W.O.E.

I was rumaging through one of my old diddy bags down in the shack and came across the two items pictured here. The bag had the letters "W.O.E." on it. They might have come home from a past Field Day exercise or perhaps some long forgotten DXpedition to who knows where or maybe my last visit to Connecticut? The puzzle is...what are they? Can anybody help? Please leave a comment with the name of the item, how and where it is used (the more creative the better.) Just click 'Comments' below this post. For sake of reference I'll call the one on the left, the WH1 and the one on the right, the RS1. I'm not sure, my memory is really getting bad, but this may just be a ploy to see if anyone actually reads this blog. ;)

I promise to keep digging and if I remember the actual story behind these two items, I'll share it in a week or so. And regardless, I'll post some of the more creative comments I get. So put on those thinking caps. For those of you who have ever been away to summer camp, this is kind of like those camp fire stories we remember making up. Maybe someone will actually come up with the real answer.

What does W.O.E. stand for you say? Well, I'm not sure...it was just on the bag. By now everyone in the world knows what W.M.D. means and somehow I think they might be related in some small way.

That's all for now O.M.
73, DE WA2KKG

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Scratch-n-Sniff Ham Radio?

Scratch-n-sniff is a technology that allows advertisers to put a panel of micro-encapsulated scents on a print advertising piece, which when scratched, emits the aroma of the product being advertised such as perfume, bourbon, pine trees, and literally any scent. Versions of scratch-n-sniff technology were introduced commercially back around the late 1960's by both 3M and NCR.

So, scratch-n-sniff ham radio? Well, no -- or maybe, if you use your imagination. What if we had a scent modem? Think about it... I mean, we already have modems that convert analog audio to digital audio and back to analog audio at the other end of the transmission. A scent modem would convert 'analog' scents to digital scent files and back to scents at the other end! I once toured a commercial lab that created scents for various uses. They could create practically any scent. They had a chemical formula for each one. Mix the right combination of chemicals and sniff...root beer, bubble gum, or steak on the barbie! So, all we need is a device, a scent modem, with a multi-scent replaceable cartridge just like in an ink jet printer. Somebody get working on that, please.

Besides the smell of the rag chewer's overheated PC board in his HT, while running full power, what could scratch-n-sniff do for ham radio? Picture a field day exercise where hams set up their equipment and operate out in the open for a day or a weekend. As you sit in your shack and make contact with this outdoor field location wouldn't it be great to smell the fresh cut grass under the antenna farm or the Mountain Laurel and wild flowers around the edge of the field. And can't you just smell those burgers and sausage & peppers cooking on the grill. Those aromas are as much a part of a field day exercise as the hum of the transmitters and amps and the chatter of the operators around the tent. What a contact that would be -- and without the flies and mosquitoes!

Now, how about that contact you'd like to make with one of those south sea island DXpeditions. Can you picture that little island with it's white sand, a couple of tents for sleeping and the gear, and an antenna or two strung between a couple of palm trees laden with tasty coconuts? When you've finally made it through the pile-up, wouldn't it be nice to smell that wonderful salt sea air and be able to sniff the coconut milk from a freshly cracked coconut the operator is sipping through a straw as he confirms your call sign and report? Now that would be a contact to remember -- and without that unwelcome deposit on your head by a passing sea gull.

Or, what about that contest contact where the operator on the other end is sitting in his shack in his underwear and hasn't showered in forty-eight hours -- well, maybe I'll pass on that one.

Well, this has been fun. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. So, somebody get working on that scent modem thingy. I'll buy one!

Until next time...

73 OM
DE WA2KKG

Spy Vs. Spy

Ham radio operators have many different activities available from which to choose. There is literally something for everyone. Some favor code (CW), others like using repeaters, others DX, and still others are into moon bounce. These are but a small fraction of the niche interests available.

There is one interest I had never thought about before until one of my ham friends asked me one day, "Want to help us catch a spy?" What are you talking about, I asked, and what does this have to do with ham radio. As it turns out, this activity is probably pretty rare among hams, but it combines the activities of radio direction finding (RDF), antenna design, CW, home brew receiver and antenna building, and maybe even public service, of a sort (if they catch him).

