Technician Licensing Class
These Power Point presentations are available to individuals who register with The W5YI Group’s HamInstructor.com program.
The presentations are provided by Master Publishing and The
W5YI Group and include material that is covered by U.S. and
International copyrights. They are intended solely for the use of
Registered Instructors using the Gordon West, WB6NOA,
Technician Class, General Class, and Extra Class study manuals to teach FCC Amateur Radio Licensing Classes. Registration through HamInstructor.com constitutes a Licensing Agreement between The W5YI Group and the registered instructor under which the instructor agrees not to copy or distribute the Power
Point presentations to unauthorized users.
1

Valid July 1, 2014
Through
June 30, 2018
2

Amateur Radio Technician Class
Element 2 Course Presentation
 ELEMENT 2 SUB-ELEMENTS
(Groupings)
• About Ham Radio
 Call Signs
• Control
• Mind the Rules
• Tech Frequencies
• Your First Radio
• Going Solo
• Repeaters
• Emergency!
• Weak Signal Propagation

Amateur Radio Technician Class
Element 2 Course Presentation
 ELEMENT 2 SUB-ELEMENTS
(Groupings)
• Talk to Outer Space!
• Your Computer Goes Ham Digital!
• Multi-Mode Radio Excitement
• Run Some Interference Protection
• Electrons – Go With the Flow!
• It’s the Law, per Mr. Ohm!
• Picture This!
• Antennas
• Feed Me With Some Good Coax!
• Safety First!

Call Signs
•
T1F03 Give your call letters regularly – every 10 minutes and at the end of your transmission
. Remember, even though the law doesn’t require that you give them at the beginning of the transmission, it makes good sense to start out with your call letters.
5

Call Signs
• T1D11 Unidentified transmissions have always been the big “nono” of amateur radio. However, recent rules allow for one exception: transmissions to operate radio controlled cars, boats, or aircraft.
You do need to have an alternate means of identifying the transmitter call sign, such as physically attaching a call sign label to the remote control transmitter.
•
T8C08 If you have a multi-mode, 6-meter radio, tune around
50.800 to 51.000 MHz, or 53.100 to 53.900 MHz. Chances are you’ll hear some strange radio control signals. You won’t hear
Morse code identification because the only required identification is a label indicating the name, ham call sign and address of the operator affixed on the actual 1-watt transmitter.
6

Call Signs
•
T8C07 Ham radio operators are permitted specific channels on our own 6-meter band to operate radio-controlled models. The maximum power allowed for controlling your model aircraft on the ham radio 6-meter band is 1 watt . One watt will allow you to fly your model to a point you won’t even be able to see it in the sky!
Better have your name and address on it!
7

Call
• T1C02 Ham radio call signs for the United States begin with the letter A, K, N, or W. They also have a single number 0 through 9.
Answer A has too many letters and numbers for a ham call sign.
Looks like police radio to me. Answer C is incorrect because there are no numbers, all letters, and is the call sign of the very first commercial broadcast radio station in the US, located in Pittsburgh.
And Answer D reminds me of my old CB call sign, 11W1769. That leaves us with only W3ABC as the correct format for a US ham radio call sign .

Call Signs
The number in your new call sign is determined by your permanent mailing address.

Call Signs
• T1C12 If you’re like most hams, your call sign becomes an important part of your identity! You may not be as fanatical about your call sign as one individual who had his tattooed on his chest, but if you’re an active ham, you’ll be knit very closely with your “ham ID” for a long time. Far more hams worldwide recognize my call sign than my name.
For decades, amateur radio call signs were pretty much the luck of the draw. Now with the Vanity Call Sign program, you can (within limits) pick a call sign that fits your personality. Most radio amateurs prefer short, distinctive call signs but longer call signs can be memorable too.
As a Technician Class Licensee, you may choose your call sign from
Group C (1 by 3) or Group D (2 by 3). What does this “1 by 3” and “2 by 3” business mean? A “1 by 3” means one letter before your number (remember all legitimate U.S. call signs have one and only one number), and three letters after. A “2 by 3” call has two letters before the number, and three letters after. Of course, all vanity calls are
“doled out” on a first-come-first-served basis.
Any licensed amateur can request a vanity call sign.
Want one? The W5YI-VEC can help you.

Call Signs
• T1C05 Most radio amateurs prefer short, distinctive call signs over longer calls. However, since there are a lot fewer short call signs to go around, these are reserved to higher class licensees. As a
Technician Class licensee, the vanity call sign you can chose is a slightly longer one, but there are still some distinctive call signs in this category. What Technician wouldn’t like a call sign like
K1HAM? Your chances of getting a call sign like that are pretty slim, but not impossible!

