Amateur Extra License Class

1. Amateur ExtraLicense Class Chapter 2 Operating Practices

2. General Operating • Extra Class HF Frequencies • 80m: 3.500 MHz to 3.525 MHz • 75m: 3.600 MHz to 3.700 MHz • 40m: 7.000 MHz to 7.025 MHz • 20m: 14.000 MHz to 14.025 MHz • 20m: 14.150 MHz to 14.175 MHz • 15m: 21.000 MHz to 21.025 MHz • 15m: 21.200 MHz to 21.225 MHz • Most DX operations in lower-end of the band. • Extra class portions of the bands are less crowded.

3. Carrier Frequency Lower Side band Upper Side band Carrier Frequency-2.8 KHz Carrier - 300 Hz Carrier +300Hz Carrier Frequency+2.8 KHz General Operating • Frequency Selection • Be aware of the band edges!

4. General Operating • Frequency Selection (cont’d) • ITU Regions 1, 2, & 3 allocations (especially 40m) • Band Plans • Alternate bands/frequencies. • Be flexible.

5. General Operating • DX’ing • Why DX? • DX windows • 160m: 1.830 MHz to 1.835 MHz • 75m: 3.795 MHz to 3.800 MHz • QSL managers.

6. General Operating • DX’ing • DX operating techniques • Listen before you transmit! • “You can’t work ‘em if you can’t hear ‘em!” • Use your full call once or twice. • Use standard (ICAO) phonetics. • Pileup management • Simplex • Split • By-the-numbers

7. General Operating • DX’ing • Split operation. • DX station may be on a frequency not available to some answering stations. • 40m. • Separates calling stations from DX station. • Calling stations can hear DX station without interference. • Spreads out pile-up. • Fewer calling stations on each frequency reduces interference & DX station can more efficiently pick out a station to answer.

8. General Operating • DX’ing • Propagation • Conditions declining as Solar Cycle 24 winds down. • Propagation forecasting software. • Propagation bulletins • Beacons. • Telnet/Packet spotting networks. • Move to lower frequency band as DX stations get weaker.

9. E2C05 -- What is the function of a DX QSL Manager? • To allocate frequencies for Dxpeditions • To handle the receiving and sending of confirmation cards for a DX station • To run a net to allow many stations to contact a rare DX station • To relay calls to and from a DX station

10. E2C08 -- Which of the following contacts may be confirmed through the U.S. QSL bureau system? • Special event contacts between stations in the U.S. • Contacts between a U.S. station and a non-U.S. station • Repeater contacts between U.S. club members • Contacts using tactical call signs

11. E2C10 -- Why might a DX station state that they are listening on another frequency? • Because the DX station may be transmitting on a frequency that is prohibited to some responding stations • To separate the calling stations from the DX station • To improve operating efficiency by reducing interference • All of these choices are correct

12. E2C11 -- How should you generally identify your station when attempting to contact a DX station during a contest or in a pileup? • Send your full call sign once or twice • Send only the last two letters of your call sign until you make contact • Send your full call sign and grid square • Send the call sign of the DX station three times, the words “this is”, then your call sign three times

13. E2C12 -- What might help to restore contact when DX signals become too weak to copy across an entire HF band a few hours after sunset? • Switch to a higher frequency HF band • Switch to a lower frequency HF band • Wait 90 minutes or so for the signal degradation to pass • Wait 24 hours before attempting another communication on the band

14. General Operating • Contesting (a.k.a. – Radiosport) • Why contest? §97.1(c) -- Expansion of the existing reservoir within the amateur radio service of trained operators…. • Categories (single-op, multi-op, multi-multi, etc.). • Spotting networks, CWSkimmer. • “Self-spotting” generally prohibited. • Exchange. • Multipliers.

15. General Operating • Contesting • Operating Methods. • Search & Pounce. • “Running” a frequency. • Some contests restricted by band and/or mode.

16. General Operating • Contesting • No repeater contacts. • Avoid recognized calling frequencies. • VHF/UHF contest activity normally found in weak signal portion of each band near calling frequency.

17. General Operating • Contesting • Submitting logs. • Paper logs. • Original method. • Generally discouraged. • May be prohibited for large logs. • Electronic logs. • Cabrillo format. • E-mail or website applet. • Do NOT have to submit log to participate.

18. General Operating • Contesting • Finding contests. • WA7BNM website. • http://hornucopia.com/contestcal • ARRL website. • http://www.arrl.org/contest-calendar • CQ Magazine website. • http://www.cq-amateur-radio.com • National Contest Journal (NCJ) website. • http://www.ncjweb.com/contests.php

19. E2C01 -- Which of the following is true about contest operating? • Operators are permitted to make contacts even if they do not submit a log • Interference to other amateurs is unavoidable and therefore acceptable • It is mandatory to transmit the call sign of the station being worked as part of every transmission to that station • Every contest requires a signal report in the exchange

20. E2C02 -- Which of the following best describes the term self-spotting in regards to contest operating? • The generally prohibited practice of posting one’s own call sign and frequency on a spotting network • The acceptable practice of manually posting the call signs of stations on a call sign spotting network • A manual technique for rapidly zero beating or tuning to a station’s frequency before calling that station • An automatic method for rapidly zero beating or tuning to a station’s frequency before calling that station

21. E2C03 -- From which of the following bands is amateur radio contesting generally excluded? • 30 meters • 6 meters • 2 meters • 33 cm

22. E2C06 -- During a VHF/UHF contest, in which band segment would you expect to find the highest level of activity? • At the top of each band, usually in a segment reserved for contests • In the middle of each band, usually on the national calling frequency • In the weak signal segment of the band, with most of the activity near the calling frequency • In the middle of the band, usually 25 kHz above the national calling frequency

23. E2C07 -- What is the Cabrillo format?  • A standard for submission of electronic contest logs • A method of exchanging information during a contest QSO • The most common set of contest rules • The rules of order for meetings between contest sponsors

24. E2C13 -- What indicator is required to be used by U.S.-licensed operators when operating a station via remote control where the transmitter is located in the U.S.? • / followed by the USPS two letter abbreviation for the state in which the remote station is located • /R# where # is the district of the remote station • The ARRL section of the remote station • No additional indicator is required

25. Digital Mode Operating • Packet Radio • AX.25 protocol • ASCII. • Block of data – typically 128 or 256 bytes. • Add header, & checksum. • Receiving station responds with ACK or request for repeat.

