Pullin the Trigger on Tuesday

[kd0fx]

Didnt see it in the test I took 10 years ago, most of it was on antenna radiation and other non sense that did me no good when making my first contacts.

I am going to start a thread on the basics and post some tid bits that might help some new folks.

The handbook and the operating manual did alot to help me with the issues you are talking about. However, I wouldn't call antenna radiation nonsense. The tech exam is supposed to start you on the basics of amateur radio's technical side and how radio works, not the etiquette of how to work stations. Just listening can help you out with that.

 

[packrat]

Not sure what you studied, but the stuff I studied taught about radio etiquette, how to make contacts, id'ing, ending a qso, basics of logging, radio types, how to hook up a radio, antenna and meters, how to build an antenna, power supplies,coax types and connectors, fusing, antenna types,lightening, etc... pretty much a primer for ham radio.

 

[W1MSG]

The handbook and the operating manual did alot to help me with the issues you are talking about. However, I wouldn't call antenna radiation nonsense. The tech exam is supposed to start you on the basics of amateur radio's technical side and how radio works, not the etiquette of how to work stations. Just listening can help you out with that.

I suppose nonsense wasnt the right wording, but most of the exams are based on the way things were done 40 years ago, it just isnt keeping up with whats going on today. Look at the CW test, it finally died out. Probably why the hobby hasnt progressed as much as the technology has.

Ok back to studying, I want to take my exam next week.

 

[packrat]

Things are the same now as 40 years ago. CW is still valid, and the ONLY form of comm that will get through when nothing else will, antennas haven't changed, nor has electricity. Physics is still physics. Propagation is still propagation. RF is still RF.

And, Good luck with the upcoming test.

 

[W1MSG]

Not sure what you studied, but the stuff I studied taught about radio etiquette, how to make contacts, id'ing, ending a qso, basics of logging, radio types, how to hook up a radio, antenna and meters, how to build an antenna, power supplies,coax types and connectors, fusing, antenna types,lightening, etc... pretty much a primer for ham radio.

I studied the Tech Exam study guide, didnt see much of what you descibe in the exam.

I am learning alot studying for the General exam, however my quess would be that very little will ever be put to practical use by me. I wont be building a rig from scratch. I wont even build an antenna its easier and most of the time cheaper to just buy one thats guaranteed to work.

 

[0x33f]

Ok here ya go, Pic's of the set up, the antenna's and the choke I built this morning.

Just heard 9A9A from Croatia on 20 meters, Man I need my General...

Looking good man, I could send you my 897 RT setup if you'd like.
I will most likely end up getting an 857 to go with my 897 for my base satellite setup (for full duplex SSB) after I get my K3 for HF and have a chance to save a little more.
Good luck on the general test it is easy

 

[0x33f]

I studied the Tech Exam study guide, didnt see much of what you descibe in the exam.

I am learning alot studying for the General exam, however my quess would be that very little will ever be put to practical use by me. I wont be building a rig from scratch. I wont even build an antenna its easier and most of the time cheaper to just buy one thats guaranteed to work.

The ARRL books cover all of these things

 

[kd0fx]

I studied the Tech Exam study guide, didnt see much of what you descibe in the exam.

I am learning alot studying for the General exam, however my quess would be that very little will ever be put to practical use by me. I wont be building a rig from scratch. I wont even build an antenna its easier and most of the time cheaper to just buy one thats guaranteed to work.

I hear what you're saying there, but eventually you will run into problems with even commercial solutions. This info is supposed to give you the background to help you identify and rectify, as well as use it to your best advantage.
Building an AM transceiver is on my to do list, but it's not real high on the list Same thing with code.

 

[W1MSG]

Things are the same now as 40 years ago. CW is still valid, and the ONLY form of comm that will get through when nothing else will, antennas haven't changed, nor has electricity. Physics is still physics. Propagation is still propagation. RF is still RF.

And, Good luck with the upcoming test.

I guess I'm not getting my point across. Why would I need to know the resistance of 3 resistors in parallel ?

CW is alive and well but only in the HAM Radio arena, you don't even need to learn it in the military any longer.

Yes all the things you list are still the same, its just the need to have a deep understanding of it is no longer needed unless you are building equipment.

Back to the books !

 

[kd-5-bgt]

Very nice looking set up!! I would like to have the 857 for mobil use....and good luck on the general test. I heard Austrailia early this morning (sunday) on 40 meters

And I did find the general class trest very easy to pass,easier than I thought it would be.

