Foundations Of Amateur Radio

Foundations of Amateur Radio Over the years I've been asked what the hobby of amateur radio is all about. My response has evolved over time, but it started with the lure of simple point-to-point communications. The antidote against such an example is that a mobile phone does that and more. Of course if you're already in the hobby you know that there is a massive difference between the two, but if you're an onlooker that is not nearly as obvious. There are other problems with an answer like that. It doesn't cover the spirit of the hobby, the intent, the reach, or any of the other aspects of our pursuits that keep us all coming back for more. I was asked recently to provide a credit to a fellow amateur for providing inspiration for an episode. Since then I've reflected long and hard about the nature of inspiration and what causes me to contribute and participate. The reality is that my inspiration comes from all manner of nooks and crannies, from articles I read, videos I watch, discussions I have, activiti

Foundations of Amateur Radio During the week I received an email from a fellow amateur who described that they were feeling deeply disturbed by the decline of the core knowledge underlying the education and certification of today's new amateurs. This is a topic I've covered previously and some of what I'm about to say will touch on things I've said before. I come from a long background in information technology. My first introduction was around the Motorola 6502 processor in the early 1980's. At that time a computer with 5 kilobytes of memory was a big deal. I learnt to harness every byte and nurture every bit. I learnt machine-code, BASIC, Pascal and Modula-2, which went on to form the basis of my current profession. The reason I raise this is because there are many parallels in the evolution of amateur radio and the evolution of information technology. For many years I lamented the dumbing down of the skill-set associated with newly fledged computer graduates. In a nut-shell, hand-coded would always bea

Foundations of Amateur Radio During the week I celebrated my ninth birthday. You might think that I'm quite eloquent for a nine year old and you'd be right if it was related to how I came to be born. My ninth birthday as an amateur appeared in my diary unexpectedly on a Monday and I took the liberty of telling a few people. On one forum it started a wonderful series of comments from amateurs and would be amateurs about their experience coming to our community. I've shared mine before, so instead I'd like to share some of the stories that truly show just how diverse our amateur friends really are. Floyd KK3Q says: My Dad was into CB radio (back when it wasn't so bad) and I was his antenna guy. He had black lung so I was the one who took down and put up his antennas for him. In the process I learned a lot (ask me later about a "smoke poles" and "buried 12V batteries") Well, Dad and I got into the illegal SSB frequencies and one night we visited one of the locals who happened to be using a Kenwood 520 on 11

Foundations of Amateur Radio In the early 1990's when I was a broadcaster I would come into the studio and prepare my show. That involved hours of preparation, but on the technology side it involved vinyl records, reel-to-reel tape on open spools, looped tape on cart, running edits and razorblades. If you're not familiar, a running edit is where you're playing the tape at normal speed and you hit record at just the right moment to replace the content. Of course that also requires that the thing you're recording is synchronised. Imagine yourself with four hands and three ears and you'll have a good idea. Razor blade edits required that you mark the tape where the audio started, chop the tape at that point and stick it to another piece of tape. The joy of having sticky tape, razorblades and audio tape strewn around the room and hoping that the tape didn't let go when you transferred the audio to a broadcast tape. If you wanted to play a song at the right time, you had to start it by putting the needle on the

Foundations of Amateur Radio With the growing availability of new ways of communicating across the globe, from digital voice such as CODEC2, through weak signal modes like WSPR, JT65, MSK144 and FT4 to name a few, with Internet linked radio such as Brandmeister and DMR and the newly granted access to all Australian amateurs to all those modes, it's easy to overlook the one mode that started this adventure. Morse Code. It's no longer required to obtain your amateur license, so if that was putting you off from getting your license, you can breathe easy and get right to it. Among all the shiny new modes Morse Code continues to hold its own and for good reason. It's simple, reliable, has an amazing signal to noise ratio and if you're driving in your car and you're stuck without a Morse Key, you can always just whistle into your radio. If you've been following my journey through the hobby you'll know that I've been attempting to learn Morse Code. For a while now. It's been a challenge, more so since I spend l

