A Beginner's Guide to Ham Radio

By George Freeman

Why do we Need Ham?

Ham radio is a fun hobby that affords you to talk to other Ham radio operators locally and around the world. Depending on your license class, Ham radio is used for a wide variety of activities. It is also useful in emergencies, search and rescue operations in disaster situations where all communication networks are down. The beauty of ham radio is that it is independent of any resources whether grid or internet for operation. Grab this guide today and learn all you need to know about Ham Radio.

• Language: English
• Publisher: George Freeman
• Release date: Sep 11, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386701798

Book preview

Copyright

Dedication

1

Radio Frequency Fundamental

The Frequency Spectrum

Modulation and Signals

Characteristics of Radio Wave And The Ionosphere

Standard Call Sign Phonetics

2

Radio Services

Obtaining Ham Radio License

Technician Class

General Class

Extra Class

United States Amateur Radio Bands

Types of Communication

Very High Frequency (VHF)

The BaoFeng UV-5R Dual Band Two Way Radio

Link Repeater System

High Frequency (HF) Communications

Mobile Radio Antennas

Types of Mobile Radio Antennas

VHF Phantom

Wide Band VHF Antenna

Comet SBB-1

800-Quarter Wave Antenna

Elevated Feed UHF Only Antenna

VHF Quarter Wave

NMO 27 Antenna

NMO 150

TRAM Dual Band

Browning Antenna

Maxrad 5/8 Wave Antenna

Mini Magnet Antenna

Helical Antenna

NMO 50

Antenna Patterns

Characteristics of Antennas

3

Basic Electricity, components and schematics Symbols

Ohms Law

Electronic Metrics System

Decibel System

4

Ham or Amateur Radio: Getting Started

Why do we Need Ham?

Picking your First Ham Radio

Setting Up a Ham Radio Station

A Shack

Ham Radio transceiver

Transceiver Multifunction Meter

Attenuator

Notch Filter

Power Supply

Transceiver Power Supply Connectors

Ham Radio Microphones

ICOM Microphone

HM 10 Microphone

Ham Radio Antenna

Antenna Tuner

A Dummy Load

Antenna Analyzer

Setting Up a High Frequency (HF) Radio Station

High Frequency (HF) Ham Radio Antennas

Horizontal Antennas (Dipole)

Single-Band Dipole

Inverted Vee Dipole

Multi-Band Trap Dipole

Off-Center-Fed Dipole

End-Fed Dipole

G5RV Antenna

Quad Loop Antenna

Triangle Delta Loop

Vertical Antennas

Single Band Vertical Antenna

Single-Band Short Vertical Antenna

Multi-Band Trapped Vertical Antenna

43 Vertical Antenna

Multi-Band Vertical

End-Fed Electrical Half Wavelength Antenna

Yagi Antenna

Quad Antenna

Log Periodic Antenna

Hex Beam

Terminologies Associated with Ham Radio Antennas

5

Ham Station Grounding

Making Your First Radio Contact (QSO)

Working DX (Calling Long Distance with the Ham Radio)

How to Work DX

Confirming DX Calls For DXcc Membership

6

Ham Radio Remote Operations

Requirements to set up a remote-controlled ham radio operation

Ham Radio Remote Control Techniques

Three Methods of Using VNC and HRD Software on Host and Client Computers

Setting Up the Host System

Setting Up the Client System

Client VNC Login

Ham Radio Deluxe (HRD)

HRD Setup

Setting Up the Transceiver for Remote Operation

HRD Only on Client PC

How HRD Works

Operating Video from a Remote Location

Remote Operation Using Skype

How to give the Unit a Call from a Remote Ipad or Iphone

7

Amateur Radio Clubs

Assigning Call Sign

Allowable Amateur Extra Call Signs

Vanity Call Sign Program

Where to go to For Vanity Call Sign

8

Safety Tips

Safety Ground Connection

Fuse

Stored Charge in Capacitors

Shorting battery terminals

Antenna Safety

RF Exposure Evaluation

Index

About the Author

Copyright

––––––––

All rights reserved. No part of this publication A Beginner’s Guide to Ham Radio may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning without permission in writing by the author.