I get the feeling that I will be hearing you very soon on HF


I wonder what the chances would be for the hams on this board to have a rag chew session on HF sometime ?

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

I guess I'm not getting my point across. Why would I need to know the resistance of 3 resistors in parallel ?

CW is alive and well but only in the HAM Radio arena, you don't even need to learn it in the military any longer.

Yes all the things you list are still the same, its just the need to have a deep understanding of it is no longer needed unless you are building equipment.

Back to the books !

Well that's just YOU and YOUR desires. Someone else that writes the exam does need to know that because he has different interests than you do. He actually wants to learn how to build small stuff like shack accessories and repair stuff and is not content being an appliance operator. Some people have no problem with spending $50 for a cable to connect their radio to the computer while others spend $10 and a half hour making one. Others spend over $150 for a sound card interface while others spend $5 and make two cables that do the same thing.Amateur radio is the one and only radio service that allows the operator to make transmitter adjustments of a technical nature as well as build gear to use on the air and as such the operator has an obligation to prove he is capable of doing so properly. I only wish the exams had MORE questions of a technical nature. As for operating procedures etc. you can listen and learn, use common sense,pick up a book or all of the above. Everyone has different expectations and desires of what THEY want from amateur radio and you cannot have different exams for different people.The exams today are already a joke compared to what they used to be so be happy that you are not writing it 30-40 years ago or even 20 years. You would not have liked then if you don't like it now.

 

[Hutch]

I guess I'm not getting my point across. Why would I need to know the resistance of 3 resistors in parallel ?

CW is alive and well but only in the HAM Radio arena, you don't even need to learn it in the military any longer.

Yes all the things you list are still the same, its just the need to have a deep understanding of it is no longer needed unless you are building equipment.

Back to the books !

You've got your point across, there is a lot of antiquated things in the amateur radio syllabus. As you can see the reason it hasn't progressed or advanced is because a sizeable proportion don't want it to change or advance.

CW is wonderful, but it should no more be an entry requirement than being able to operate RTTY, PSK31, hook up an IRLP node or speak German.

I'd rather they focus on things that they don't seem to amongst American Hams, like using a reasonable amount of power to make a contact ( you don't need 1.5KW to talk a couple hundred miles), not tuning up on top of someones QSO, listening for a bit to see if the frequency is in use and if there is a DX contact and pile up 1 khz from your usual rag chew frequency move a little further away to discuss your bowels and prostate, but I'm happy that you know the value of three resistors in parallel though.

 

[Hutch]

Well that's just YOU and YOUR desires. Someone else that writes the exam does need to know that because he has different interests than you do. He actually wants to learn how to build small stuff like shack accessories and repair stuff and is not content being an appliance operator. Some people have no problem with spending $50 for a cable to connect their radio to the computer while others spend $10 and a half hour making one. Others spend over $150 for a sound card interface while others spend $5 and make two cables that do the same thing.Amateur radio is the one and only radio service that allows the operator to make transmitter adjustments of a technical nature as well as build gear to use on the air and as such the operator has an obligation to prove he is capable of doing so properly. I only wish the exams had MORE questions of a technical nature. As for operating procedures etc. you can listen and learn, use common sense,pick up a book or all of the above. Everyone has different expectations and desires of what THEY want from amateur radio and you cannot have different exams for different people.The exams today are already a joke compared to what they used to be so be happy that you are not writing it 30-40 years ago or even 20 years. You would not have liked then if you don't like it now.

Maybe he would have liked it 20-40 years ago because at least then there were things being built.

Post some pictures of all the stuff you've built in the last few years, it would be interesting to see.

Not sure what the random use of capitals is for.

The hobby has turned into one of communication rather than experimentation, that is a fact. Just like science and innovation are now corporate activities, at one time science was practiced in the shed or the basement. (yes there are still a few amateurs experimenting but I hazard it probable less than 1%).

No matter how much you long for the past change comes and happens, you either except it and change with it or become bitter and disgruntled.

When I wanted to learn more about electronics I went to school and took an electronics course, now there's an idea. The basic electrical theory and electronics that is included in the amateur radio syllabus is pretty useless. There's just enough to turn non technical people off and not enough to be of an use to any one else.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

Maybe he would have liked it 20-40 years ago because at least then there were things being built.

