Equipment Definitions Technician License Course Module Two Radio and Electronics Fundamentals Equipment Definitions

Basic Station Organization Station Equipment Receiver Transmitter Antenna Power Supply Accessory Station Equipment Repeaters Go over with the students the basic outline of the material to be presented during this lesson. This lesson is deceptively simple because there is a lot of preparation required to make this lesson effective. You should try to set up an operative station to give some demonstration contact. Use some care that you don’t set up a station that will intimidate the students on the first day, try to set up a station that would be typical of the type of station that they might set up in the beginning of their ham radio careers. Don’t spend a lot of time at this point demonstrating all the exotic modes available to the students, there will be plenty of time to do that later in the course. I would suggest a basic two meter set up and give demonstration contacts on repeaters and simplex. Then have a simple HF station and make one or two phone and one CW contact. Some advice on contact…don’t depend on a CQ being answered, it may or may not happen. I would suggest you have a few “planted” contacts from your club. These planted contacts are standing by on the frequency ready to step in and make a contact just in case your CQ goes unanswered. Try to get planted contact operators who are good at drawing out conversations on the radio. New operators are intimidated by radio and sometimes need to be prodded to say more than yes or no answers to questions. 2

What happens during radio communication? Transmitting (sending a signal) Information (voice, data, video, commands, etc.) is converted to electronic form The information in electronic form is attached or imbedded on a radio wave (a carrier) The radio wave is sent out from the station antenna into space

What happens during radio communication? Receiving end: The radio wave (carrier) with the information is intercepted by the receiving station antenna The receiver extracts the information from the carrier wave The information is then presented to the user in a format that can be understood (sound, picture, words on a computer screen, response to a command)

The basic radio station

The Receiver and Controls Main tuning dial for received frequency (or channel) selection Frequency display Volume control Other accessory controls for mode (kind of information to process), filters (to mitigate interference), etc.

The Transmitter and Controls Main tuning dial for transmitted frequency (or channel) selection Frequency display Power control (transmitted signal strength) Other accessory controls for mode (kind of information to process), etc.

The Transceiver You will notice that many of the controls of the transmitter and receiver are the same Many modern transmitters and receivers are combined in one unit – called a transceiver Saves space Cost less Many common electronic circuits are shared in the transceiver

Transceiver Controls Some are physical knobs that you manually adjust Some are controlled by computer and you control the settings with keypad entries that program a computer in the transceiver

Antenna The antenna exposes your station to the world Facilitates the radiation of your signal into space (electromagnetic radiation) Intercepts someone else’s signal Many times the transmitting and receiving antenna are the same antenna Connected to your station by a connecting wire called a feed line

Transmit/Receive (TR) Switch If the station antenna is shared between the transmitter and receiver, the TR switch allows the antenna to be switched to the transmitter when sending and to the receiver when receiving In a transceiver, this TR switch is inside the unit and requires no attention by the operator

Power Supply Your radio station needs some sort of power to operate Battery Household current converted to proper voltage Alternative sources

Power Supply Most modern radios operate on 12 volts direct current (DC) A power supply converts household current to the type of current and the correct voltage to operate your station Could be internal, might be external You are probably familiar with common “wall-wart” power supplies

Basic Station Accessories Human interface accessories Microphones Speakers Earphones Computer Morse code key TV camera Etc. Station performance accessories Antenna tuner SWR meter (antenna match checker) Amplifier Antenna rotor (turning antenna) Filters Etc.

Accessory Equipment

Special stations you will use (Repeaters) Repeaters are automated stations located at high places that receive and then retransmit your signal - simultaneously Dramatically improves range The basic components of a repeater are the same as your station: receiver, transmitter, antenna, and power supply

Repeaters But, repeaters are transmitting and receiving at the same time using the same antenna This requires a very high quality and specialized filter to prevent the transmitted signal from over-powering the receiver This specialized filter is called a duplexer

Repeater

VEC Question Pool Module Two

T1F09 What type of amateur station simultaneously retransmits the signal of another amateur station on a different channel or channels? A. Beacon station B. Earth station C. Repeater station D. Message forwarding station

T1F09 (C) What type of amateur station simultaneously retransmits the signal of another amateur station on a different channel or channels? A. Beacon station B. Earth station C. Repeater station D. Message forwarding station

T7A02 What is a transceiver? A. A type of antenna switch B. A unit combining the functions of a transmitter and a receiver C. A component in a repeater which filters out unwanted interference D. A type of antenna matching network

T7A02 (B) What is a transceiver? A. A type of antenna switch B. A unit combining the functions of a transmitter and a receiver C. A component in a repeater which filters out unwanted interference D. A type of antenna matching network

End Module Two