Foundations of Amateur Radio A while ago I set up a WSPR, or Weak Signal Propagation Reporter at home. Before I go into the details, WSPR is an amateur radio protocol that allows stations to transmit their callsign, location and power level and for receivers around the globe to decode those and upload the results to a central database. It's a great way to see what you can hear and what propagation is like. A couple of months ago the regulator changed the Australian License Conditions Determination, the rules of engagement around amateur radio and now all licensed amateurs in Australia can even set-up a transmitter although I haven't yet. Receiving is plenty of fun and anyone can do that. Initially I used a piece of Windows software to track the contacts but to me it was like ordering a courier with an 18-wheeler to pick up a postage stamp. I looked around an found a piece of software that runs nicely on a single board Raspberry Pi computer. The software is called rtlsdr_wsprd, it's a mouthful, but it works

Foundations of Amateur Radio Putting a radio in a car. As you might recall, most of my radio activity is done away from my shack. I tend to operate portable, camping, sitting on a jetty or using a picnic table while a BBQ is going nearby. For me operating with my car as a mobile base made more sense than trying to cram an antenna in a home with little or no garden. Putting a radio in a car can be as simple as bringing a hand-held and hanging it from the rear-view mirror, or it can involve a mobile phone mount that allows you to clamp it in place. Pretty soon you'll want to have an antenna on the outside of the car, so then you start figuring out how to make it go through the car without needing to drill holes and sparking the ire of the other users of the car. Not long after that you'll want to charge it, then the microphone will become inconvenient, changing frequency, using it for more than talking on the local repeater. Eventually you might well get to the point that a hand-held is no longer appropr

Foundations of Amateur Radio The other day we were aligning an antenna for a contest. It had slipped on the rotator pole during a recent storm and when the rotator was set to zero it was pointing somewhere south east. Not ideal if you want to point your antenna at a particular station. The topic of the direction of north came up. There was vague hand-pointing, some mobile phone compass magic performed and north was arrived at. I asked if that compass took into account magnetic declination which in turn was met with blank stares. So, what is magnetic declination and where is north? It's likely that in school your first physics lesson was around magnetism. Playing with magnets is an easy way to start the conversation around science. One thing you learn in school is that opposite magnets attract. A north pole to a south pole and so on. A compass is a simple magnet with a north and a south pole. So, the north pole of the compass is attracted to the south magnetic pole of the Earth. This means that the Earth'

Foundations of Amateur Radio An interesting question came up the other day. It's there such a thing as a solo contest? At the time I answered with examples like talking to a hundred countries to achieve the DXCC, or doing that on every band. I gave other examples too, but today I'd like to come at this from a different angle. When you go fly fishing, you typically stand in cold water trying to tempt a fish into taking your lure. If you are in the right spot at the right time with the right bait you might be lucky and achieve momentary bliss with the capture of a fish. That moment, the peak of achievement when the fish bites, that's a moment for you and you alone. Of course you'll be able to brag about it later and bask in the glory of your achievement, but the moment itself is a solitary experience. Many aspects of amateur radio are exactly like that. The circumstances are not even that different. Instead of standing in cold water, you're having your eardrums assaulted by noise. Instead of a line you hav

Foundations of Amateur Radio The other day I looked in my diary and noticed that it was the anniversary of my first solo flight. If that's not familiar to you, it means I got in an aeroplane on my own for the first time, taxied to the end of the runway, made a radio call to warn all the other pilots, took off, flew a circuit and landed safely. All the essentials for flying a plane. It occurred to me that there was a period of preparation associated with that flight. I did training, I practised, I got my gear in order and then after all was ready, I did the actual flight. In a technical hobby like Amateur Radio it's easy to get stuck in any of the steps leading up to your first transmission. It's just as easy to get stuck getting ready to do a contest, activate a digital mode, climbing a SOTA peak. Each of those activities are part of our hobby and doing those can provide you with a sense of achievement, a measure of success and ultimately the confidence to continue in this hobby. I've said before that the