Hap and Frank (names are changed to protect the innocent?) have been following a station operating within a designated ham band that sends coded groups for about a half hour the same time once a week. Of course their immediate concern was this was obviously not an authorized amateur radio operator because the station never identifies with any call letters.

Coded groups are simply groups of alpha-numeric characters that are usually five characters in length. In the simplest of terms, if you could break the code and knew what each number or letter stood for, you would know what the message said. Hap and Frank aren't trying to break the code, which would be quite difficult for the untrained, they just want to locate the guy through direction finding techniques such as triangulation. By rotating or otherwise moving the antenna(s) to find a null (lowest signal reception) you then know that the signal is coming from one of two points plus and minus 90 degrees from their compass reading. I find this whole activity fascinating in that is reminiscent in some ways to what I did forty-some years ago during my military service with the United States Army Security Agency (USASA).

They are experimenting with different types of antennas to get compass readings that are consistent from week to week. The first time I visited their site I was Hap's helper -- Frank couldn't make it. That morning we were using a huge Adcock antenna they had made out of wood and plastic paired with a commercial amateur radio receiver. I think the Adcock probably stood twenty or twenty-five feet in the air. It was transported to the site each week on a car-top carrier and probably consisted of 20 or 30 pieces all together. It took maybe a half hour for them to set this thing up each week, if you knew what you were doing; a lot longer if you didn't. By rotating the Adcock slowly by hand and listening to the signal rise and fall they hoped to get a good reading. The morning I visited we set up in a thick morning fog that lasted throughout the spy's operating schedule. We couldn't get an agreed upon null. Was it the fog? Was it the QSB? Was the antenna not set up properly? Were we not far enough away from from metal objects like the cars in the parking lot? These are some of the things that DFers have to contend with.

The second time I visited they were trying a two vertical array coupled to a home brew crystal controlled receiver with a signal strength meter mounted to the top. This time I was only an observer. Each antenna was mounted on a 2 foot by 2 foot piece of plywood with a rope attached. One member of the team would pull one of the verticals across the grass in a rough arc from the stationary antenna until a null was reached. Then a compass reading was taken. After several attempts at this, each time trying to mentally eliminate the effect of the QSB that was happening on the signal, they had several different but close readings. Later at home Hap compared the latest readings to ones from previous attempts and realized that they could now statistically arrive at an average which led to a true bearing to the spy. Success!

Now that they have a bearing they believe is reliable, they plan to move to another location one or two hundred miles away to take more bearings. This is phase two and may take several attempts to also arrive at a reliable bearing. If they then draw these bearings on a map, the point that they cross is where the spy is located. Of course that's not the end because that will only tell them, hopefully, what city he's in. Then it's on to phase three which might be going to that city and driving around with car-top mounted DF equipment.

Well, I'll have to leave the rest of this story for some time in the future. Needless to say, Finding the spy will be a little bit of a let down, as their project will be over. In this case the joy is in the journey. They tell me that once they locate the address of the transmitter, they will be turning over all their evidence to the proper authorities.

Until next time...

'73 OM
DE WA2KKG

Thanks to K6BMG for the nice graphic of an Adcock design.

Ham Radio and Public Service- Part I

One thing ham radio operators have always been known for is participating in public service events. We'll deal with public service for disasters and other emergencies such as RACES, ARES, and Skywarn in Part II. This is about using our radio equipment, our training, our enjoyment of the hobby, and a few hours of our time to help out people in a public way. Often these are events are organized by non-profit groups to raise money for a cause. Most times amateur radio groups like ARES, RACES, and other radio clubs organize local hams to provide radio communications for these events.

In this area of the Mid-Atlantic United States there are too many events of this type to list them all. However, some local events where hams have been of help in this area are: March of Dimes Walk-a-thon, MS-150 Bike Tour (MS as in Multiple Sclerosis), ironman competitions, marathons, Memorial Day and Independence Day parades, Walk for Hunger, Breast Cancer awareness walks, and so many more. Last year I organized a group to provide amateur radio communications for our local PBA Bike Race which ran a 30 mile route. It was great fun and the PBA officers were very appreciative of our efforts.