Call Signs
• T1C01 “Calling CQ from
W6V
, Veterans’ Memorial Station.”
Wow, nice short call sign, huh? W 6 V? This is a special event call sign . Special event call signs are granted only to those stations that may be operating on a special day (Memorial Day weekend), offering other hams the ability to exchange communications on that special day with a special facility.

Call Signs
•
T2B09 When you get your new call sign hardly anyone else on the repeater will be familiar with it. U se the International Phonetic
Alphabet to make your individual letters recognized by substituting a word for each letter. Memorize the phonetic alphabet and use it often. When you say your call sign phonetically and indicate you are listening for a response, put some zing into it! This is like fishing – sound excited and you’ll get some excitement coming back to your first call. Don’t be deadpan – put some fun in your voice and you’ll get lots of return calls.

Call Signs

Call Signs
• T1F12 The FCC closely monitors applications for club station call signs. It requires at least 4 persons to make up the club , and the club must have a name, a document of organization, a list of management, and the primary purpose devoted to amateur radio service activities. The FCC will not tolerate a ham operator
“collecting” multiple different club call signs just for the fun of it.
•
T1C14 A distinctive club call sign can make a station stand out on the air, as well as make a terse statement about the club’s purpose.
Any bona fide amateur radio club may apply for a club license and vanity club call sign, but only the person named as trustee on the club station license grant may actually select the vanity call from the available group. Also be sure the club station qualifies as a bona fide club station.

Call Signs
16

Call Signs
•
T1F01 Tactical call signs are permitted on the ham bands to identify a specific aspect of your operation. If you are running sled dog races in Fairbanks, other operators may simply call “Race
Headquarters” if you are the station at race headquarters.
However, every 10 minutes, be sure to give your own call sign, as well as the tactical call name you have been using.

Call Signs
• T1F02 You will be the only one in the World with your unique amateur radio call sign. You can likely get your ham radio call sign on your vehicle license plates, too! And when operating on the air, it’s always a good idea to give your call sign phonetically.
When operating a ham radio station at a big event, you are permitted to use tactical call signs, such as “Checkpoint Charlie.”
However, the rules still require that you give your own station call sign every ten minutes along with your tactical call sign. So every ten minutes, if you have been active on the air, give your own call sign.

Call Signs
•
T1F04 Today is an exciting adventure on the 10 meter band. As a Technician Class operator, your new privileges include voice emissions from 28.300 to 28.500 MHz. When the skip goes long, it’s possible to hook up with a station in a foreign country. You are permitted to speak their language as a courtesy to the other operator. However, every ten minutes, you must give your own call sign in English. Even though you have been speaking fluent
Italian for the last 9 minutes and 59 seconds, it’s now time to identify in our own language – English.

Call Signs
•
T1F06 Your Alaska station (call sign area 7) is now operating mobile in Maryland, the 3rd call sign district. To let other operators know you are in the area, you would use your regular call sign followed by the word stroke, or the word slant, or digital indicator of forward slash mark and then “W3.” All of these choices are correct
. This way, locals won’t think Alaska propagation is coming in on the local 2 meter band! They know you’re in their neighborhood.
• T1F08 This is a recent rule change, so be careful. In the past, you had to announce mobile operation with a “slash M” but this is no longer necessary. The only time you need to transmit a “suffix” only when you’re operating while the FCC is processing your upgrade and it is not yet posted on the ULS. Fortunately, this process is much faster than in the past, when it could take months for you to get your paper license in the mail.

Call Signs
• T1B01 The United States, like most other countries, is a member of the International Telecommunications Union. The ITU is a worldwide United Nations agency that helps establish uniform and agreed-upon regulations and frequency rules for radio services of member nations, including those for the amateur radio services of member nations. Our own FCC has the big job of insuring that our radio services – commercial as well as amateur – are in compliance with ITU rules.

