Welcome to Ham Radio 201 New General / Extra Session www.bay-net.org
Welcome to Ham Radio 201 New General / Extra Session Sponsored by Bay-Net www.bay-net.org Bay-Net www.bay-net.org WW6BAY Bay-Net www.bay-net.org Virtual Ham Radio Club > 160 members 6 repeaters @ 2 sites – Analog FM, D-Star & C4FM Dig – IRLP / EchoLink VOIP Events – Field Day – Antenna Shootout – Annual meeting – Urban Shield Supports – American Red Cross – FEMA USAR TF 3 – Radio Mala - Nepal 501(C)3 Non-profit Bay-Net www.bay-net.org Bay-Net Field Day !!! WW6BAY Agenda New Technician / New Ham 8:15 Kickoff 8:25 Gear Jason K6DGN 9:00 Operating George KJ6VU 9:30 Q&A Group 10:00 Done New General / Extra 10:15 Gear George KJ6VU 10:45 Operating Beric K6BEZ 11:15 Going portable Nick N3WG 11:30 Guest speaker Wayne Burdick, N6KR, Co-founder Elecraft 12:00 Done Bay-Net www.bay-net.org WW6BAY New General / Extra … Gear George KJ6VU Sponsored by Bay-Net www.bay-net.org Bay-Net www.bay-net.org WW6BAY What’s In A Station? Power Supply Radio Antenna Feed Line Watt Meter Headphones Microphone Speaker Bay-Net www.bay-net.org WW6BAY HF Radios Good $650-$1,000 Better $1,000-$2,000 Best $2,000-$4,000++ Standard features common to all radios Frequency bands, Modes, Power output So, what is the difference ??? Performance - Quality - User features Bay-Net www.bay-net.org WW6BAY HF Mobile Radios – Good Universal Rig • • • • • • Bay-Net Same standard features as “base” radios Typically good / not great performance Much smaller Designed for mobile… good for portable Easy to haul around Can have a cramped user interface www.bay-net.org WW6BAY Buy a Used Radio • • • • Bay-Net A 20 year old radio is still a good radio Price range: 50% to 75% of new pricing Ebay – Craigs List – Local hams Try before your buy if you can www.bay-net.org WW6BAY Portable Low Power Radios $900+ • • • • • Bay-Net $650 $300 Optimized for portable use Backpacking / hiking / travel Battery operated Wide range of performance and features Wide price range www.bay-net.org WW6BAY 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 Bay-Net www.bay-net.org WW6BAY Wire Dipole Typical Antennas Vertical Yagi Bay-Net www.bay-net.org WW6BAY 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 Bay-Net N (Best) BNC (Good) www.bay-net.org UHF PL-259 (OK) WW6BAY Accessories SWR/Watt Meter Headset Bay-Net Computer Interface External Speaker www.bay-net.org Desk Mic WW6BAY Power Supply • 13.8 VDC • 35 Amps • Fused power junction Bay-Net www.bay-net.org WW6BAY Battery Power Bay-Net www.bay-net.org WW6BAY Tool Kit In-Line Volt / AMP Meter Antenna Analyzer Digital Volt/Ohm Meter (VOM) Watt Meter Soldering Iron & Hand tools PowerPole Crimper Bay-Net www.bay-net.org WW6BAY Parts Kit • • • • • • • • • • • PowerPole Connectors Fuses Coax adapters Resistors Capacitors Coax connectors Scotch 33+ Tape Rescue Tape Solder Zip ties Lugs Bay-Net www.bay-net.org WW6BAY Fundamental Theory Electrical Fundamentals Analog Basics Digital Basics ARRL Handbook 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 Bay-Net www.bay-net.org WW6BAY 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 Bay-Net www.bay-net.org WW6BAY 10 Things to do in your first year 1. Set up your station 2. Assemble your tool kit 3. Register on the Logbook of the World 4. Work a contest 5. Get an ARRL handbook 6. Join the ARRL 7. Participate in Field Day 8. Make a CW or PSK contact 9. Build an accessory or cable assembly 10.Listen to a ham radio pod cast or video Bay-Net www.bay-net.org WW6BAY HF Operating Beric K6BEZ Sponsored by Bay-Net www.bay-net.org Bay-Net www.bay-net.org WW6BAY Agenda New Technician / New Ham 8:15 Kickoff 8:25 Gear Jason K6DGN 9:00 Operating George KJ6VU 9:30 Q&A Group 10:00 Done New General / Extra 10:15 Gear George KJ6VU 10:45 Operating Beric K6BEZ 11:15 Going portable Nick N3WG 11:30 Guest speaker Wayne Burdick, N6KR, Co-founder Elecraft 12:00 Done Bay-Net www.bay-net.org WW6BAY Basic Bands and Propagation Bay-Net www.bay-net.org WW6BAY Basic Bands and Propagation Band 160m Bay-Net DX Night in winter months 80m 40m 20m Local day, further at night 17m 15m 12m DX Day & Night 10m Daytime Worldwide during sunspot high DX Night, local day DX Day & Night Daytime Daytime www.bay-net.org WW6BAY Basic Bands and Propagation – Solar Cycle Bay-Net www.bay-net.org WW6BAY Basic Bands and Propagation – Solar Cycle Bay-Net www.bay-net.org WW6BAY 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 Bay-Net www.bay-net.org WW6BAY www.pskreporter.info Bay-Net www.bay-net.org WW6BAY 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 Bay-Net www.bay-net.org WW6BAY 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 Bay-Net www.bay-net.org WW6BAY 