How do ham radio operators help out? What public service do they provide? First, we often provide radio communications for the organizers during the setup phase. Many of these events involve hundreds of participants and many functions must be organized, such as parking for participants, meal services, transportation back to the start, etc. Hams 'shadow' the key organizers during the hours before the event, so they can communicate with other members of the planning team who may be on the other end of the field, setting up the food tent, or at the finish line for example. Often one ham with a higher power mobile radio acts as net control for the day coordinating message passing by low power hand held radio operators out on the course. See the links below for great tips for the net control station and the shadows and checkpoints.

During the event hams continue to provide radio communications for all areas. The event may be a ten mile walk, a fifty mile bike race, or an outdoor gathering covering an area larger than several football fields. Hams may pass messages, called traffic, to each other on behalf of the organizers about where the leaders of the race are, for instance, by placing themselves at appropriate checkpoints along the route. In a five mile walk or a parade, hams may position themselves along the route or simply join in with the walk to watch for people who are in need of medical help, such as treatment for hyperthermia or a twisted ankle. In a bike race, hams at checkpoints coordinate other hams riding in roving bike repair vans to the location of riders who have broken down. Sometimes a ham radio operator is positioned at a rest stop or checkpoint along the route to watch for participants who may have become temporarily disabled and need assistance.

While these events are great ways to be of service to the public and help publicize amateur radio, it seems fewer and fewer hams are helping with these events. Just last night I received an urgent reminder email from our club president that we are committed to provide public service communications support for the local March of Dimes walk-a-thon and he needs 6 to 8 hams to properly handle it and he only has 2 who have volunteered. The walk is now only 6 days away! Why is that? Are we losing our public service spirit? Are we all just too busy... or too lazy?

These events are good ways to learn how to participate in a net. They help show amateur radio in a positive light. They are often outdoors in warm weather -- who doesn't need a little more fresh air and sunshine? There may be perks like a free t-shirt, free food, a free goodie bag, etc. Spring is the beginning of the season for these events. Contact a local club or two in your area and tell them you want to be contacted for the next public service event they do. If you don't know of a club in your area, check the listing the ARRL keeps HERE. Below are a couple of links to some helpful information about operating in public service events of this type.

Helpful Operating Hints by Bruce Pigott, KC1US
Net Control Tips by Madeline Lombaerde, KD6JTU

Until next time...

73 OM
DE WA2KKG

Ham Radio and April Fool's Day - Past and Present

Another April 1 has come and gone and now the April Fool's Day pranksters have to start planning for next year. I decided to see how many April Fool's Day pranks I could find recorded that relate in some way to Ham Radio. Here are a handful that gave me a chuckle.

In a memorial article about longtime American Radio Relay League staffer, By Goodman, it tells about his dry sense of humor and his series of QST April Fool parodies under the pseudonym Larson E. Rapp, WIOU. Here is one example:

"In the April 1960 issue, a phony full-page ad announced the formation of "Larsen E. Enterprises, Inc," supposedly off Route 128 in "Kippering-on-the-Charles," Massachusetts, with Larsen E. Rapp as president. Bearing a "Not a Advertisement" disclaimer, the ad offered customers free access to the company's air-conditioned "Wonder Workshop" with each kit purchase.

"If you don't have the time to assemble the entire kit yourself, one of our engineers will be glad to do it for you, just for the pleasure it gives him," the ad promised. " More...
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This one, from 2005, is simply titled: Converting a 1955 warbird into a modern ham radio DXpedition shuttle. What a whopper. Read more...

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This one, from 2007, tells how the FCC has made an announcement in the broadband powerline (BPL) interference issue. Read on...
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Here's another scary FCC announcement, from 2004, to take effect in 2008. We're almost there...
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One facet of the hobby enjoyed by Ham radio enthusiasts is direction finding and tracking things like weather balloons and amateur rockets. Radio beacons are put in these devices before launch or release and the ham operators attempt to find them later to retrieve any data collected on the flight. These next two involve those activities.

