This first Ham Radio Boot Camp will be short and sweet as we only have a few days until the January 26, Boot Camp. With Winter Field Day right around the corner, this Boot Camp will be ideal to go over voice procedures for operating a WFD Station. Field Days are a great place to get experience on the air but it can be a challenge for new and prospective Hams due to the fast pace and confusing lingo. Fear not! It’s not as hard as it seems. If you are forgetful like the rest of us, just keep a note pad, pen, and cheat sheets next to the radio.
Topics:
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ITU Phonetics
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“Q” Signals
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Contest Exchange
ITU Phonetics:
Memorize the phonetic alphabet as it is used in almost any radio communication such as, identification with your call sign. Ex. K5LIB – Kilo Five Lima India Bravo. There are links all over the internet to this list and even phone apps to help you. Practice the phonetic alphabet as much as posible. Grab a magazine, book, or your phone and covert the text to phonetics.
“Q” Signals:
Most Q signals are rarely used and for the sake of time, we are only going to cover those that will likely be used in a WFD exchange. You can learn just a handful to cover most situations. Memorizing these can be tricky as you have to learn how to use them in a sentence and some have question and answer forms of use. Remember, print out a cheat sheet and keep it near the radio until you become more familiar.
QRM– Is my transmission being interfered with? Your transmission is being interfered with ___ (1-Nil, 2-Slightly, 3-Moderately, 4-Severly, 5-Extremely.)
QRN– Are you troubled by static? I am troubled by static ___ (1-5 as under QRM.)
QRO– Shall I increase power? Increase power.
QRP– Shall I decrease power? Decrease power.
QRZ– Who is calling me? You are being called by ___.
QSB– Are my signals fading? Your signals are fading.
QSL– Can you acknowledge receipt? I am acknowledging receipt.
QTH– What is your location? My location is ___.
Contest Exchange:
Example:
Calling Station, “CQ field day, CQ field day, this is, KILO FIVE LIMA INDIA BRAVO calling CQ”
Answering Station, “KILO FIVE BRAVO ECHO KILO”
Calling Station, “KILO FIVE BRAVO ECHO KILO we are TWO OSCAR West Texas QSL?”
Answering Station, “QSL, we are ONE HOTEL West Texas”
Calling Station, “QRZ”
Ham Radio Boot Camp will be held on January 26th and run from 7:00pm – 9:00pm at the LARC clubhouse. Learn the above information as best you can. We will go over the information again at the meeting and do a role playing exercise to help everyone get in the groove of WFD. Bring any notes you may need, pen, or paper as you may need it to help recall information and copy the exchanges during the exercise.
Click the slack link below to join LARC’s slack workspace. Once you are on our workspace join the #boot-camp channel. This app will put you in a chat room with folks who can answer questions or help with tips and pointers.
For more information or questions about Ham Radio Boot Camp, please contact Brandon Kimbrell K5BEK by phone or email.
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Contest Calendar
- CWops Test (CWT)
0300Z-0400Z, Sep 28
- CWops Test (CWT)
0700Z-0800Z, Sep 28
- RSGB 80m Autumn Series, Data
1900Z-2030Z, Sep 28
- NCCC FT4 Sprint
0100Z-0130Z, Sep 29
- NCCC RTTY Sprint
0145Z-0215Z, Sep 29
- NCCC Sprint Ladder
0230Z-0300Z, Sep 29
- K1USN Slow Speed Test
2000Z-2100Z, Sep 29
- Feld Hell Sprint
0000Z-2359Z, Sep 30
- Worked All Provinces of China DX Contest
0600Z, Sep 30 to 0559Z, Oct 1
- UK/EI DX Contest, SSB
1200Z, Sep 30 to 1200Z, Oct 1