Foundations of Amateur Radio The other day I accidentally learnt something new. I know, it's crazy, sometimes I surprise myself. I received an email that announced an activity from something called WWROF, more specifically, the World Wide Radio Operators Foundation. It caught my eye, because it was announcing a webinar about an upcoming contest, as it happens the largest annual amateur contest, the CQ World Wide. The time zone for the webinar put it firmly during my sleeping hours, so I asked about the availability of a YouTube video after the fact. Got an email back from Founding Director, Mark N5OT, and you'll be pleased to learn that there is in fact a video, not only that, videos going back to the dawn of the organisation with topics focused on Amateur Radio Operating. There's information about Receiving Antenna Metrics; Constructing a Horizontal Waller Flag; Ethics in Contesting; RTTY or Legacy Digital Contesting; Solar Spot Cycles; Dayton Hamvention; High Performance Receive Antennas for a Small Lot

Foundations of Amateur Radio As you might know I enjoy doing contests, actually that's an understatement; I LOVE doing contests. I think that they represent an excellent way to learn about operating procedure, propagation, band selection, antenna direction, callsign recognition and dealing with adverse operating environments. In short, I think that contesting teaches you lots about amateur radio in a very short time. That said, doing a contest, or learning from a contest is challenging and for a new amateur it can be absolutely daunting. If you have the luxury of a club station, you're familiar with the following picture. Bunch of people sitting around in the shack, one person operating the radio. If the operator has their headset on, the conversation in the shack will be about life the universe and everything. If the operator isn't wearing a headset, the conversation in the shack will also be about life the universe and everything with the radio blaring in the background and the operator initially asking

Foundations of Amateur Radio About a year or so ago I received a message from a friend of mine. The message asked if I would have or could find a use for some amateur radio gear from their active amateur father who became a silent key. That started a sequence of events that leads us here, today. In the year that followed that message I became the grateful owner and archivist of an amateur shack that belonged to Walter VK6BCP (SK). Walter had two calls that I know of, VK6BCP, last logged on the DX cluster on the 5th of April 2012. His other call, from Switzerland, was HB9CAI, last reported on the cluster on the 23rd of February 2005. The more I dig into Walter's collection of all things that make a shack, coax, connectors, boxes with spares, power supplies, odds-and-ends, the more I find a kindred spirit. I never met Walter, but he and I share the same sense of order. We sort things in the same way, we have the same kinds of things on hand and it's gotten to the point where it's hard to tell where his shack

Foundations of Amateur Radio Lessons Learnt Learning to me is an ongoing process. For some reason that's not a universal experience. I've met people who cram for an exam, pass their test, get the certificate and hang out their shingle. The retained knowledge is spotty and vigorously defended as the final word on the topic. It's never been like that for me. I tend to walk through life intensely curious about the how and why of a thing. Take my recent adventures operating a new to me radio with a new to me antenna in a new to me location. It went sideways, fast, with little direct evidence of the experience to show for itself. I did learn several things. I expected that having switched on the radio at home, transmitting into a dummy load and receiving was enough to prove that the radio was operating normally. The fact that I didn't hear anything and didn't know if that was because of my set-up or the radio itself was not helpful. I expected that bringing a long-wire with a multi-tap un-un would guarante

Foundations of Amateur Radio Going on an outing After my fun and games working out how to manage power for a temporary radio set-up, away from my shack and normal infrastructure, I had the pleasure of actually going out to get on air and make some noise. A national contest was on offer and it's always been a favourite of mine. It's simple to log, you can work as much or as little as you like and there's generally a good community spirit associated with it. After mapping my way around the neighbourhood, I'd found a few candidate locations, nearby water, trees, parking, bit of separation from housing, all the good stuff you need when you go walkabout. Had the opportunity to configure the car, setting up in an underground garage, nice and cool, good light, perfect start to a contesting day. Found a suitable route for the power lead from the battery to the radio, set-up the various bits, microphone, dummy load, untangled the wire antenna, all ready to go. Got in the car an hour before the contest started an