I highly doubt it. It's an individual thing, you either like it or not. Nothing is keeping him from building something today.

Post some pictures of all the stuff you've built in the last few years, it would be interesting to see. Not all of it is radio related but I'll get some pix over the next couple days. Some of it is actually commercial kits but you still need some electronics knowledge to assemble and align them.

Not sure what the random use of capitals is for.

To add EMPHASIS to the word. You know, when you speak you sometimes emphasize certain words but NOT all.

The hobby has turned into one of communication rather than experimentation, that is a fact. Just like science and innovation are now corporate activities, at one time science was practiced in the shed or the basement. (yes there are still a few amateurs experimenting but I hazard it probable less than 1%).

Which came first, the communication rather than experimentation aspect or the relaxing of the rules and requirements that lead to the change? Either way it is still better to know what is going on with your station than to simply disregard all complaints about interference and excessive bandwidth and that requires some basic knowledge of at least principles if not electronics in general.

No matter how much you long for the past change comes and happens, you either except it and change with it or become bitter and disgruntled.

Change will happen and I am neither bitter nor disgruntled about it. What I do detest is allowing someone with absolutely NO knowledge whatsoever of even basic electronics to be allowed to build their own gear IF THEY WANT or even run 1500 watts of power. That is nothing to sneeze at and with power comes responsibility so the saying goes. Maybe one does not need to know Ohms law and all the derivitives of it to solve interference complaints but one does have a certain responsibility as a decent person to do more than tell the neighbor "Tough shit man. See that little sticker on your television and stereo gear. That says I don't have to do squat so go *&#@ yourself."

When I wanted to learn more about electronics I went to school and took an electronics course, now there's an idea. The basic electrical theory and electronics that is included in the amateur radio syllabus is pretty useless. There's just enough to turn non technical people off and not enough to be of an use to any one else.

Good for you, I did the same thing and had a 22 year career in the broadcast business as a result. As for the electronics that is included in the amateur radio syllabus, if you actually learned the basics and not just what is asked on the exam, but then again unless you studied the Q&A's you would have learned the basics, there is some very good trouble shooting included as well as power supply and basic amplifier theory included, at least there still is up here. Perhaps the exams have been "dumbed down" ( BTW I hate that term but it is commonly used so WTF) even more down there I'm not sure.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

Here is a start.Here is theremote antenna switch I built. It uses 24 volt relays simply because I had a bucket full of them at the time. I used Potter and Brumfield KHAU-17D11 type with gold contacts. They were housed in a sealed aluminum enclosure and wired so that all unused relays were grounded and when the power was turned off everything went to ground. The first picture is of the front panel and as you can see it was built with an antenna for every band in mind. Since I had/have a tribander I used isolation diodes to allow the same relay to be selected when the switch was in the 10,15, or 20m position. I also set it up so that an external coaxial switch would engage below 30m and route to a separate feedline. The switch would select one of two VHF antennas by controlling a small coaxial switch due to the problems of using frame relays at 2m and up. All the HF stuff used the P&B frame relays.The use of both red and green LED's was to remind me which bands needed a tuner. On 20m and up no tuner was needed, I don't bother with 30m, and 40m and down required a tuner so hence the use of red LED's. When this was built I used the 40,80, 160,and extra A, B, C positions to select taps on a coil that was at the base of a vertical wire antenna. The taps were selected by yet more P&B relays and were housed in a box at the base of the tower. The cream of the crop so to speak came from incorporating a remote tune feature as can be seen by the small toggle switch. It is a spring loaded switch with center OFF and switches 120 volts to a split phase AC motor driven tuning capacitor also in the box at the tower base. This made tuning the antenna child's play, just select the band, key the TX, push the switch either up for clockwise rotation or down for counterclockwise rotation and watch the SWR meter. The motor drive has a 3600:1 ratio and only requires a 180 degree rotation so it usually only took 15 seconds at the most to tune the antenna and often just a few seconds depending on the position of the capacitor.I don't use it right now but I will when I rebuild the antenna system next year.



Oh yeah, I'm not taking the cover off to show you but the guts of the TenTec tuner seen in the pix was rebuilt too after the cheap toroid coil literally caught fire and destroyed the switch. I wound a new larger toroid and replaced the switch with a heavier ceramic type. No more fires on 160m and the matching is easier.

Here is the rear view and all the wires.