Welcome to Ham Radio 201 New General / Extra Session Sponsored by
Agenda New Technician / New Licensee 8:00 Kickoff 8:40 VHF/UHF Gear 9:20 VHF/UHF Operating New General / Extra 10:00 HF Gear 10:40 HF Operating 11:20 HF Digital
Virtual Amateur Radio Club > 290 members groups.io 6 repeaters @ 2 sites Analog FM, D-Star & C4FM Dig IRLP / EchoLink VOIP Events Field Day Antenna Shootout BayCon Urban Shield Supports American Red Cross FEMA USAR TF 3 Radio Mala - Nepal 501(C)3 Non-profit Field Day!!!
Great Resources HamRadio 360 Podcast www.hamradio 360.com TX Factor www.tx factor.co.uk The Doctor Is In www.arrl.org QSO Today podcast www.qsotoday.com website
Speakers Jason K6DGN Beric K6BEZ George KJ6VU David W6DTW
New General / Extra Gear Sponsored by
What s in a Station? Antenna Power Supply Radio Feed Line Watt Meter Headphones Microphone Speaker
HF Radios Good Better Best $650-$1,000 $1,000-$2,000 $2,000-$4,000++ Standard features common to all radios Frequency bands, Modes, Power output So, what is the difference??? Performance - Quality - User features
HF Mobile Radios Good Universal Rig Same standard features as base radios Some w/ VHF & UHF Typically good / not great performance Much smaller Designed for mobile good for portable Easy to haul around Can have a cramped user interface
New / Multi Purpose Radios Icom IC-7100 HF, 6m, 2m, UHF D-STAR Mobile/Base config Icom IC-7300 HF, 6m SDR architecture Touchscreen Full Time spectrum display Yaesu FT-991 HF, 6m, 2m, UHF System Fusion Part time spectrum display
Mic Speaker Power Speaker FT-991 P3 Paddle K3 Keyer ID-5100 Computer
Headset Digimode Tuner EMF Meter Speaker Ant Sw & Meters Power Filter TM-742A Mic SW Computer Paddle TS-2000 120 Amp-hr AGM Power
Buy a Used Radio A 20 year old radio is still a good radio Price range: 50% to 75% of new pricing Ebay Craigslist Local operators Try before you buy if you can and test it
Portable Low Power Radios $900+ $650 $300 Optimized for portable use Backpacking / hiking / travel Battery operated Wide range of performance and features Wide price range
KJ6VU Portable Stations Tail Gate Portable Case 1 - IC-7100 Radio - LDG Z11 ProII Tuner Case 2-40 Ah LiFePo battery - Solar charger Case 3 - Mast, tripod, wire antenna SOTA Portable Elecraft KX3 8 Ah LiFePo battery Paddle Mic Tablet Speaker
Advanced Radio Features Performance Digital signal processing Automatic notching IF shift More sensitive / selective Lower noise Rx Better Tx audio processing Spectrum display / waterfall display Antenna Tuner Better Rx filters Keyer CW / RTTY / PSK decode
Typical Antennas Wire Dipole Vertical Yagi
Feed Line & Connectors Cable Attenuation @ 144 MHz Attenuation @ 440 MHz LMR-400 1.5 2.6 Best RG-213 2.3 4.5 Good RG-8X 4.6 8.5 OK RG-58 5.1 12 Bad RG-174 10.1 20 Dummy load Connectors N (Best) BNC (Good) UHF PL-259 (OK)
Accessories SWR/Watt Meter Computer Interface Headset External Speaker Desk Mic
Power Supply 13.8 VDC 35 Amps Fused power junction
Battery Power
Antenna Tuners Antenna tuner, a matchbox, transmatch, antenna tuning unit (ATU), or antenna coupler - Connected between a radio and its antenna - Improves power transfer by matching impedance of the antenna to the radio - If you have a resonant antenna you don t need a tuner Tuner types - Internal vs external - Manual vs auto tuner - Balanced vs unbalanced Antenna External at the antenna External in the shack Internal
Antenna Tuners Internal Tuners External Auto Tuner External Manual Tuner Elecraft K3 Max 10:1 SWR range Icom IC-7300 16.7 150 Ohms Max 3:1 SWR range
Tool Kit In-Line Volt / AMP Meter Antenna Analyzer Digital Volt/Ohm Meter (VOM) Soldering Iron & Hand tools Watt Meter PowerPole Crimper
Parts Kit PowerPole Connectors Fuses Coax adapters Resistors Capacitors Coax connectors Scotch 33+ Tape Rescue Tape Solder Zip ties Lugs
ARRL Handbook Fundamental Theory Electrical Fundamentals Analog Basics Digital Basics Practical Design and Principles RF Techniques Computer-Aided Circuit Design Power Supplies Modulation Oscillators and Synthesizers Mixers, Modulators and Demodulators RF and AF Filters Receivers Transmitters Transceivers Telemetry and Navigation DSP and Software Radio Design Digital Modes RF Power Amplifiers Repeaters Antenna Systems and Radio Propagation Propagation of Radio Signals Transmission Lines Antennas Equipment Construction and Maintenance Component Data and References Construction Techniques Station Accessories Test Equipment and Measurements Troubleshooting and Maintenance RF Interference Station Assembly and Management Safety Assembling a Station
Radio Advice Get a good quality / basic radio to start Consider mobile radios You will want to upgrade later Do NOT start with a QRP radio Any antenna is better than none Dipoles and verticals are good starter antennas Get the antenna as high as possible Get a CW filter if you plan on operating CW Invest in a good quality set of accessories and tools
