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INTRODUCTION:You
can learn more about amateur radio at the American
Radio Relay League web site. Want to know what this HAM radio
stuff is all about in plain language? Then be sure to check the GETTING
STARTED page. It includes information on how to become an FCC
licensed amateur radio operator. For specific licensing information click HERE.
Amateur radio as a hobby has many different aspects. This is one of the
things that makes amateur radio so wonderful. There are a variety of
activities for everyone; men, women, and boys and girls.
STUDY AND GET YOUR LICENSE - EASILY!:
It has never been easier to get a HAM license. Just study the question pools and take sample tests. When you are ready for the real thing find a local radio club that gives the real FCC test.
NOTE: When you first run the MorseCat program be sure to read the help file by pressing
HELP then the "Overview". Also, on the program you will see "New
Characters" followed by some random letters. Click on these letters
one at a time to learn them. You will see the letter and hear what it
sounds like in Morse code.
After you get your FCC amateur radio license you will need some
equipment. While the best way to get started is to build your first
station however many operators buy everything. What radio should you
buy? Click
HERE for some more ARRL help. There are the five major equipment manufacturers of
amateur radio equipment:
Equipment from any of the
major manufactures will meet your needs but go to your local ham radio dealer
and try them out. Good dealers will have new equipment set up and running
so you can twist the dials and try the various features live for
yourself. Check out your local amateur radio clubs and ask other hams
what equipment they are using and why they chose it and how they like it.
You can also check back issues of QST for equipment reviews. Click HERE for
list of ARRL QST equipment reviews.
In the best spirit of amateur radio, the producer and speaker grant parties
the right to publicly show the video, but only when money is not charged
to view it and not for broadcast. All other rights to the copyrighted
material are retained.
ANTENNA SECTION
ANTENNA - wavelength calculator.
Enter operating frequency and then click the
full wavelength (WL) or 1/2 or 1/4 wavelength button to see the antenna length
required.
The genetic algorithm Yagi antenna optimizer: ygo.zip
NEC-2
USER'S GUIDE IN HTML FORMAT, ZIPPED (<200kB): NEC2HTM.ZIP Helical Antenna
Design: helical.exe
A computerized Smith Chart: rfc16pro.zip
Amateur radio operators must
understand basic electronics. The more you understand about basic
electricity and basic electronics the more fun you will have.
First; get a good understanding of basic electricity.
When you have a good background in electricity you can move on to learning
about electronics. Electronics puts a knowledge electricity to useful
work. Electronics applies electrical current flow to circuits that
include current and voltage amplifiers. The amplifiers can be
constructed from glass "tubes" containing metal elements, or transistors, or integrated circuits. A circuit containing wire
conductors, resistors, capacitors, inductors and amplifiers can be configured
in many ways to build various electronic circuits like oscillators, digital
logic circuits, computer circuits, and much more. An oscillator by the
way is just an amplifier with some of the output fed back into the input.
Sounds like a perpetual motion machine but it isn't as the amplifiers power
supply is providing the additional energy that is lost in the circuit.
NEW!!
THE BEST FREE ELECTRONICS COURSE ON THE INTERNET. CLICK >HERE!!!!
UI-view32 UI-VIEW http://www.apritch.myby.co.uk/uiv32.htm Note: Be sure to download the National Weather Service county map
shapes so you will have NWS alerts and warnings show up on your APRS
maps in real time! Listen
to an interview of Bob Bruninga, WB4APR, Author of APRS.
Mathematical
Process for Converting Latitude/Longitude Coordinates:
1)
Convert Degrees Minutes Seconds to Degrees Decimal Minutes
(45°22'38" --> 45°22.6333')
- Divide Seconds by 60 to get Decimal Minutes (38/60=.6333)
- Add Decimal Minutes to Minutes to get Decimal Minutes (22+.6333=22.6333)
- Answer is then 45°22'38" = 45° 22.6333'
2) Convert Degrees and Decimal Minutes to get Decimal degrees (45°
22.6333 --> 45.3772)
- Divide Decimal Minutes by 60 to get .d (22.6333/60=.3772)
- Add Degrees to Decimal Minutes to get Decimal Minutes (45+.3772=45.3772)
- Answer is then 45° 22.6333 = 45.3772°
3)
Convert Decimal Degrees to get Degrees and Decimal Minutes --> DM.m
(45.3772 --> 45°22.6333)
- Multiply Decimal Degrees by 60 to get Decimal Minutes (.3772*60=22.6333)
- Answer is then 45° 22.6333'
4) Convert Degrees and Decimal Minutes to get Degrees, Minutes and Seconds
(45°22.6333 --> 45°22'38")
- Multiply Decimal Minutes by 60 to get S(.6333*60=38)
- Answer is then 45° 22' 38"
Garmin GPS V
Deluxe
with NEMA connector for APRS
Full turn-by-turn navgation and built-in
maps and waypoints and comes with map
software. Recalculates if you miss a
How
to set
up an HP Z3801A GPS Satellite Receiver as a Station Time and Frequency Standard
After
purchasing a surplus HP Z3801A, it was a challenge getting it to work.Below is a
short checklist of steps that will get your Z2801A running fast. I had to
learn the hard way and you can now take advantage of this information.
1.
You must convert the RS-422 output to RS-232 in order for your computer to talk
to the receiver. You can find excellent instructions here. http://www.ad6a.com/Z3801A.html
Make your own RS-232 cable using only the three pins in the instructions.
Do not try to use a ready made cable or commercial converters - they won't
work. The RX and TX connection must be reversed on the PC side so be sure
to follow the pin-outs carefully.
2.
You must have a stable 48 volt DC 1A metered power supply. It would be
helpful to be able to crank the voltage up to 50 volts initially while the
oscillator oven warms up. When the current draw drops to around .4 amps
you can then set the voltage as close to 48 volts as possible. The power
connector on the rear of the receiver has the positive voltage connection on the
top.
3.
Connect your new RS-232 cable to the receiver and computer Serial COM
port. Set the computers COM port to: 19200 Baud, Data Bits 7, Stop
bit 1, Parity to ODD, No flow Control. Download the free SatStat
program. HP Satstat
software. Set the software's COM setting as stated above using the
appropriate COM port. Set the LAT and LONG as close as you can to your current
location. This is VERY important. Otherwise it may take the receiver
hours or more likely days to derive this information from the satellites.
Remember this is relatively old GPS technology and the reason the unit is
surplus. Set the
software to the SURVEY mode. Go away for a couple hours and let the
receiver do it's thing. You can find the information on all these steps in
the software help files. Also be sure to read all the information
here. http://www.realhamradio.com/GPS_Frequency_Standard.htm
4. If
you finally get a green GPS lock light your done. Just let the receiver stabilize
for several days. You really should get the professional software from Dave,
AD6a http://www.realhamradio.com/gpscon.htm
It is not free but it will make running your receiver a FUN project.
5.
When your finished, take a look at my receivers output and compare it with
yours. They should be similar. http://www.101science.com/gpsstat.htm
The graph show the oscillator correction voltage, the map shows the current GPS
satellites being tracked, and the other panel technical data about the receiver.
Notes:
See, nothing to it. I played with the receiver for weeks (well, I confess,
months) until I finally decided to try the RS-232 connector conversion. Prior to
that time I thought I could get it running by just turning it on so I could use
the 10 Mhz output. But it never got a GPS lock and the oscillator will
drift without GPS corrections. So much for the easy way - didn't work. You
must do the conversion and load the software to get it to work.
Garmin GPS V
Deluxe