Call Signs
• T1B12 The International Telecommunications Union manages worldwide amateur radio communications by dividing the Earth into three large regions, which include large bodies of water, as well as land. Between the ITU regions there differences in frequency allocations for land and maritime operations.
•
T1B02 The International Telecommunications Union, which assures that Amateur Radio frequencies are (for the most part) consistent around the world, uses three large regions to manage frequency allocation. There are differences in the allocations between ITU regions. Some parts of the U.S., including Guam, fall into a different ITU region and have different ITU numbers than the Continental U.S

Call Signs
•
T1D01 Your new Technician Class license gives you many opportunities to talk around the world. A few hams own the distinction of “Worked All
Countries” – a little more than 350 throughout the world. Currently, only two foreign governments prohibits ham-to-ham communications. If you speak a foreign language, it’s perfectly okay to speak that language with a ham in that country. Just be sure to identify yourself every 10 minutes in
English. It’s also a good idea to check with the local control operator on an
IRLP or Echolink system for permission to speak the other language over their setups. On the 10 meter band, where you have worldwide voice single sideband privileges from 28.300 to 28.500 MHz, no other control operator permission is needed. You are your own control operator, and you may speak with the ham in the foreign country using their own language. The
ITU publishes the “Status of Radiocommunications Between Amateur
Stations of Different Countries” in its document 9658. As of the last printing in November, 2010, there were two countries that prohibit communications between amateur stations
: the Democratic People’s
Republic of Korea, and Eritrea.

Call Signs
•
T1C03 Ham radio operators are not allowed to conduct their own business over the air. Ham radio ONLY for contesting is not what a good ham operator is about. We also don’t transmit international broadcast messages to shortwave listeners. Our ham transmissions are of a personal nature , and the purpose of our communications is found in the amateur service Rules and Regulations, Part 97
.

Call Signs
•
T1F07 Third-party traffic is any communication by amateur radio on behalf of a non-licensed person. This can include an unlicensed person talking over the microphone of an amateur radio station, or an amateur passing a radiogram on behalf of a third party. Many foreign countries consider any such communications to be competition for their commercial radio communications and forbid such traffic. A Third Party Agreement must be in place in order for a radio amateur to participate in this activity. The list of countries allowing third party traffic can be found on the FCC website.
Never assume a foreign country has a third-party agreement.
Always Check!

Call Signs

Call Signs
•
T1F11 Third party agreements allow you to let a non-licensed friend speak over your ham radio set. This is fine to all other US hams here, but is only permitted when our government has a third party agreement in place with the other country’s government.
•
T1C04 Over 75 countries hold reciprocal operating agreements with the US . The permit to operate in different countries usually is obtained ahead of time, and some European countries don’t require any special paperwork other than having copies of an Extra Class
US license and reciprocal agreement paperwork.

Call Signs

Call Signs

Call Signs
• T1C06 When you get your new ham license, you are permitted to use your call sign anywhere our Federal Communications
Commission regulates radio traffic, such as throughout the United
States, and in our territories. We do have agreements in place for permission to operate in several other countries, and we’ll learn more about this in up-coming pages of this book. But what happens when you are out sailing on the high seas, in international waters? If that sailboat is registered or documented in the US , seen flying our stars and stripes on the stern flag staff, then you are good to go! You still must abide by the rules for your grade of license, and all the FCC rules are still in force , even though you may be 1000 miles out at sea. Be sure to get the permission of the ship’s Captain (on a cruise ship, for instance) before going on the air with your little ham radio set.

Call Signs
•
T1D02 Once a year, during the Armed Forces Day
Communications Test weekend drill, we get special permission to talk with Uncle Sam’s finest, with them using their own military call signs. We transmit within our own ham band limits, using our own call signs, but we listen with a receiver set to their military frequencies outside of our ham bands! “Calling Coast Guard station November Foxtrot 1 1 4 Alpha Golf, this is amateur station
WB6NOA, over.” Perfectly legal during this 1 or 2 day event held once a year.

Valid July 1, 2014
Through
June 30, 2018
32

T1F03 When is an amateur station required to transmit its assigned call sign?
A.
At the beginning of each contact, and every
10 minutes thereafter
B.
At least once during each transmission
C.
At least every 15 minutes during and at the end of a communication
D.
At least every 10 minutes during and at the end of a communication
33

T1D11 When may an amateur station transmit without identifying?
A.
When the transmissions are of a brief nature to make station adjustments
B.
When the transmissions are unmodulated
C.
When the transmitted power level is below 1 watt
D.
When transmitting signals to control a model craft
34

T8C08
What is required in place of on-air station identification when sending signals to a radio control model using amateur frequencies?
A.
Voice identification must be transmitted every
10 minutes
B.
Morse code ID must be sent once per hour
C.
A label indicating the licensee's name, call sign and address must be affixed to the transmitter
D.
A flag must be affixed to the transmitter antenna with the station call sign in 1 inch high letters or larger
35