Foundations of Amateur Radio Planning for an outing Recently I had the opportunity to use a new radio whilst I was far away from my shack. It wasn't unexpected, I took the radio with me, planned for the experience and packed light with intent. My original packing included a 10m length of coax, my analyser, some antenna weights, wire, rope, power leads, BNC adaptors, barrel connectors and a balun. Total weight came in at about 7kg. More than double the weight of the radio itself. The biggest weight came with the coax, so that stayed home. Got rid of all the "what-if" adaptors, dumped the antenna weights, dumped the balun and the analyser, added an un-un, and a multimeter and came in at just under 5kg. The idea was to operate from the car, chuck a long-wire into a tree and make noise. Then I got to where I was going and learnt that there were lots of SOTA peaks nearby. If you're not familiar with SOTA, it stands for Summits On The Air and it's a way of encouraging people to go out and make noise while also

Foundations of Amateur Radio Boating adventures The other day I was on a boat. That's right, me, on a floating thing, on the water, the ocean actually, steering and everything. I should confess that when I was younger I spent most weekends sailing as a sea scout in Holland. Managed to become a bootsen, that's the bunny in charge of a boat. Sea scouts, zee verkenners, was also my very first introduction to amateur radio through JOTA, Jamboree On The Air, where scouts across the globe come together, though it didn't make quite as much impression as breaking the middle finger on my right hand an hour later, but that's a story for another day. So, me, on a motorboat, a tiny one, but still. You may be wondering where this is going, trust me, it's relevant. In preparation for my boating adventure I pulled out my trusty hand held radio, a waterproof Yaesu VX-7R. If you're not familiar with it, it's a tiny radio, capable of tuning between 500 kHz and 1 GHz, not quite DC to Daylight, but impressive nonetheless.

Foundations of Amateur Radio Gate-keeping, special people and bullies. One of the recurring topics in my experience of amateur radio is that associated with people who use the hobby as an excuse to sow discontent. That comes in many forms, at the extreme end it's harassment, but it also comes in the form of gatekeepers and nay-sayers. It's important to realise that while this behaviour is not limited to amateur radio, we seem to have more than our fair share of the negative element. When you come into this community, all bright-eyed, excited, willing to learn, you might be astonished just how negative some community members can be. You might pick up a special friend who follows you around, either on-air, or on-line, rarely in real life, who makes it their mission to make your life a misery. This behaviour manifests itself with statements about the unsuitability of your license, your equipment, your gender, your knowledge, your examination process, your chosen frequency, your selected mode, anything that'

Foundations of Amateur Radio New Entrants are Everywhere The hobby of amateur radio has been around for a long time. It was here before I was born and it will be here after I become a silent key. The same is true for you. While there is a recurring discussion about the death of the hobby, the reality is that our community changes continually. People come and go all the time. Reasons for change are as varied as the number of people you care to look at, from interest through to family, from money through to time, from boredom through to excitement, from life through to death. As our community fluctuates, our skill level varies. We see new people come into the hobby, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, ready for a new adventure, at the same time we have people who are experienced, or jaded, or both, participating in the community and finding themselves answering the same questions over and over again. What radio should I get? Is this radio better? How do I do HF? How do I get my license? Where is everyone? How do

Foundations of Amateur Radio What's in a Watt? We need more power. I'm giving her all she's got, Captain! She cannae take anymore. I'm sure your Scottish ancestors are rolling in their graves right now, but in our community of radio amateurs we have a tendency to advocate the use of more power. More power fixes all problems and hides all sins. Another way to look at that is to think of the station with more power as an aligator, all mouth, no ears. Before you dismiss this as another avocacy for QRP or low power, let me point out that more power creates more interference, more potential for harm, more electricity consumption, more wear and tear and more cost. Previously I've spoken extensively about QRP communications, making contact with 5 Watt or less, but let's have a look at how much less. I've shared with you that I managed to contact a station on the other side of the planet with only 5 Watts, Perth to Cuba and for me that was proof positive that all this was possible, even feasable. We're doing