26. Digital Mode Operating • Packet Radio • Terminal Node Controller (TNC). • Mostly VHF or UHF. • 1200 baud AFSK FM (2m). • Automatic Message Forwarding. • 219-220 MHz.

27. Digital Mode Operating • Packet Radio • Digipeater. • Satellite. • PACSAT. • Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites. • Store & forward. • DX packet cluster.

28. E2D04 -- What is the purpose of digital store-and-forward functions on an Amateur Radio satellite? • To upload operational software for the transponder • To delay download of telemetry between satellites • To store digital messages in the satellite for later download by other stations • To relay messages between satellites

29. E2D05 -- Which of the following techniques is normally used by low Earth orbiting digital satellites to relay messages around the world? • Digipeating • Store-and-forward • Multi-satellite relaying • Node hopping

30. Digital Mode Operating • Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS)

31. Digital Mode Operating • Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS) • Developed by Bob Bruniga, WB4APR. • Standard packet transmission. • AX.25 protocol. • Unnumbered information (UI) frames. • Typical frequency. • 144.390 MHz (North America)

32. Digital Mode Operating • Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS) • Applications. • Position reporting. • Uses GPS data to transmit latitude & longitude of station. • Severe weather spotting. • Public service events. • Weather data gathering. • Messaging.

33. Digital Mode Operating • Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS) • Full-featured station. • 2m FM transceiver. • TNC. • Computer. • GPS.

34. Digital Mode Operating • Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS) • Stand-alone tracker. • 2m FM transmitter. • TNC. • GPS receiver.

35. Digital Mode Operating • Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS) • http://www.aprs.org • http://aprsworld.net • http://www.findu.com

36. E2A14 -- What technology is used to track, in real time, balloons carrying amateur radio transmitters? • Radar • Bandwidth compressed LORAN • APRS • Doppler shift of beacon signals

37. E2D07 – What digital protocol is used by APRS? • PACTOR • 802.11 • AX.25 • AMTOR

38. E2D08 – What type of packet frame is used to transmit APRS beacon data? • Unnumbered Information • Disconnect • Acknowledgement • Connect

39. E2D10 -- How can an APRS station be used to help support a public service communications activity? • An APRS station with an emergency medical technician can automatically transmit medical data to the nearest hospital • APRS stations with General Personnel Scanners can automatically relay the participant numbers and time as they pass the check points • An APRS station with a GPS unit can automatically transmit information to show a mobile station's position during the event • All of these choices are correct

40. E2D11 -- Which of the following data are used by the APRS network to communicate your location? • Polar coordinates • Time and frequency • Radio direction finding spectrum analysis • Latitude and longitude

41. Break

42. Amateur Satellites

43. Amateur Satellites • Understanding Satellite Orbits • An orbit is one complete trip by an object around its primary. • The primary is the object around which the object is orbiting. • The primary of the earth is the sun. • The primary of the moon is the earth. • The primary of artificial earth satellites is the earth.

44. Amateur Satellites • Understanding Satellite Orbits • Inertia causes a satellite to try to keep moving in a straight line. • Commonly referred to as centrifugal force. • The higher the speed, the stronger the centrifugal force. • The sharper the turn (satellite closer to earth), the stronger the centrifugal force. • Gravity tries to pull the satellite towards the primary. • The closer the satellite is to the primary, the stronger the pull of gravity. • An orbit is stable if the centrifugal force equals the pull of gravity.

45. Amateur Satellites • Understanding Satellite Orbits • Johannes Kepler (1571–1630). • Mathematically described orbits of planets. • Same laws apply to artificial satellites orbiting the Earth.

46. Amateur Satellites • Understanding Satellite Orbits • Kepler’s 1st Law. • All planetary orbits are elliptical with the Sun at one of the foci of the ellipse.

47. Amateur Satellites • Understanding Satellite Orbits • Kepler’s 2nd Law. • A line joining a planet and the Sun sweeps out equal areas during equal intervals of time.

48. Amateur Satellites • Understanding Satellite Orbits • Kepler’s 3rd Law. • The square of the orbital period of a planet is directly proportional to the cube of the semi-major axis of its orbit. • In plain English – The farther a planet is from the Sun, the longer it takes to complete one orbit around the Sun. • Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites typically have orbital periods of about 90 minutes. • Satellites at about 25,000 miles above the Earth have orbital periods of about 24 hours and are called geosynchronous or geostationary satellites.

49. Amateur Satellites • Understanding Satellite Orbits • Keplerian elements. • Sets of numbers that describe a satellite’s orbit. • If you know the Keplerian elements for a satellite, you can determine its position at any given time. • Software programs use Keplerian elements to plot the current positions of satellites. • SatScape • Orbitron • SatPC32

50. Amateur Satellites • Orbital Mechanics • Definitions. • Inclination. • The angle of an orbit with respect to the Equator. • An orbit with an inclination of 0° is always directly over the Equator. • An orbit with an inclination of 90° will pass directly over both the North Pole and the South Pole. • Apogee • The point in an orbit where the satellite is farthest from the Earth. • Perigee • The point in an orbit where the satellite is closest to the Earth.