ADVANCEDTEMPLATE.MZT

FOUNDATION LESSON 13

LEARNING OBJECTIVES and NOTES

Operating Practices and Procedures.

8a.1 Understand why one should listen before calling and then ask if the frequency is in use.
To avoid transmitting on a frequency that is already in use it is important to listen for a while to check that the frequency is clear. You should then ask if the frequency is in use as you may not be able to hear all the amateurs using the frequency. If there is no response it is fair to assume that the frequency is not in use and you can call CQ.

8a.2 Recall how to make a CQ call.
having established that the frequency is clear, a typical CQ would go something like this:

"CQ CQ CQ this is G3QQQ calling CQ 40 meters". Repeat this three times and then finish with "This is G3QQQ listening for any calls.

You could add information such as:
"This is G3QQQ/P calling CQ SOTA" or

"This is G3QQQ, QRP station calling CQ"

8a.3 Understand the need to move off the calling channel (when on VHF/UHF) once contact is established.

On VHF and UHF (4m, 2m, 70cm etc) There are specific channels that are used to call CQ. Amateurs often monitor these frequencies. Once you have established contact on the calling channel you should then move to another frequency / channel to continue you chat, leaving the calling channel free for other stations to call CQ.

Some commonly used calling channels:

4m = 70.450 for FM stations
2m = 144.500 for FM stations
2m = 144.300 for SSB stations
70cm = 433.500 for FM stations

8a.4 Recall the phonetic alphabet.

When giving out your call sign or spelling out the name of your town the phonetic alphabet is used to make the letters more clear.
For example when giving you call sign which is G6ABC you would say "Golf six alpha, bravo, charlie"

In th UK the NATO phonetic alphabet is used. This is shown opposite.

Letter	Phonetic	Letter	Phonetic
A	Alpha	N	November
B	Bravo	O	Oscar
C	Charlie	P	Papa
D	Delta	Q	Quebec
E	Echo	R	Romeo
F	Foxtrot	S	Sierra
G	Golf	T	Tango
H	Hotel	U	Uniform
I	India	V	Victor
J	Juliet	W	Whiskey
K	Kilo	X	X-ray
L	Lima	Y	Yankee
M	Mike	Z	Zulu

8a.5 Recognise the advisability and common practice of keeping a log and the items recorded. This item 8a.5 will not be examined.
Up until recent years amateurs had to keep a log book of their contacts and tests. This usually included the date; call sign of the person worked; start and finish time in UTC; Frequency, Mode; report sent and report received. there was also space to enter the name, QTH and other details.

Logs are no longer required unless you have been causing interference and Ofcom tell you to keep a log, or you are operating marine mobile and the Ship's Master tells you to keep a log.

Advantages of keeping a log:

You have a record of your transmissions which you may refer back to. For example details of a station worked before, how the signal strength has change from last time.
You can refer to it to see if a new antenna is working better than a previous antenna.
If someone complains that you have caused interference you can establish which band, mode and time you were on which may help to identify the cause of the interference.
For competitions you have to submit a log of contacts
For Awards it help to keep a record of which contacts you have had confirmed and how many countries you have worked and on which bands.

NB You will not be asked questions in the exam on this section!

Operating through a repeater.
8b.1 Recall that repeaters are mainly intended to extend the range of mobile stations.
Recall how to use a repeater and understand the need for an Access Tone or CTCSS and frequency offset.

Repeaters pick up signals on one frequency and re-transmit them on another. If the repeater is in a high position this enables amateurs to communicate with stations that could not normally be worked.
Repeaters are mainly intended to extend the range of mobile stations because the power from a mobile station is often lower than from a base station, and a mobile station is limited to an omnidirectional antenna.

To turn on a repeater it is usually necessary to send a 1750Hz access tone or to transmit or a CTSS (Continuous Tone Coded Squelch System). Both of these turn on the transmitter. They help to prevent the repeater turning on every time a burst of noise or interference is received. They also prevent access by people who only have a transmitter and no facility to generate the correct tone.
Different areas of the country use different CTSS tones, and this reduces the chance of a transmitter turning on a distant repeater on the same frequency, but with a different CTSS tone.

The transmit and receive frequencies for UK repeaters are in the same band, but on different frequencies. Using high quality filters this enables a repeater to receive on one frequency and to transmit at the same time on a different frequency without the receiver picking up the transmit frequency. The spacing or frequency shift of repeaters depends on the band.

For example on 2m the repeater transmitter is 600kHz higher in frequency than the receive frequency. At the amateur end the transmission takes place 600kHz lower than the receive frequency.

A typical QSO though a repeater would take place as follows. We will assume the output frequency of the repeater is 145.700MHz.

The 2m transceiver is set to 145.700MHz on receive. The repeater shift key sets the transmitter to transmit on 145.100MHz.
Either the 1750Hz tone burst is turned on or the CTSS is set to the appropriate frequency for the repeater.
The station presses the microphone button and the tone is automatically turned on. This activates the repeater which turns on its transmitter. The station then calls CQ which is passed at the repeater end from 145.100 to 145.700MHz and rebroadcast.
If another station wishes to reply they would transmit on 145.100 and listen on 145.700. Once the QSO is established most repeaters will stay on without the need for more tones.
When a transmission is passed over to the other station, the receiving station should wait for a pip or the sending of "k" in morse before pressing the transmit button. This resets a timer in the repeater. Usually transmission time is limited to about 3 minutes, after which the repeater closes down. Waiting for the pip or "k" ensures that timer resets at each over.
At the end of a QSO the repeater detects that there is no input signal and closes down until someone else wants to use the repeater.
At some stage repeaters send out their callsign, location and tone frequency in Morse Code so that stations know which repeater they are listening to.

