m is open to somewhere worldwide, day and night Phone, CW, digital all available Estes Valley Amateur Radio Club 21 17, 15, and 12m Bands Most activity in daylight hours, except during highest sunspot activity periods Not nearly as crowded as 20m Good DX with right propagation conditions Estes Valley Amateur Radio Club 22 Q Codes, RST, Phonetic Alphabet Some common Q codes used for CW (Morse code) operation QRM Is my transmission being interfered with? You’re being interfered with. QRN Are you troubled by static? You are being troubled by static. QRT Shall I stop sending? Stop sending. QRX When will you call me again? I will call you again at _____. QRZ Who is calling me? You are being call by ____. QSB Are my signals fading? Your signals are fading. QSL Can you acknowledge receipt of message or transmission? I am acknowledging receipt. QSO Can you communicate with ___ direct? I can communicate direct with _____. QST General call preceding a message to all hams and ARRL members. QSY Shall I change to another frequency? Change transmission to another frequency. QTH What is your location? My location is _____. 23 Estes Valley Amateur Radio Club The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Phonetic Alphabet A – Alfa (AL FAH) N – November (NO VEM BERR) B – Bravo (BRAH VOH) O – Oscar (OSS CAR) C – Charlie (CHAR LEE) P – Papa (PAH PAH) D – Delta (DELL TAH) Q – Quebec (KEY BECK) E – Echo (ECK OH) R – Romeo (ROW ME OH) F – Foxtrot (FOX TROT) S – Sierra (SEE AIR AH) G – Golf (GOLF) T – Tango (TANG OH) H – Hotel (HOH TELL) U – Uniform (YOU NEE FORM) I – India (IN DEE AH) V – Victor (VIK TORE) J – Juliet (JEW LEE ETT) W – Whiskey (WISS KEY) K – Kilo (KEY LOH) X – X-Ray (EX RAY) L – Lima (LEE MA) Y – Yankee (YANG KEY) M – Mike (MIKE) Z – Zulu (ZOO LOU) Bold syllables are emphasized Estes Valley Amateur Radio Club 24 Readability, Signal Strength, Tone (RST) System 25 Estes Valley Amateur Radio Club VHF & UHF Operations Repeaters and More! Estes Valley Amateur Radio Club 26 (ID is NØFH) Our repeater antennas on Pole Hill Road. Folded dipoles, pointed down the hill! (VHF is bigger – UHF are smaller.) Estes Valley Amateur Radio Club 27 VHF/UHF Mobile and Base Station Options Computer to Program HT Estes Valley Amateur Radio Club 28 VHF/UHF Mobile and Base Station Options 29 Estes Valley Amateur Radio Club IRLP Internet Radio Linking Project Estes Park’s repeater is IRLP capable Uses the Internet to link distant radio sites Gives global coverage to normally localized VHF and UHF frequencies Enables minimally equipped stations to communicate globally Allows end user control of links via their radio’s DTMF (Touchtone) keypad (Try “recorder” Node 9990 & hear yourself reply) http://www.irlp.net/ Estes Valley Amateur Radio Club 30 IRLP in Colorado Estes Valley Amateur Radio Club 31 IRLP in the USA, one day in March Estes Valley Amateur Radio Club 32 UK & European IRLP? Yes!! Estes Valley Amateur Radio Club 33 EchoLink The 800 lb. gorilla of Internet Linking For licensed hams, EchoLink® software opens up new possibilities for communicating around the world with other amateurs. Your PC (or Smart Phone) links you or your local repeater to any of thousands of other stations over the Internet. There are more than 200,000 validated users worldwide — in 162 of the world's 193 nations — with about 5,000 online at any given time. http://www.echolink.org/ Estes Valley Amateur Radio Club 34 EchoLink - www.echolink.org Estes Valley Amateur Radio Club 35 146.52 MHz* Common VHF/UHF FM Simplex Frequencies 146.535 *National Simplex Calling Frequency 146.55 (Add to your scanner!) 146.565 2 meter Band FM Simplex 146.58 (15 kHz intervals) 146.595 147.42 147.435 147.45 147.465 147.48 No Repeater 147.495 147.51 147.525 Assuming both antennas can “see” each other, try 147.54 Simplex from HT, mobile, or base stations. 147.555 147.57 http://www.hamuniverse.com/simplexoperating.html 147.585 Estes Valley Amateur Radio Club 36 “Grid Locators” Used in VHF/UHF One of the first things you will notice when you tune the low end of any VHF band is that most QSOs include an exchange of "grid squares." What are grid squares/locators? Well, they're more like rectangles, and are just a way of dividing up the surface of the Earth. Grid squares are a shorthand means of describing your general location anywhere on the Earth in a manner that is easy to communicate over the air. 2° Longitude by 1° Latitude Estes Valley Amateur Radio Club 37 Grid Locators for Colorado Estes Valley Amateur Radio Club 38 HF Calling - Standard Practice Calling CQ to Make a Contact Let's assume your license permits you to operate SSB on 10 meters. 1. Begin by finding a clear frequency such as 28.460. Speak clearly into the mike and ask "Is this frequency in use? This is VE3BUC." If you get no response you might ask a second time just to be sure.