AmateurRadio.com

I wrote, produced, and recorded Cornbread Road, a ham radio mystery series in 2010 when it was released one episode per week for thirteen weeks. After a successful run, I removed the files from the server as I never intended it to be continuously available.

But ever since then I have made the thirteen audio files available once a year for a limited run — for those who might have missed it. The audio series is available again right now, but only until the end of the month. On Halloween I’ll pull down the files until next year. Download them now or wait until next year.

It’s all fun, fiction and unlike any ham radio story you’ve ever heard told.

Filed under: Ham Radio Tagged: audio

Jeff Davis, KE9V, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Indiana, USA.

These are the three basic steps to getting your USA amateur (ham) radio license: 1) Learn the Material 2) Take Practice Exams and 3) Pass the Real Exam.

This article is very short and to the point, for a more detailed explanation see Stu’s article over at HamRadioSchool.com.

1. Learn The Material

The entry level ham radio license is the Technician License, so you’ll need to get a book that covers the theory, regulations and operating procedures required by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). My recommendation is the Technician License Course over at HamRadioSchool.com, which offers an integrated learning system (web, book and smartphone app).

While you can learn the material on your own, many people find classroom instruction to be very helpful. Check the ARRL web site for courses in your area or just do an internet search for “ham radio license class” and your location.

2. Take Practice Exams

The question pool for the Technician Level Exam is made public, so you have access to every possible question that will be on the exam. Better yet, various organizations have created online practice exams so you can test yourself in advance. After you study the material, take these practice exams to test your knowledge. Go back and study any topics you are having trouble with on the exam. A passing grade is 74%, so you’ll want to be consistently above that before trying the real exam.

These are a few of the available online practice exams: qrz.com, eham.net and aa9pw.

3. Pass the Real Exam

The FCC exams are administered by radio hams known as Volunteer Examiners (VEs), so the exam session is sometimes called a VE session. In most areas, there are exam sessions given on a regular basis. Check the ARRL web site to find a license exam session in your area.

Be sure to follow the instructions of the local VE team, since policies and procedures do vary. If you’ve studied the material and checked your knowledge by taking the practice exams, you should have no problem passing the Technician level exam.

4. One More Thing

Actually, there is one more step to this process. Getting the required FCC license is just the start, a learners permit for amateur radio. You’ll need to get on the air and gain some practical experience. It is extremely helpful to have some help during this process, so I highly recommend that you connect up with a local ham radio club. If you can’t find a club then perhaps make contact with a local ham or two.

There are many hams out there that are willing to help. However, it may be a challenge to find one. You can always drop me an email and I will try to assist.

73, Bob K0NR

Bob Witte, KØNR, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Colorado, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

It has been notoriously hard to predict future solar cycles, but the science is improving all the time. Right now, the experts are predicting that solar cycle 25 will be very small indeed. Some think we are moving towards another Maunder Minimum when solar sunspots all but vanish for around 50 years. If so, most of us alive now will never experience “good” HF conditions ever again in our lifetimes. Experts can be wrong!

See http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/01/25/first-estimate-of-solar-cycle-25-amplitudesmallest-in-over-300-years/  .

On a positive note, poor solar activity often means the lower frequency bands are better. With some luck, we may have a new international contiguous band at 60m in a few years’ time. This depends on WRC2015.

Regarding cycle 24, it looks like the peak was Feb 2014.
See http://www.solen.info/solar/  .

Roger Lapthorn, G3XBM, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Cambridge, England.

As 10m slides to the “quieter years” of the solar cycle it will soon be time to look again at using this band for local communications. It makes an ideal band to natter across town and I still think a 10m Fredbox is worth a go. The receiver, a simple super-regen is extremely simple, very sensitive with a simple RF amplifier, but lacking in selectivity so would NOT be useful when the band is busy. At night time in the quieter years it would be perfectly fine. The alternative is a simple 10m DSB rig, which would  be compatible with SSB transceivers.

At the moment, my poor health is stopping me doing both of these projects.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/10m_op?pli=1  .
See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/tenbox .
See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/10msimple_sb .

Roger Lapthorn, G3XBM, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Cambridge, England.

Fredbox 2m AM transceiver

The Fredbox was my design for a 10mW AM transceiver for 2m use back in the 1970s. It was rebuilt a few years ago and a 6m version was spun off. The same basic approach would work on 10m and 4m too, but I have not completed versions for these bands.

Even 2m 10mW AM was enough to work across the English Channel handheld on 2m and the 2m Fredbox made several 60 mile handheld QSOs . For quite a while it was used to natter across town in Cambridge. The Fredbox was named in honour of local Fred G8BWI back in the 1970s.

The Fredbox and Sixbox have appeared in G-QRP SPRAT and in Practical Wireless mags. The schematics also appeared in several foreign language magazines too. The circuits are basic and certainly capable of being improved.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/vuhf/fredbox.
See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/vuhf/sixbox .
 

Roger Lapthorn, G3XBM, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Cambridge, England.

A new software package for Windows from Simon Brown (G4ELI) is slowly emerging. Everyone should know Simon for being the original author of Ham Radio Deluxe, and most recently his superb SDR-Radio package: sdr-radio.com (currently as I write this the SDR server appears to be down?)

The new software is called Simon's Greyline and is a FREE download without any restrictions.

Latest version is Build 157 and is available from http://www.dit-dit-dit.com/Downloads.aspx

As I said before the software is"slowly emerging", so I expect more modules and additions to appear over time.

Here are screenshots from my system which the software allows you to produce via a press of a simple Icon at the top of the main Toolbar.

Currently the main screen shows a Map with Greyline and QTH info, with optional side panes, clock, solar data and geomagnetic data windows to the main display. Different configurations are available, you will just have to have a play around with what suits your mood.








From the top of the Toolbar there is a sub menu marked "More" which will then call up three other graphical sub screens via their seperate Icons.. Geomagnetic indices, Solar Data, and Sunrise & Sunset as below:

 
Geomagnetic data




Solar Data







Sunrise Sunset



This is a great addition to the shack desktop, for those who require up to date Sunspot and Solar flux Data. I currently have it loaded on a Windows 7 (32) package, but I expect it will work on XP and anything upwards without any problems.


Give it a try and have a play and see what you think?


Steve, G1KQH, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from England. Contact him at [email protected].

See http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_nkw=qrp+kit .

Occasionally I look on eBay to see what is on offer. Searching for “QRP kits” throws up quite an interesting selection of stuff, much of it only available by eBay and not otherwise advertised. Some of these items are good bargains.

Touch wood, I have never yet had a bad experience on eBay when buying or selling. Mind you, I would be very careful and not spend too much. Some dealers are good (the vast majority) but there are always a few “bad eggs”.

Caveat emptor.

Roger Lapthorn, G3XBM, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Cambridge, England.