Getting on the Air: HT

1. Getting on the Air: HT “I just got my license, now what?” By The Salvation Army & MDARC

2. Presented by: Jim Siemons CCRA

3. Congratulations,You’re a Ham! * 738,000+ New Friends in the US alone * Remember – THIS IS A HOBBY! (have fun!) * You get to decide what you want to do. So, what can I do?

5. Where is the playground? • Did you know in the US amateurs have access to approximately: • 3.75 MHz of HF (160m-10m) spectrum • 67 MHz of VHF/UHF (6m-33cm) spectrum • 24.095 GHz of microwave (23cm-300GHz) spectrum

6. A few of my favorite things… PSK31 waterfall

7. How do we communicate? • We communicate Point-to-Point • We communicate over Repeaters • We communicate over the Internet (VoIP) • And combinations of the above!

8. Can you find the repeater?

9. VHF / UHF • 6 Meters (50 MHz) • 2 Meters (144 MHz) • 1-1/4 Meters (222 MHz) {220} • 70 cm (420 MHz) {440} • 33 cm (902 MHz) {900} • 23 cm (1240 MHz) {1200}

10. What’s on a ham radio?

11. HT Keypad

12. Using Your HT • What mode is the radio in? • What is the radio frequency? • What is the status of the battery? • On and Off switch and volume • Dial knob (VFO knob) • Squelch Control • PTT

13. Using Your HT • Number Keys – Set a Freq & Setup a Function • V/M Key • F W Key • Power Level – low/medium/high (.5, 2, 5w) • Select VFO Mode • Select 2 meters • Turn Off WIRES – Yaesu, this means you!

14. Simplex Operating • Listen, Listen, Listen • Say you call sign + “monitoring” • Call another station • Answer another station

15. Repeater Operating • Listen, Listen, Listen • Lots more folks are listening to you! • If joining a net – listen and follow the instructions of the “Net Control” • “Clear” when you are done

16. Equipment

17. “Top Shelf” Gear Kenwood TH-F6A Yaesu VX-8R ICOM 92AD Yaesu VX-7R

18. Best Value Gear Yaesu FT-60R Icom IC-80AD Yaesu VX-6R

19. Time to go out and operate?!

20. The Camp Shack

21. “Honey, it’s just a clock radio…”

22. Phonetic Alphabet It is a fine business to use the international phonetic alphabet! Don’t let other operators think of you as a lid!

23. RST Signal Report R = READABILITY1 -- Unreadable2 -- Barely readable, occasional words distinguishable3 -- Readable with considerable difficulty4 -- Readable with practically no difficulty5 -- Perfectly readable T = TONE1 -- Sixty cycle a.c. or less, very rough and broad2 -- Very rough a.c. , very harsh and broad3 -- Rough a.c. tone, rectified but not filtered4 -- Rough note, some trace of filtering5 -- Filtered rectified a.c. but strongly ripple-modulated6 -- Filtered tone, definite trace of ripple modulation7 -- Near pure tone, trace of ripple modulation8 -- Near perfect tone, slight trace of modulation9 -- Perfect tone, no trace of ripple or modulation of any kind S = SIGNAL STRENGTH1 -- Faint signals, barely perceptible2 -- Very weak signals3 -- Weak signals4 -- Fair signals5 -- Fairly good signals6 -- Good signals7 -- Moderately strong signals8 -- Strong signals9 -- Extremely strong signals

24. Keeping a Log • Hams are no longer required to keep a log book – but it is a really good idea to do so! • Three main ways to keep a station log: paper, using computer software or keep it in the “cloud” such as LoTW or QRZ.com

25. Keeping a Log

26. Battery Management • Use it or lose it! • Secondary vs. Primary • Do not charge Alkaline Cells! • Do no overcharge batteries! • Periodically check condition of batteries on standby • Power save mode/low TX pwr/Auto Off

27. Other Topics… • Crossband Repeaters – Awesome! • APRS • EchoLink and IRLP • SSTV • Fastscan TV – ATV Rules! • Apps for your phone!

28. Thanks for Coming!!!