Ham Radio

(See also: Software-Defined Radio)

Amateur radio, also known as ham radio, is an old hobby that has origins as far back as the late 1800's. It was formalized as a hobby in the early 20th century. It is an over-regulated piece of shit, but what isn't now a days.

Amateur radio operators, known as hams, make contacts all over the world. Activities include DXing (making as many distant contacts as possible), rag-chewing (having long, friendly conversations with other hams on the air), contesting (participating in contests that involve making specific kinds of contacts under specific conditions), EMCOMM (emergency preparedness exercises for when SHTF), QRP (making distant contacts with as little power possible), designing and building equipment, and many others. Hams operate using a variety of modes, including phone (voice over radio, usually FM or SSB), CW (Morse code), and digital (computers sending data over the radio).

Although the barrier to entry is higher than most other hobbies, ham radio is a hobby with seemingly infinite depth, that can provide a literal lifetime of enjoyment.

Licensing

Being an over-regulated piece of shit, in order to fully participate in (transmit) ham radio, you'll need a license, which you get by passing one or more exams. The licensing process varies by country.

Testing In The US

Element 2 Technician 35 out of 426 questions from this pool

Frequencies

80m

40m

15m

10m

6m

2m

1.25m

70cm

33cm

23cm

Element 3 General 35 out of 462 questions from this pool

Frequencies	2200m	630m	160m	80m	60m	40m	30m	20m	17m
15m	12m	10m	6m	2m	1.25m	70cm	33cm	23cm

Element 4 Amateur Extra 50 out of 712 questions from this pool

Frequencies	2200m	630m	160m	80m	60m	40m	30m	20m	17m
15m	12m	10m	6m	2m	1.25m	70cm	33cm	23cm

Find Testing Locations In The US

Get Your FCC Registration Number

You will need either an FCC Registration or Social Security number in order to take the exam. It is not necessary to register beforehand with the FCC, but it will speed things along if you bring the paperwork.

FCC License Data Search

For a fee of $15 USD you may take one or all three tests in one sitting at no additional charge. If you fail a test, you may spend an additional $15 USD to retake it. Your license is good for 10 years with a 2 year grace period to retest after expiration. You are no longer required to know Morse code for any of these tests.

FCC Part 97 The US Amateur Rulebook

Testing in Canada

The Amateur Radio Service in Canada is regulated by Innovation, Science, and Economic Development Canada (ISED, known until 2015 as Industry Canada), in accordance with the Radiocommunication Act.

An Amateur Radio Operator Certificate is required to operate an amateur radio station in Canada. A certificate is issued when an individual obtains a score of 70% or higher on the Amateur Radio Basic Qualification exam. The following are the qualifications available to Canadian amateurs:

Basic Qualification: Access to all Amateur frequencies above 30MHz. Must obtain a mark of 70% on a 100-question multiple-choice test on theory, practice, and regulations. The question bank is available here.

Basic with Honours Qualification: Same as Basic, but with access to all Amateur frequencies. Obtained by scoring 80% on the Basic exam.

Morse Code Qualification: Access to all Amateur frequencies (notice that this one doesn't do anything for you if you passed the basic exam with an 80). Must demonstrate the ability to send and receive Morse code at 5 words per minute. Passing score is 100% (up to 5 mistakes).

Advanced Qualification: Access to all Amateur frequencies, higher power, ability to set up automatic stations like repeaters, ability to operate remote stations (i.e. over the internet), ability to design and build transmitting equipment. Obtained by scoring 70% on the 50-question, multiple-choice Amateur Radio Advanced Qualification exam. The question bank is available here.

The Basic Qualification must be obtained first in order to be issued an Amateur Radio Operator Certificate and a call sign, but the other qualifications may be obtained in any order.

The United States and Canada have a reciprocal operating agreement, so Canadian amateurs may operate in the U.S. and vice-versa without any paperwork or permit. Amateurs must follow the regulations of the country they are in, and not exceed the privileges they are licensed for in their home country. U.S. amateurs operating in Canada must identify with their FCC call sign, followed by 'mobile' (voice) or '/' (CW), followed by the call sign prefix of the province they are operating in. For example, "W1AW mobile VE9" in New Brunswick. Likewise, Canadian amateurs must do the same with their ISED call sign when operating in the U.S.

Citizens of CEPT member countries may operate in Canada, so long as they have been issued a CEPT permit. Unlike U.S. amateurs operating in Canada, CEPT-country amateurs must identify with the call sign prefix of the province they are in first, followed by their own call sign, for example "VE9/G5LK"

One difference between Canadian and U.S. regulations is that in Canada, there is no mandatory band plan.

