SPARK Introduction to HAM Radio Page

INTRODUCTION TO HAM RADIO

by Bill Jimenez, KE6FTO

Are you currently a licensed Amateur Radio Operator, or are you interested in obtaining a license? If you currently work for SS/L, or are currently assigned by your company or organization to work as a resident representative at SS/L, - you are invited to join S.P.A.R.K. - the SS/L HAM Club. You are welcome to attend our meetings, usually held on the first Thursday of each month, stop by and meet our friendly group. The meetings will generally be held in the SS/L auditorium, located off the lobby of Building 3, on Fabian Way - Look for the building with the flag pole in front. Occasionally we schedule an evening meeting at a local restaurant, like Harry's Hoffbrau, on the El Camino Real, in Mountain View. We have a club radio station WA6NKK located in the back of the cafeteria building and available to licensed members. The ham shack has HF & VHF capability, and a packet station for 2-meters. To arrange a tour of our ham shack, contact Dick LeMassena, the shack trustee at x25912. For more information, about the club, getting a license, perhaps getting a member to start a class, or available training aids, contact Bill Jimenez, KE6FTO by email: JIMENEZ.BILL@ssd.loral.com or voicemail at x26815. If you are not a licensed amateur radio operator, the following statements, questions, and information may be of some help in getting you started on your way to a license...

"I've wanted to become a ham operator for a long time but learning the Morse code always stopped me!"
Are you interested in HAM Radio? The Amateur Radio Service has a class of license which does not require you to learn Morse Code. It is a Technician Class, commonly referred to as a "No-Code Technician License". It only requires that you take two, short, multiple choice, written tests - with passing score equal to 70% correct on each test. Tests are administered at various local sites each month, including Sunnyvale twice a month. The test fee is about six dollars and 25 cents.

"How can I learn what I need to know to become a ham radio operator?"
If you want to start with a No-Code Tech license, you can buy a book with the complete question pool, and study. There is also a computer program that works with the question pool, gives you tests, and grades you. I used this shareware program until I consistently obtained at least a 90% test result, then took my tests and passed the first time. If you want to upgrade to "Technician Plus", there are also shareware computer programs that will tutor and quiz you on the Morse code.

"The equipment has gotten so expensive, I don't think I can afford it!"
Actually, when I passed my tests for a Technician license about 2 1/2 years ago, I purchased a 2-meter Hand-held Transceiver, known as a Handi-Talkie, or HT for short. The Radio Shack HTX-202, sells for under $250 normally and right around $200 when it goes on sale about once a year. I bought one and it is my portable station, which I can take on my belt wherever I go. It is also my mobile station - I plug in a cigarette lighter cord for power and the cable from a magnetic, trunk mounted, antenna. My Base station at home is ... you guessed it, my HTX-202 which I connect to my outside antenna. The antenna is homemade from 5 pieces of copper wire, each about 20" long, attached to a connector, at a total cost of about $5. A new Packet modem cost me $50, and lets me connect my computer to my HT to access a Packet Bulletin Board without using a Phone.

"I don't have any personal time anymore, when would I get to use my radio?"
Most people seem to lack the time to sit down and just chew the rag with a friend, or a stranger. Finding a time when you are both available can be even more difficult. In this area, few people commute less than 20 minutes, many for over an hour, and ham operators find this an ideal time to get conversations going between a group of commuters. You know how you see some of the same people every week during your commute - there are a lot of people you don't see who have ham radios, and are within your radio range, at the same time, every work day. My brother commutes from Modesto to San Jose, and back daily. With the help of a repeater owned by a ham in Walnut Creek, and open to all hams, I can talk to my brother from my car in San Jose, all the way to his driveway in Modesto. The radio chats sure make the time fly during the commutes, as new people log on, and some reach their destinations and log off.

"I'm a night owl and when I get some free time it's usually too late to find anyone else up and about. What can a ham do in that case?"
There are Packet Bulletin Board Systems (PBBS), I love them because I can read messages posted by hams from the local area, the state, the US, and most of the World, when it's convenient for me to do so. I answer some of the questions asked, read some of the jokes posted, read what's for sale, and send some personal messages to ham friends across the US. The message usually gets to the destination within a day or two, and it's like email - the person logs onto a local PBBS which is their "HOME BBS" at their convenience, collects their messages, and sends a reply. Another nice thing about packet is that many people can use the same frequency at the same time, where only transmissions addressed to the individual are seen and all transmissions for other users are transparent. It's like being on a world-wide computer-Local Area Network, where users can share a central computer (Server) and communicate with each other if they wish.

"Are there other advantages to being a licensed ham?"
I have a remote control helicopter, and when I go to an area where I can fly it, I have to wait my turn to use my channel frequency, however as a licensed ham, I have frequencies available to me which are not available to the unlicensed public. If I were to change frequency there usually would be no initial wait, and refueling time the only delay between subsequent flights.

"Is there used equipment available, and where do I find it?"
There is a flea market at Foothill College, in Los Altos, on the second Saturday of each month, from March to September. Ham Radio Outlet (HRO), off Lawrence Expressway in Sunnyvale, sells new and used equipment, and has a bulletin board where people can post equipment for sale. Ham club newsletters, and ham magazines also have "for sale" advertising sections.

South Peninsula Amateur Radio Klub Membership Application
Mail to Rolf Klibo @ M/S G16

Here's my $10.00 check for calendar year 1998 dues, please sign me up!

NAME:______________________________________ (Please Print)

MAILSTOP:_________ PHONE EXT.:________ ORG. NO.:_________

DEPARTMENT NAME:_____________________________________

CALLSIGN:__________ Working to get one ____ Help me get one___

AMATEUR RADIO AREAS OF INTEREST:______________________

Extensions and mail stops listed on this page are internal to SS/L

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