Printed in the United States of America

© 2018 by George Freeman

874411

Gilob Publishing House

9577, Creek Rd, Chino Hills

CA 91709

California

USA

Dedication

This book is dedicated to all Ham Radio Operators

1

Radio Frequency Fundamental

Today more than ever, Radio Frequencies signals or RF as it is commonly called is used to transmit all types of information. Over a 100 years ago, wireless transmissions were first broadcasted carrying Morse Code. They were followed by audio and then television broadcasts. Cordless telephones, remote controls, cellular telephones, cable/satellite TV and more recently mobile data in the form of WIFI, Bluetooth, WiMAX as well as 3G and 4G networks. The common link between all of them is the use of RF or radio waves to transmit and receive information.

Radio waves are electromagnetic waves (that is, consisting of electric and magnetic fields) and they travel through space. An Electromagnetic wave is the type of wave that carries signals between transmitting and receiving stations. The two waves vary in intensity and over time forming two separate but related waves that are perpendicular to each other. Whenever the electric wave is oriented vertically, the magnetic wave is oriented horizontally and vice versa. Because electromagnetic waves have distinct orientation, they are said to be polarized. The polarity of an RF signal can be horizontal, vertical or even circular. RF radiates and this radiation is referred to as electromagnetic radiation. But unlike nuclear radiation which is harmful, radio waves are not ionizing. The energy they contain is at a much lower level and is not capable of ionizing items, which is what makes nuclear radiation dangerous. While electron magnetic radiation will cook your food in a microwave, it is not radioactive.  How quickly the electronic and magnetic fields vary in intensity or oscillate determines their frequency. The basic unit of frequency for a radio wave is the Hertz (Hz), which was named after Heinrich Hertz. One Hertz represents one cycle per second. Radio frequencies of all types are represented by the abbreviation RF.

A radio wave travels through free space at the speed of light which is approximately 300,000,000 meters per second. The distance a radio wave travel in a complete cycle (one wave) is known as the Wavelength. The scientific term for wavelength is Lambda λ. It is important to note that as radio wave travels, the frequency increases, but the wavelength gets shorter (decreases). To convert frequency to wavelength, we use the formula:

Wavelength (meters) = 300 ÷ Frequency (Hertz)

Sometimes we refer to the Ham Radio Band by its wavelength. For Instance, the 2-meter ham radio band is at 144 – 148MHz. i.e. 300 ÷ 148 = 2.03 meters

The Frequency Spectrum

This covers all energy transference which includes

- Sound waves

- Radio waves

- Light waves and so on.

––––––––

1KiloHert (kHz) = 1000Hz

1 Mega Hertz (MHz) = 1000 kHz

1 Giga Hertz (GHz) = 1000MHz

Modulation and Signals

1.  Frequency Modulation (FM): This is the type of modulation commonly used for VHF and UHF voice repeaters, as well as for VHF packet radio transmission. Frequency modulation is not used in High Frequencies due to its high bandwidth.

FM modulation

2.  Amplitude Modulation (AM): This is the oldest method of radio transmission. The AM has an upper sideband, a lower sideband and a carrier at the middle, all transmitted individually or together.

AM modulation with both side bands and carrier

Single Sideband (SSB): The Single Sideband is a form of amplitude modulation but with the carrier and one extraneous sideband removed. Single Sideband is a type of voice modulation often used for long-distance or weak signal contacts on HF, VHF and UHF bands. The advantage of single sideband over FM for voice transmissions is that SSB signals have a narrower bandwidth, typically 3kHz, compared to a VHF repeater FM phone signal which is between 10 ando15kHz. Single Sideband can be used as Upper Sideband (USB) or Lower Sideband (LSB). With Upper Sideband, the carrier and the lower sideband is eliminated. The Upper sideband is used for 10meter HF,