Band plans
8c.1 Recall why band-plans are used. Identify items on a published band-plan (e.g. calling frequencies and recommended modes).
See Note 5.

Note 5
Band plans are produced and revised by the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) in conjunction with national societies (RSGB for UK). Consequently the Band Plan shown in the Syllabus Guide and relevant questions in the Bank, will, from time to time, lag behind the current IARU plans. The examination will be based on the simplified
version shown in this syllabus. New syllabuses and guides will be issued periodically and will show the date from which they will become valid. Notice will always be given but it is incumbent on students and tutors to confirm that they are working to the current
version. The effective date of the syllabus is shown on the title page, in the title block. A re-issue of the syllabus without change of operative date, indicates that no changes relevant to the examination, have been made.

Band plans are produced to guide amateurs to a specific part of a band for a specific use. This saves searching the whole band for a specific type of activity. For example calling frequencies on VHF and UHF and the part of a band used for a specific mode.

In general CW (Morse) and data modes are at the lower end of the band and SSB at the higher end of the band. This means that stations know where to look for a particular type of transmission. Sometimes specific frequencies are used. For example on 80m 3.730 MHz and 3.733 MHz are used for slow scan TV. On 40m 7.030 MHz is designated for QRP CW operators.

Band Plan for 144-146 MHz

This will be provided in the examination

144MHz (2m)	Necessary Bandwidth	UK Usage
144.000-144.110 MHz	500Hz	Telegraphy and data
144.050 MHz		Telegraphy calling
144.110-144.150	500Hz	Telegraphy and data
144.138 MHz		PSK31 centre of activity
144.150-144.180	2700Hz	Telegraphy and data
144.150-144.160 MHz		(EME) FAI and Moonbounce activity SSB
144.180-144.360	2700Hz	Telegraphy and SSB
144.175 MHz		Microwave talk-back
144.200 MHz		Random MS SSB calling frequency
144.250 MHz		GB2RS news broadcast and slow Morse
144.300 MHz		SSB calling
144.360-144.399	2700Hz	Telegraphy, MGM, SSB
144.370 MHz		MGM calling frequency
144.400-144.490		Propagation Beacons only
144.490-144.500		(Guard band)
144.500-144.794		20 kHz All Modes
144.500 MHz		SSTV calling
144.525 MHz		ATV SSB Talk back
144.600 MHz		RTTY calling
144.600 MHz		RTTY working (FSK)
144.625-144.675 MHz		Can be used by RAYNET
144.700 MHz		FAX calling
144.750 MHz		ATV Talk back
144.775-144.794 MHz		Can be used by RAYNET
144.794-144.990	12 kHz	MGM Packet radio
144.800-144.9875 MHz		Digital modes (including unattended)
144.8250 MHz		Internet voice gateway
144.8375 MHz		Internet voice gateway
144.8500 MHz		AX25 BBS user access
144.9750 MHz		High speed 25 kHz channel
144.990-145.1935		12 kHz FM
RV48 RV63		Repeater input exclusive (Note 2)
145.200 12 kHz FM		Space communications (e.g. I.S.S.) - Earth-Space
145.200-145.5935	12 kHz FM	V16-V48 FM simplex (Note 3)
145.2125 MHz		Internet voice gateway
145.2375 MHz		Internet voice gateway
145.2500 MHz		Used for slow Morse
145.2875 MHz		Internet voice gateway
145.3000 MHz		RTTY local
145.3375 MHz		Internet voice gateway
145.5000 MHz Mobile calling
145.5250 MHz Used for GB2RS news broadcast.
145.5500 MHz Used for rally/exhibition talk-in
145.5935-145.7935	12 kHz FM	RV48 - RV63 Repeater output (Note 2)
145.800	12 kHz FM	Space communications (e.g. I.S.S.) - Space-Earth 144.806-146.000 12 kHz All Modes - Satellite exclusive

Connecting microphones and other audio sources to the transmitter.
8d.1 Recall that connecting anything other than the supplied microphone (e.g. packet radio TNCs) to the transmitter requires correct operation of the PTT line and correct audio signal levels.

Not all signals are sent as speech. Many modes such as PSK31 and SSTV are converted into audio tones and the output from these devices is plugged into the microphone socket. Packet messages typed on a keyboard are turned into a series of audio tones in a TNC or by a PC. As these series of audio tones often have a higher amplitude than speech from a microphone it is important to:

Reduce the microphone gain so that the transmitter is not overdriven as this could cause interference to other users and make the signal more difficult to decode at the receiving end.
Turn off any speech processors

In addition arrangements have to be made to automatically turn on the transmitter and turn off the receiver when data tones are been sent and turn off the transmitter and turn the receiver on when data tones are been received. This is usually achieved by automatically switching the PTT line when data starts to be sent.