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” Bay-Net www.bay-net.org WW6BAY Making your first QSO – Arrange a “Sked” • A Scheduled Contact • Work with a friend or club • Useful for testing problems in setup Bay-Net www.bay-net.org WW6BAY 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 • … Bay-Net www.bay-net.org WW6BAY 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 Bay-Net www.bay-net.org WW6BAY Morse Code – How to Learn? • Online – www.lcwo.net • PC – www.g4fon.net • Smart-phone • Tapes & CDs • Broadcasts – W1AW transmissions Bay-Net www.bay-net.org WW6BAY Other Digital Modes • • • • Miles per Watt Low signal to noise Bandwidth efficient “Quiet” operation • Need a PC or Smartphone Bay-Net www.bay-net.org WW6BAY Other Digital Modes • PSK31, RTTY, Olivia – “QSO” modes • JT65, JT9 – Slow but very efficient • Winlink2000 – Email over HF Bay-Net www.bay-net.org WW6BAY Find Out More • PSK31 – Randy Hall, K6AGE on Youtube • FLDigi – Cross Platform • Winlink 2000 (email) – http://www.winlink.org/ • JT65 – http://www.bay-net.org/articles.html Bay-Net www.bay-net.org WW6BAY Digital Setup Laptop, FLDigi, Signalink & FT-817 Bay-Net www.bay-net.org WW6BAY Portable PSK FT-817 & DroidPSK Bay-Net www.bay-net.org WW6BAY Operating HF Portable Nick N3WG Sponsored by Bay-Net www.bay-net.org Bay-Net www.bay-net.org WW6BAY Agenda New Technician / New Ham 8:15 Kickoff 8:25 Gear Jason K6DGN 9:00 Operating George KJ6VU 9:30 Q&A Group 10:00 Done New General / Extra 10:15 Gear George KJ6VU 10:45 Operating Beric K6BEZ 11:15 Going portable Nick N3WG 11:30 Guest speaker Wayne Burdick, N6KR, Co-founder Elecraft 12:00 Done Bay-Net www.bay-net.org WW6BAY What Do I Need? Radio Microphone Key Antenna Coax Power Tuner Bay-Net Just Like Any Station… …But Smaller & Lighter www.bay-net.org WW6BAY Radio Ideas Elecraft KX3 Elecraft KX1 Elecraft K1 Xiegu X1M Yaesu FT-817ND Bay-Net www.bay-net.org WW6BAY Key SSB at low power can be frustrating, learn CW! Or, get on PSK/RTTY/JT65/etc. Begali Traveler Light Palm Radio Mini and Pico Paddle KX1 Paddle Bay-Net www.bay-net.org WW6BAY Antenna / Tuner Big Freakin’ Ground Plane (BFGP) End-Fed Good Ol’ Dipole Longwire w. Counterpoise Buddipole Alex Loop Super Antennas Yagi 31’ Jackite Pole Bay-Net LNR Precision EFT-10/20/40 Trail Friendly BNC Binding Post Adapter www.bay-net.org Elecraft T1 WW6BAY My Favorite Park Antenna Big Freakin’ Ground Plane (BFGP) Bay-Net www.bay-net.org WW6BAY My Favorite Park Antenna Big Freakin’ Ground Plane (BFGP) Bay-Net www.bay-net.org WW6BAY Coax • RG-174 is A-OK for me • Do you even need it? • You’re going to be sitting right next to the antenna anyway * Don’t forget connector adapters if needed. Bay-Net www.bay-net.org WW6BAY Power • You don’t need a huge battery • Always shoot for weight savings SLA Sealed Lead Acid HEAVY! Bay-Net www.bay-net.org Buddipole A123 (Li-Ion Nanophosphate) WW6BAY Where do I go? … Go To The Green ! Bay-Net www.bay-net.org WW6BAY Where do I go? … Go To The Green ! Bay-Net www.bay-net.org WW6BAY Quick Trip to Borel Hill Bay-Net www.bay-net.org WW6BAY Quick Trip to Borel Hill Bay-Net www.bay-net.org WW6BAY Quick Trip to Borel Hill Bay-Net www.bay-net.org WW6BAY My Pack Pack Elecraft KX3 Park (Heavy Okay) Elecraft K3 (100W) Par EF Trail Friendly KX3 Mic + Key Buddipole A123 Battery 50’ RG-8X 31’ Jackite Pole 20m Ground Plane A123 or 12AH SLA NOTES: • KX1 w/int. batteries on overnight backpacking trip. • That KX3 might become an FX4 when available… Bay-Net www.bay-net.org NOTES: • Parks with power outlets? Use them! WW6BAY Bay-Net Gear Guide http://www.bay-net.org/fd_gear.html Bay-Net www.bay-net.org WW6BAY What About Logging? Paper and Pencil always works… Or… Bay-Net www.bay-net.org WW6BAY 10 Things You Should Do on HF… In your 1st year 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Get on the air! Make a contact on every HF band Learn CW (the right way, not the way I did) Bust through a pile-up Make a contact on a radio you built Build a home brew antenna Recruit a friend, neighbor, co worker, or family member into the hobby without a repeater 8. Work a satellite on HF 9. Work a contest 10. Spend some time each week using CW only Bay-Net www.bay-net.org WW6BAY Agenda New Technician / New Ham 8:15 Kickoff 8:25 Gear Jason K6DGN 9:00 Operating George KJ6VU 9:30 Q&A Group 10:00 Done New General / Extra 10:15 Gear George KJ6VU 10:45 Operating Beric K6BEZ 11:15 Going portable Nick N3WG 11:30 Guest speaker Wayne Burdick, N6KR, Co-founder Elecraft 12:00 Done Bay-Net www.bay-net.org WW6BAY Welcome to Ham Radio 101 & 201 Sponsored by Bay-Net www.bay-net.org Bay-Net www.bay-net.org WW6BAY
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