This one involves a group of ham radio operators who are members of Stratofox, an Aerospace Tracking and Recovery Team. This one was in 2005.

"This year's April Fools' joke was based on the premise that it needed to have the punchline, "the weasel has landed." About a dozen Stratofox members and some of their friends set out to see if it was really possible to fool anyone, even for a moment, that a fictitious organization called "TubeRat Aerospace" had landed a probe on the moon."More...
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This one is a little more tongue-in-cheek. Here is an excerpt from the "Voyage of the Peep-o-nauts" from way back in the year 2000.

"Soon afterward the balloon ruptured on schedule at an altitude of 110,000 ft. Unfortunately, no one had briefed the Peeps about this part of the mission! The audio downlink transmitted a mixture of wind and the payload's audio beacon. You can clearly hear the sounds of rushing wind when the balloon popped (at something over 100,000 feet) and began its plummet toward the ground."Continued...

Well, that's all the fun for now.

Until next time...

'73 OM

DE WA2KKG
K

Ham Radio in Space

I've mentioned a few times that one of the exciting things that ham radio operators can do that no one else can do, is to talk to space travelers via ham radio! While that often means talking to American Astronauts aboard the United States Space Shuttles, there is also a regular schedule with the International Space Station (ISS) as it circles the Earth. These astronauts aboard the Shuttles or the ISS must have amateur radio licenses in order to use the ham bands.

The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program schedules ham radio contacts with schools all over the world on a regular basis. This is a big deal for students in those schools as they usually prepare a list of questions in advance and then the students themselves get to key the microphone and speak to the astronauts in person. You can find out much more about ARISS, including how to get your child's school on the program, by visiting the ARRL's pages about the program: ARISS1 and ARISS2. These webpages have many additional website addresses that you can research also.

The fifth private space traveler, Dr. Charles Simonyi, has several school contacts scheduled on his upcoming visit to the ISS. His visit is presently scheduled for launch on April 7, 2007. You can read about his travel to space and his use of ham radio at the below website:

"Space Traveler to Talk with Students ... Directly from Space. Dr. Charles Simonyi to Use Ham Radio and Share Recordings of Conversations on www.charlesinspace.com.
— In his continued effort to inspire youth in the science of space travel, Charles Simonyi, Ph.D., the fifth private space traveler, will speak with high school students in three events across the United States through the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program." Click the above link to read the entire article.

In addition to the ARISS program, everyday hams like you and I can call the space station as it passes overhead and make contacts with the astronauts. Of course that is easier said than done and to tell you what is involveded had better be left for another time. However, crew members do make contacts with earth-bound hams as the ISS travels. The contacts are made during their breaks, pre-sleep time, and before and after meal-time.

Until next time...

'73 OM
DE WA2KKG
K

What Is Ham Radio and Why Do They Do It?

So, you are wondering, What is this Ham Radio?. Ham radio, officially called the Amateur Radio Service by the Federal Communications Commission in the United States, is a hobby, an avocation, a pastime, a calling, a public service opportunity. It is many things to many people. It can be whatever you want it to be. It exists around the world in almost every country.

First a little history. It is commonly accepted that Marconi invented radio and made the first radio transmission across the Atlantic Ocean back around 1901. These early wireless transmissions were called 'spark gap' because a high voltage was used which made a loud 'snap' sound. Soon after Marconi's first transmissions there were amateurs experimenting with this new technology. For the next several decades as the development of radio technology continued, the amateur community grew, clubs were formed, amateurs provided communications to police and arctic expeditions. Amateurs were responsible for many of the technical discoveries that continued to spread the use of radio in our society.

What is a 'Ham'? "Ham" is what the early telegraph operators called another operator who was not very good at sending. As wireless transmission of those telegraph signals became the norm, the commercial operators increasingly found themselves competing with amateurs for space on the airwaves and began calling the amateur operators, "hams". Well, I guess it stuck. Even though it started out as a derogatory term, hams have adopted it and now wear the label with pride.

