Frequently asked Quetions

[Hamradioop]

HI all, I thought I would post some of the FAQs I get asked On PMs. No names No pack drill as they say.

1. Will the boafengs pick up cb radios . No, the are VHF UHF in the Frequency Range: 136-174 / 400-480 MHz this cover the Ham Bands of 144_146 Mhz and 430 -440 Mhz. It also covers Marine VHF and the PMR 446 radio scheme FREQUENCY (MHZ):
1 446.00625
2 446.01875
3 446.03125
4 446.04375
5 446.05625
6 446.06875
7 446.08125
8 446.09375

2. Is it legal to transmit in the cb bands with them . They do not work on the CB Band 27.60125 – 27.99125 Mhz.

3. Is the ham licence hard .

The current Ham Licence consists of Three Levels, Foundation, Intermediate and Advanced. Each level is progressively more complex. The foundation exam, I think is 27 questions and the syllabus can be taught over one week end with an exam at the end of it. If you apply yourself to the task you should pass the exam easily.

4. How far can I get with them?
This depends on terrain if you are on a level plain 10 to 15 Miles In a valley, the length of the valley assuming no bends. Hill tops will add distance.

5. Are they secure?
No they are not secure, any one with the correct radios can listen in on you conversation.

[poppypiesdad]

I'm not too proud , the first three questions were from me .

j

[Wulfshead]

I have a question,
Here I sit with my radio tuned to the Danbury repeater to hear the Morse code.
I am trying to feel the rhythm of the dots and dashes from experienced users.
My question is this, how do you tell where one letter stops and the next begins ?

Thanks,
Wulfshead

[Hamradioop]

More on the Morse code

The word PARIS was chosen as the standard length for CW code speed. Each dit counts for one count, each dah counts for three counts, intra-character spacing is one count, inter-character spacing is three counts and inter-word spacing is seven counts, so the word PARIS is exactly 50 counts:
So the gap between letters or numbers is equivalent to three dits. and the gap between words is seven dits.

I suggest you down load either Just learn morse code here: http://www.justlearnmorsecode.com/
or the G4FON morse tutor here; http://www.g4fon.net/CW%20Trainer.htm.

More stuff here; http://www.learnmorsecode.com/



Please Remember:-
These are SOUNDS - do not learn them as visual patterns. So learn the sounds, the two Morse training programs are highly recommended.

"Dit" for . "Dah"for -

[Wulfshead]

Hamradioop,
Thanks for those links, much obliged.
I signed up for the January weekend FL course and exam by the way.

Wulfshead

[ukpreppergrrl]

Here I sit with my radio tuned to the Danbury repeater to hear the Morse code.
I am trying to feel the rhythm of the dots and dashes from experienced users.
My question is this, how do you tell where one letter stops and the next begins ?

When I was trying to learn morse for my Foundation Licence I was advised to treat it like learning a foreign language. One aspect of which is just to sit listening to it for hours. You don't necessarily understand it, but you start to be able to distinguish word clumps and letter clumps. If I recall I used a program called Morse Mania on the mac which will both give you exercises and allow you to simply open a huge text file and have it playing away in the background at whatever speed you want (though the advice is to listen to it at the speed it's usually sent on air). To learn it I'd sit on the bus to work and convert all the signs and the newspaper headlines to morse - quietly in my head though!

I took my FL by accident (long story) a number of years ago and haven't used it in earnest since. I'm feeling the need to dust off my morse and start practicing...

EDIT: just checked, Morse Mania still available for all OS X operating systems, and for your iPhone. Listen to morse whilst commuting!

[Wulfshead]

Thanks for that uKpreppergrrl,
Any tool helps.
I was on the phone to the fellow that organises the FL where I live. He said that at FL level Morse is only now introduced as aside and not part of the exam.
I would however like to learn it and I expect it still forms part of the exams further along the line of progression to advanced.

Wulfshead

[Hamradioop]

Morse code and the Amateur Radio licence is no longer a requirement. You do not need to learn it, but it will usually get a message through when nothing else will, so I class it as a nice to have.

[Hamradioop]

where can I find a training course for ham radio.

Here:

https://thersgb.org/services/coursefinder/

[TheOldHObbit]

Having recently passed my Foundation course the Morse was very easy. To pass, the candidate must be able to show an appreciation for morse and this is done in the following way (on my course anyway):

The morse tutor will send a 5 or 6 worded message. This is done at the candidate's read speed and can be repeated as often as necessary. The candidate has a morse sheet to refer to and correctly interpret the message. The candidate then has to send the same message, at their own speed, and the tutor has to be able to read it.

To be honest, this took all of a couple of minutes and job done.