The national association for amateur radio in Canada is Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC).

Theory

Maths You Should Know

Ohm's Law

Solve For Watts	Amp2 x Ohm	Volt2 / Ohm	Volt x Amp
Solve For Volts	Amp x Ohm	√Watt x Ohm	Watt / Amp
Solve For Amps	Volt / Ohm	Watt / Volt	√Watt / Ohm
Solve For Ohms	Volt2 / Watt	Volt / Amp	Watt / Amp2

Speed of Light Is a Constant 299,792,458 Meters Per Second

Wavelength is represented in Meters as λ

Frequency is represented in Mega Hertz as f

Speed of Light c (300MM) / Frequency f (MHz) = Wavelength λ (Meters)

This is the basic formula to find full wavelength in meters for a given frequency.

Operating Procedures

ITU Radio Bands

VLF	LF	MF	HF	VHF	UHF	SHF
3 to 30 kHz	30 to 300 kHz	300 to 3 MHz	3 to 30 MHz	30 to 300 MHz	300 to 3 GHz	3 to 30 GHz

Q Codes

For a full list of Q codes, see Wikipedia.

Q codes are a shorthand system used in amateur radio. They're primarily used when operating CW (Morse code), but some are also commonly used when operating phone (voice).

These are the most common Q codes you'll run into:

	As a question (followed by '?')	As a statement	Notes
QTH	What is your position?	My position is...	Typically used on voice. Example: "My QTH is New York."
QSO	Can you communicate with ____?	I can communicate with ____.	In common usage, a QSO refers to a contact. E.g.: "Thanks for the QSO!", "I made 100 QSOs this weekend".
QSL	Can you acknowledge receipt?	I acknowledge receipt.	QSLing is also used to refer to confirming contacts. This is done with physical postcards, called QSL cards, or digitally via sites like Logbook of the World and eQSL. Confirmed contacts can be used as credit for certain awards.
QRZ	Who is calling me?	You are being called by...	Typically used on voice. During a "pileup", when multiple stations are trying to call one distant station, the distant station will ask "QRZ?" when he has finished working one station, so that the next station can give his call sign.
QRP	Shall I decrease my transmitter power?	Decrease transmitter power.	QRP also refers to the activity of running low-power stations. E.g.: "I'm QRP", "I'm running QRP", "I mainly run QRP".
QRS	Shall I send more slowly?	Send more slowly.	Only applicable to CW.

Radiograms

To ease congestion on the line, the ARRL has made numbered radiograms to summarize direct messages to other users. These also are primarily used on CW transmissions. Other services, including the US Military, and the police, have their own Radiogram systems that are incompatible with this. The ARRL has other forms of radiograms, but the numbered system is the most common. An example of this in practice would be saying CALLSIGN CALL CALLSIGN2 ARRL SIXTY TWO CHRISTMAS. These are what are more commonly known as "Brevity Codes"