Ham radio is first a hobby about communication with other people, sometimes people you don't even know. The earliest ham operators' goal was to find ways to increase the distance their signals would travel, thereby enabling them to talk to more and more people in distant lands. Here in the twenty-first century we now have jet aircraft capable of carrying hundreds of people to distant places in less time than it takes some people to get to work, cell phones that can literally connect us to another person with a telephone number anywhere in the world, and the Internet where we can watch videos made today by the average person worldwide. So why ham radio?

Ham radio is still a sought-after communications method. What's the draw? It's like a big 'party line'. Most people today don't remember the time when everyone shared the same phone line with his neighbors. If you picked up the telephone to make a call and someone was talking you had to hang up and wait awhile and try again later. Party lines still exist today in the U.S. in a few rural locations as well as in some other countries. With ham radio you call out and you never know who is going to answer! You could be talking to an author in England, an engineer in Syria, a restaurant owner in Australia, or a doctor on the next street. It can be a little intimidating at first, but lifelong friendships have developed this way. Just imagine how this helps foster international goodwill and can move toward world peace. And it’s a lot of fun!

Hams have many different activities available in this great hobby. For instance, some of the many things that interest hams are: contacting other people around the world, using repeaters to cover a wide local area with a hand-held or mobile radio , making contacts by bouncing their signal off of the Moon or repeating it through a ham radio satellite. Some hams like to interconnect their transmitters and receivers to their computer for various ways to enhance the enjoyment they get from their hobby. They can now even talk to others through the Internet without actually using a radio. And yes, there are still many who like to find ways to improve, by experimenting with new antenna, transmitter, and receiver designs. Hams are credited with developing a transmission mode known as 'single sideband' and many other radio related inventions.

Hams often operate their equipment from a home station, from a vehicle like a car, boat, plane or bicycle, or even a portable location while walking, on a picnic, or anywhere using a hand-held radio. Why do they do it? Many reasons: fun, excitement, love of science, intrigue, belonging to a social network and so many more.

(Parts of this post are similar to some previous content... with my apologies. This was written as an article to be published elsewhere and I decided to share it with you.)

Until next time...

'73 OM
DE WA2KKG
K

Where's The Fun For A New Ham Radio Operator?

Since February 23, 2007 when the FCC in the U.S. dropped the code requirement for getting a ham radio license, they have been swamped with new license applications. But this is a good thing because now we have many new operators coming onto the ham bands. If you are one, just take your time and listen a bit before you talk. Learn the lingo and the protocol. For those of you who were using CB, the operating procedures are different here. The operating procedures are even different between HF and VHF. For instance, you say 'phone' on HF and 'voice' on VHF/UHF. Most operators on the bands will be patient and help you with tips if you go astray. Welcome to the world of Ham Radio!

OK, so you're getting, or have gotten, your first Technician class ham radio license. What are you going to do with it? Most hams enjoy talking to other hams. This is called a QSO, pronounced 'Que-so' on voice/phone, taken from the many Q-signals used by CW operators to pass information even in very bad conditions. Here's one source for a list of Q-Signals. Sometimes that QSO is for asking and getting answers to specific questions. Sometimes it involves a technical discussion about equipment (Rigs) or the newest antenna design. Sometimes it is just to talk about nothing of particular importance, like the weather. Listen and learn.

As I said in a previous post, most new Technicians start out on the VHF and UHF bands. You will most likely start out with a handi-talkie (HT) because they are the most economical transceiver for beginners. An HT will get you onto 2 meters (144 MHz) using FM voice. A more expensive HT may also have 1.25 meters (222 Mhz) and/or 70 cm (440 MHz) capability as well.

