Your First Ham Radio Station PARC 03-Mar-2016 Jim Hicks

What are the Essential Pieces Bare Essentials for voice mode Radio Power Supply OR Battery connection Antenna – May need antenna tuner Ancillary, but important Computer with logging program or Notebook to log contacts Bandplans for each class and band

Things you should know There are many Ham Elmers in the club that can help you get started. Need to be licensed and there are difference classes with different band and mode privileges. RF Ground and DC Ground are not the same You can easily make an antenna. You can get away without an antenna tuner for single band or well designed multiband antennas dipole, JPOLE (It is difficult to use on multi-bands without an antenna tuner) You are supposed to keep a record of your contacts You can use a notebook OR the most common is use a freeware program designed as a Ham Radio Contact Log. You might try several to see what you like. I recommend N1MM, or low cost N3FJP. There are many others that run on Windows or Android. Free signup for LOTW. You should try a radio model if you can before buying. There are a lot of used radios available for beginners. Ask as

Beyond the Basic Station Radio(s). Digital Modem/sound card and software to support digital modes. Foot switch and Head phones with Mic boom. Computer interfaced to radio for help radio control, with logging and support of digital modes. Additional antennas to support more bands. Antennas with directional capability and gain. Antenna switch to allow ease in switching from one antenna to another. Tower with rotator to rotate the better directional antenna with gain. Better RF grounding. Amplifier to make up for a not optimal antenna. Highest cost for the gain. Added power means dealing with noise, neighbors, the door bell, the TV, etc.

Once You Have Setup Your Station Turn your radio on and Learn how to use it. Lear to use the tuner and logging program. Learn the capabilities of your radio and antenna. Most antennas will not have sufficient bandwidth to support the entire band. Characterize the frequency “sweet spot” that allows ≤ 1.6:1 SWR for a solid state radio and ≤2:1 for tube type final radios. This helps reduce noise emission and life of the radio. Write this down for each antenna and keep handy at your radio.

Antennas and Feedlines - Tech Tidbits The Feedline is typically coax, twin lead or ladder line and can have difference impedances. It is best to properly tune the antenna and feedline to maximize rf emission through the antenna. Some antennas use the feedline as part of the radiating element. The radio wants to see 50 Ohms impedance through the feedline and antenna. If the antenna or feedline does not present 50 Ohms to the radio, transmitting power will be lost by the radio folding back the power or in the feedline as heat and some feedline emissions. The antenna tuner fakes the radio into thinking the impedance is 50 Ohms or there about. BTW, rf travels on the outside of the conductor not on the inside.

Station and Antenna Grounding - Tech Tidbits You should plan on a DC ground and most importantly, an RF ground. Changes to your rf ground can introduce a change in SWR looking out from the radio through the feedline to the antenna, so it is a good idea to recheck after rearranging your rf ground. Copper strap or braid is best for rf grounding since the rf travels on the outside of the wire and the braid provides much more surface area. Radio – Balanced Feed

Digital – Low Power Modes - Tech Tidbits You will need a sound card modem with radio and computer interface and software. Internal computer sound cards work well, but you still need to build or buy interfaces to the radio. External sound card modems usually come with interface cables but are more expensive. You will need to be able to get the sound to the radio and you will also need to key the radio. When you first start, you can use a mic to speaker interface, but it is not very robust.

References Logging and Digital Mode Software Free Not Free Not Free List

Saturday 10AM - Noon Jim Hicks 2106 Beth St. Pocatello, ID