10 Things You Should Do In your 1 st year 1. Set up your HF station 2. Join a local club and! 3. Register for Logbook of the World 4. Work a contest 5. Get a copy of the ARRL handbook 6. Try digital modes on HF 7. Assist with organizing a Field Day event 8. Attend the Maker Faire (or Hamvention) 9. Build a wire antenna 10. Operate HF mobile or portable
HF Operating Sponsored by
Basic Bands and Propagation New Bands! 630 meters 2,200 meters Requires application and approval
Basic Bands and Propagation Band 160m 80m 40m 20m 17m 15m 12m 10m DX Night in winter months Local day, further at night DX Night, local day DX Day & Night DX Day & Night Daytime Daytime Daytime Worldwide during sunspot high
Basic Bands and Propagation Solar Cycle
Basic Bands and Propagation Solar Cycle
Basic Bands and Propagation - Tools PSK Reporter http://www.pskreporter.info SolarHam http://www.solarham.net DX Cluster http://dxheat.com/dxc ebook: Understanding LF & HF propagation http://g0kya.blogspot.com
www.pskreporter.info
That Band Plan again 14.000 CW 14.070 RTTY 14.095 Packet 14.100 NCDXF Beacons 14.112 CW 14.150 SSB 14.230 SSTV 14.286 SSB Calling Freq 14.350 http://www.arrl.org/band-plan
Making your first QSO Calling CQ Find an open frequency Check band-plan CQ CQ CQ K6BEZ calling CQ May not get a response. Don t take it personally
Making your first QSO Answering CQ Caller calls CQ or QRZ? QRZ means who s calling me? Make sure you are on frequency Tune until the caller sounds normal K6BEZ
Making your first QSO Arrange a Sked A Scheduled Contact Work with a friend or club Useful for testing problems in setup
Making your first QSO The Exchange Location Country, City Maidenhead Grid Square Signal Report RST Readability 1-5 Signal strength 1-9 Tone (CW only) 1-9 Weather Station Details
Logging Software Ham Radio Deluxe Log4OM N1MM HamLog MacLogger RUMlog and dozens more
Morse Code Why? No longer required for license More popular than ever before Miles per Watt 10 db gain over SSB Low signal to noise Very narrow bandwidth Quiet operation Need transceiver and Key Need to learn new language
Morse Code How to Learn? Online PC www.lcwo.net www.g4fon.net Smartphone Tapes & CDs Broadcasts W1AW transmissions
HF Digital Modes Sponsored by
Why Digital?
Why Digital? The Bands are Dead! People stop calling on voice If no-one calls, no-one responds Lots of hams turn to digital in down times Good for high noise QTH Digital modes operate on spot frequencies No need to tune around More with less power Perfect for Remote Operation Can operate from your desk at work during lunch ;-)
Digital Modes Conversational RTTY, PSK31, Olivia, MFSK, Throb etc.. Conversational mode Take turns to type Cross platform, Open Source Software FLDigi http://www.w1hkj.com/
Digital Modes - Weak Signal JT65, JT9, FT8 WSPR Structured long overs Not great for conversation Great for DX Chasing Many miles per Watt JT65 10 db better than CW Cross platform software WSJT-X https://physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/k1jt/wsjtx.html
Digital Modes Packet Radio type FSQ Fast Simple QSO Good for group chats Like IRC or ICQ chat Set up relays or hops Software FLDigi FSQCall http://www.qsl.net/zl1bpu/mfsk/fsqweb.htm
Digital Modes Weather FAX WeFAX Download Weather forecast maps Great for remote sailors Software FLDigi
Digital Modes - Email WINLINK Yes, EMAIL over HF! Very slow Not private Be careful about Part 97 regulations http://www.winlink.org/
FLDigi Decode Signal Browser Sent Macros Panadapter
WSJT-X Panadapter Signal Browser Macros
Equipment Transceiver Low Power OK, especially on JT Modes Radio should be frequency stable Any modern rigs
Equipment Computer Desktop/Laptop Windows, OSX, Linux Anything modern Tablet/Phone Android/IOS Raspberry Pi Model 3
Interface - Audio Get Audio from computer to radio Does your rig have a USB connector? Mic by speaker (audio coupling) Not Recommended Audio cable Cheap option Can be noisy Dedicated Rig Interface Signalink or RigBlaster Include isolation transformers Knobs help set audio levels
Interface Rig Control Computer control Change Frequency PTT Serial Port CAT /CI-V Does your rig have a USB connector? Be sure to use an RF choke on your cable!
JT Modes - Timing Computer timing is critical Decoder is very time sensitive FT8 has a 2 second turn-around time Online? Dimension 4 software http://www.thinkman.com/dimension4/ BktTimeSync http://www.maniaradio.it/en/bkttimesync.html Offline in the field? USB GPS Puck GlobalSat BU-353-S4 Works with BktTimeSync (NMEA msgs)
Audio Settings Don t be a Lid! Disable Windows sounds Turn OFF AGC & transmit compression Set Input or Mic Gain so ALC not engaged Depends on radio see manual Set Radio to maximum power Set Tx power with audio level from PC/Rigblaster You don t want to look like this:
Getting Started Start with RTTY, PSK31 or JT65 ARRL Book Getting on the Air with HF Digital YouTube PSK31 Tutorial FT8 Tutorial Ask Questions
Welcome to Ham Radio 101 & 201 Sponsored by
Other Digital Modes Miles per Watt Low signal to noise Bandwidth efficient Quiet operation Need a PC or Smartphone
Other Digital Modes PSK31, RTTY, Olivia QSO modes JT65, JT9 Slow but very efficient Winlink2000 Email over HF