All of these bands have repeaters owned and operated by other hams. A 'repeater' does what it's name implies; it 'hears' the transmission from your low-power HT and simultaneously retransmits your voice from a higher elevation at a higher power output in all directions. There are probably more repeaters on 2 meters than on any other ham band and that's good because a 2 meter HT is the least expensive radio to buy. Some repeaters are 'closed' (for members only) and most are 'open'. Where are these repeaters? You can purchase printed directories from various sources, but for starters there are any number of online directories which you can find by searching. Here's a good one to get you started.

Until next time...

'73 OM
DE WA2KKG
K

The Ham Radio Playground

As licensed ham radio operators in the United States, we have a vast playground in which to operate. Let's start with some basic definitions. You may have noticed some acronyms in the text under my picture. We'll begin defining some of them now.

• HF - High Frequency. This term covers the 160, 80, 60, 40, 30, 20, 17, 15, 12, and 10 meter bands. These bands cover frequencies between 1.8 and 30 Megahertz (MHz)


• VHF - Very High Frequency. This term covers the 6, 2, and 1.25 meter bands. These bands cover frequencies between 50 and 225 MHz.


• UHF - Ultra High Frequency. This term covers the 70, 33, and 23 centimeter bands. These bands cover frequencies between 420 and 1300 MHz


• In addition, there are 12 additional unnamed bands in what might be called the UUHF - Ultra Ultra High Frequency. These bands cover frequencies between 2300 MHz and over 275 Gigahertz (GHz) and tend to be used by experimenters and not by the average ham radio operator.


• You can download a really nice chart from the ARRL Here.

At one time there were six different license classes: Novice, Technician, Technician Plus, General, Advanced, and Extra Class. Today there are only three: Technician, General, and Extra Class. You may hear of people who still hold one of those other licenses, but they are no longer being issued by the FCC. Now the entry level license is the Technician, so let's look at what bands and transmission types (modes) the Technician licensee can use.

Traditionally the ham radio operator with a Technician class license could operate on any band higher than 50 MHz using up to 1500 watts. That means all VHF and UHF bands and above. Now with the FCC having combined the Novice and Technician classes, the current Technician also has access to some HF bands using up to 200 watts. Specifically they may use CW (code) on parts of 15, 40, and 80 meters. In addition they may use Voice (Single Sideband Phone-SSB), RTTY, CW, and Data on designated portions of the 10 meter band.

While the pastime of many Technician operators is using hand held or mobile radios to talk on the VHF and UHF bands, often using the many ham radio repeater systems available, the latest changes will bring real DX to Technician licensees. We'll talk about this more next time.

Until next time...

'73 OM
DE WA2KKG
K

A 'Ham', What's That?

So, you are interested in Ham Radio. Maybe you have already read my two-part article entitled "How to Get on the Air with Amateur Radio". If not, you will find it in the archive at Ham Radio Scene. Perhaps you are studying for your first ham radio license or have already passed the exam. Most likely you are trying for the entry-level 'Technician' license. If you have already passed the exam, congratulations!

What is a 'Ham'? "Ham" is what the early telegraph operators called another operator who was not very good at sending. As wireless transmission of those telegraph signals became the norm, the commercial operators increasingly found themselves competing with amateurs for space on the airwaves and began calling the amateur operators, "hams". Well, I guess it stuck. Even though it started out as a derogatory term, hams have adopted it and now wear the label with pride. Today, even though there is no longer a requirement to pass a Morse code test to become licensed, many hams continue to use code because they like it! Another reason is that, as various modes of voice transmission became popular, operators found that when there was a lot of static (QRN) or interference from other stations (QRM), CW could get the message through even when voice could not. The mode of transmitting code is called 'continuous wave', or 'CW' for short.

One great thing about ham radio is that hams can avail themselves of many different facets of this wonderful pastime. For instance, some of the many things that interest hams are: contacting other hams by voice (AM, FM, SSB), CW, radio-teletype (RTTY), slow scan television (SSTV), and digital modes like PSK and packet. Activities that interest hams include: talking to stations in distant counties (DX) or using repeaters to cover a wide area with a hand-held or mobile radio (RPT), or just locally (simplex), making contacts via moon-bounce and via ham radio satellites, operating from a home station (a 'Shack'), mobile communications from a vehicle, portable communications using a hand-held radio, contesting, participating in nets, attending hamfests, providing communications at public service events such as parades or at other public gatherings, practicing for emergencies and disasters through participation in groups such as the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) and the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES), and the list goes on and on. I hope some hams will comment about things they like to do that aren't on this short list.