Codeword	Expansion
Group One—For Possible Relief Emergency Use
ONE	Everyone safe here. Please don't worry.
TWO	Coming home as soon as possible.
THREE	Am in _____ hospital. Receiving excellent care and recovering fine.
FOUR	Only slight property damage here. Do not be concerned about disaster reports.
FIVE	Am moving to new location. Send no further mail or communication. Will inform you of new address when relocated.
SIX	Will contact you as soon as possible.
SEVEN	Please reply by Amateur Radio through the amateur delivering this message. This is a free public service.
EIGHT	Need additional _____ mobile or portable equipment for immediate emergency use.
NINE	Additional _____ radio operators needed to assist with emergency at this location.
TEN	Please contact _____. Advise to standby and provide further emergency information, instructions or assistance.
ELEVEN	Establish Amateur Radio emergency communications with _____ on _____ MHz.
TWELVE	Anxious to hear from you. No word in some time. Please contact me as soon as possible.
THIRTEEN	Medical emergency situation exists here.
FOURTEEN	Situation here becoming critical. Losses and damage from _____ increasing.
FIFTEEN	Please advise your condition and what help is needed.
SIXTEEN	Property damage very severe in this area.
SEVENTEEN	REACT communications services also available. Establish REACT communication with _____ on channel _____.
EIGHTEEN	Please contact me as soon as possible at _______.
NINETEEN	Request health and welfare report on _____. (State name, address and telephone number.)
TWENTY	Temporarily stranded. Will need some assistance. Please contact me at _____.
TWENTY ONE	Search and Rescue assistance is needed by local authorities here. Advise availability.
TWENTY TWO	Need accurate information on the extent and type of conditions now existing at your location. Please furnish this information and reply without delay.
TWENTY THREE	Report at once the accessibility and best way to reach your location.
TWENTY FOUR	Evacuation of residents from this area urgently needed. Advise plans for help.
TWENTY FIVE	Furnish as soon as possible the weather conditions at your location.
TWENTY SIX	Help and care for evacuation of sick and injured from this location needed at once.
Group Two—Routine Messages
FORTY SIX	Greetings on your birthday and best wishes for many more to come.
FORTY SEVEN	Reference your message number _____ to _____ delivered on _____ at _____ UTC.
FIFTY	Greetings by Amateur Radio.
FIFTY ONE	Greetings by Amateur Radio. This message is sent as a free public service by ham radio operators at _______. Am having a wonderful time.
FIFTY TWO	Really enjoyed being with you. Looking forward to getting together again.
FIFTY THREE	Received your _______. It's appreciated; many thanks.
FIFTY FOUR	Many thanks for your good wishes.
FIFTY FIVE	Good news is always welcome. Very delighted to hear about yours.
FIFTY SIX	Congratulations on your _______, a most worthy and deserved achievement.
FIFTY SEVEN	Wish we could be together
FIFTY EIGHT	Have a wonderful time. Let us know when you return.
FIFTY NINE	Congratulations on the new arrival. Hope mother and child are well.
SIXTY	Wishing you the best of everything on _______.
SIXTY ONE	Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
SIXTY TWO	Greetings and best wishes to you for a pleasant _______ holiday season.
SIXTY THREE	Victory or defeat, our best wishes are with you. Hope you win.
SIXTY FOUR	Arrived safely at _______.
SIXTY FIVE	Arriving _______ on _______. Please arrange to meet me there.
SIXTY SIX	DX QSLs are on hand for you at the _______ QSL Bureau. Send _______ self addressed envelopes.
SIXTY SEVEN	Your message number _______ undeliverable because of _______. Please advise.
SIXTY EIGHT	Sorry to hear you are ill. Best wishes for a speedy recovery.
SIXTY NINE	Welcome to the _______. We are glad to have you with us and hope you will enjoy the fun and fellowship of the organization.

Morse Code

Chart of the Morse code 26 letters and 10 numerals.<ref name='itu-r'/>

Morse Code, also known as Continuous Wave (or CW) was once required for passing your test. It now is no longer required, but a good skill to have. Morse Code is easier to learn than you'd think. Each letter and number actually is based in the shape of the character. Learning this way is known as the Mnemonic method.

A person with satisfactory understanding has a WPM of about 30, while more advanced operators can have upwards to 90-110 WPM. Once you are an advanced user, you will no longer hear dits and das but you will hear the words as its own language.

Antennas

Antenna Math

Loop Antennas are full wavelength with one element.

c/f=λ Element Length

Dipoles are half wave with two elements.

c/f/2 = λ/2 Element Lengths

Ground Planes must be at least quarter wave with one vertical and four radial elements.

c/f/4 = λ Vertical Element Length

c/f/4 = λ Radial Element Lengths

3 Element Yagi Yagis are directional antennas consisting of a boom with reflector, driven, and director elements.

c/f = λ*.495 = Reflector Element Length

c/f = λ*.125 = Boom Separation Length

c/f = λ*.473 = Driven Element Length

c/f = λ*.125 = Boom Separation Length

c/f = λ*.440 = Director Element Length

Feedlines

RG6 is common and cheap, but higher resistance at 75 Ohms. You should not use this.

RG58 is cheap, 50 Ohms, and perfectly acceptable for HF.

RG8X is slightly more expensive than RG58, but lower loss.

RG213 is double the price of RG58 and RG8X, but lower attenuation at higher frequencies.

RG8U is almost identical to RG213 in price and attenuation, but has lower loss per 100ft.

LMR400 is exceptional at higher frequencies as well as low. If your software radio can do 1GHz-6GHz, this is what you get.

Lightning Protection

If your antenna is outdoors, you should take precaution to prevent yourself and your gear from becoming dead. Metal antenna mounts should be grounded using 10 gauge insulated solid core copper wire. Your coax should have a lightning arrestor between the antenna and your equipment. The arrestor should be mounted near the lightning rod it's grounded to. To prevent moisture ingress, the arrestor and coax connectors should be placed in a plastic electrical box. If you have a wire dipole antenna, you should use ceramic insulators at both ends and guy rope to tie between two points.