We will get into what each class of Amateur license allows in terms of kinds of equipment, transmission modes used, frequencies allocated for each license, etc. next time. So for now this gives you the meaning of the term 'ham' and what hams like to do with their radios and licenses. To some being a ham is a hobby and to some it's a pastime and to others it's a calling to public service, but it's always fun!

Until next time...

'73 OM
DE WA2KKG k

How To Get On The Air With Amateur Radio, Part II

First let me say Happy St. Patrick's Day to all. In Part I, I mentioned that a good way to help you retain what you are learning is to take sample question and answer exams. You can also use these interactive online exams to judge how much you know and when you are ready to take the real exam. Here are some links where you can do that: QRZ.COM, AA9PW.COM, eHAM.COM, ARRL. The last one is only a .pdf file download and is not interactive. It is a good idea to take more than one of these to test yourself, as they may have used slightly different question pools.

Now, once you've taken your class, studied your license manual, or were tutored by an 'elmer' (an 'elmer' is a friendly ham who helps a newbie get started), the next step is to find out where to take the exam. Amateur radio exams are given by volunteer examiners called VEs. VEs are required to be adults with General class licensees or higher and to pass certain other tests to be certified. VEs are tested and approved by a VE Coordinator staff(VEC). I believe there is one VEC at ARRL and one at W5YI. Exam sessions are organized by a VE team who administer and score the exams. A $14 fee is collected at the time of the exam and passed on to the VEC to cover the cost of checking all documentation and entering the data into the FCC database. You will know before you leave if you passed.

These exams are offered in easy to find places like schools, churches, and other public and private buildings. They are often also given at hamfests. I'll talk more about hamfests in another post. If you know a ham with a copy of QST, the ARRL monthly magazine for hams, there is usually a listing of upcoming exam locations, dates, and times. You can also go online to the ARRL website for a list of Exam Locations which you can search by Zip code or state. These exam location listings will usually have a telephone number and an email address. Be sure to make contact to make sure information is still current and the exam will take place as scheduled.

The FCC requires an application to be filled out, but they collect no fee for processing it. The only fee, as noted above, is the $14 paid for the VECs to process your test documentation. This FCC application is best done online at the FCC's Universal Licensing Site (ULS). You should do this prior to taking your exam at the testing center.

Until next time...

'73 OM
de wa2kkg
k

Welcome

I'll have to admit right off that this is my first experience with blogging. I haven't even read many blogs, with the possible exception of my son Kenny's blog, Creative Journal. So please bear with me as I learn this new type of information technology and share with you my tidbits about a much older type of information technology: Ham Radio. I should also mention that this is being written from the perspective of a ham radio operator living and operating in the United States, and so some of what I write may not be accurate if you are in another country. Particularly if is pertains to licensing, operating rules, etc. You non-US hams, are invited to comment and offer what is different in your contry.

To begin, we'll talk about this great pastime of Ham Radio and aim the posts at you 'newbies'. Later we'll get into discussions on equipment, antennas, and all the FUN that you can have in ham radio. Some call ham radio a hobby. I use the term pastime, instead of 'hobby', because for many of us this is more than a hobby. It is a calling in the volunteer sense. We are involved in very many public service activities, which always give us great satisfaction. Translation: fun, fun, fun!

Some ground rules are probably in order. Comments are welcome! I don't claim to have all the answers and there are those who are certainly more knowledgeable about ham radio than I. So feel free, but try to keep them on topic and free of uncivilized language.

Let's leave it at that for the first post to Ham Radio Scene. Next time we'll talk about "How to Get on the Air" and Do you need a license? and Do you have to learn Morse Code?

'73
de wa2kkg k
What does 73 mean? (Psssst- "Best Regards")