T8C07 What is the maximum power allowed when transmitting telecommand signals to radio controlled models?
A.
500 milliwatts
B.
1 watt
C.
25 watts
D.
1500 watts
36

T1C02 Which of the following is a valid US amateur radio station call sign?
A.
KMA3505
B.
W3ABC
C.
KDKA
D.
11Q1176
37

T1C12 Who may select a desired call sign under the vanity call sign rules?
A.
Only licensed amateurs with general or extra class licenses
B.
Only licensed amateurs with an extra class license
C.
Only an amateur licensee who has been licensed continuously for more than 10 years
D.
Any licensed amateur
38

T1C05 Which of the following is a vanity call sign which a technician class amateur operator might select if available?
A.
K1XXX
B.
KA1X
C.
W1XX
D.
All of the choices are correct
39

T1C01 Which type of call sign has a single letter in both the prefix and suffix?
A.
Vanity
B.
Sequential
C.
Special event
D.
In-memoriam
40

T2B09 Which of the following methods is encouraged by the FCC when identifying your station when using phone?
A.
Use of a phonetic alphabet
B.
Send your call sign in CW as well as voice
C.
Repeat your call sign three times
D.
Increase your signal to full power when identifying
41

T1F12 How many persons are required to be members of a club for a club station license to be issued by the FCC?
A.
At least 5
B.
At least 4
C.
A trustee and 2 officers
D.
At least 2
42

T1C14 Who may select a vanity call sign for a club station
?
A.
Any Extra Class member of the club
B.
Any member of the club
C.
Any officer of the club
D.
Only the person named as trustee on the club station license grant
43

T1F01 What type of identification is being used when identifying a station on the air as Race
Headquarters?
A.
Tactical call sign
B.
official call sign reserved for RACES drills
C.
SSID
D.
Broadcast station
44

T1F02 When using tactical identifiers such as “Race
Headquarters” during a community service net operations, how often must your station transmit the station’s FCCassigned call sign?
A.
Never, the tactical call is sufficient
B.
Once during every hour
C.
At the end of each communication and every ten minutes during a communication
D.
At the end of every transmission
45

T1F04 Which of the following is an acceptable language to use for station identification when operating in the phone sub-band?
A.
Any language recognized by the United
Nations
B.
Any language recognized by the ITU
C.
The English language
D.
English, French, or Spanish
46

T1F06 Which of the following formats of a self-assigned indicator is acceptable when identifying using a phone transmission?
A.
KL7CC stroke W3
B.
KL7CC slant W3
C.
KL7CC slash W3
D.
All of these choices are correct
47

T1F08
Which indicator is required by the FCC to be transmitted after a station call sign?
A.
/M when operating mobile
B.
/R when operating a repeater
C.
/ followed the FCC Region number when operating out of the region in which the license was issued
D.
/KT, /AE or /AG when using new license privileges earned by CSCE while waiting for an upgrade to a previously issued license to appear in the FCC license database
48

T1B01 What is the ITU ?
A.
An agency of the United States Department of Telecommunications Management
B.
A United Nations agency for information and communication technology issues
C.
An independent frequency coordination agency
D.
A department of the FCC
49

T2B12 Why are frequency assignments for U.S. stations operating maritime mobile not the same everywhere in the world
?
A.
Amateur maritime mobile stations in international waters must conform to the frequency assignments of the country nearest to their vessel
B.
Amateur frequency assignments can vary among the three ITU regions
C.
Frequency assignments are determined by the captain of the vessel
D.
Amateur frequency assignments are different in each of the 90 ITU zones
50

T1B02 Why are the frequency assignments for some
U.S. Territories different from those in the 50
U.S. States?
A.
Some U. S. Territories are located in ITU regions other than region 2
B.
Territorial governments are allowed to select their own frequency allocations
C.
Territorial frequency allocations must also include those of adjacent countries
D.
Any territory that was in existence before the ratification of the Communications Act of
1934 is exempt from FCC frequency regulations
51

T1D01 With which countries are FCC-licensed amateur stations prohibited from exchanging communications?
A.
Any country whose administration has notified the ITU that it objects to such communications
B.
B. Any country whose administration has notified the ARRL that it objects to such communications
C.
C. Any country engaged in hostilities with another country
D.
D. Any country in violation of the War
Powers Act of 1934
52

T1C03 What types of international communications are permitted by an FCC-licensed amateur station?
A.
Communications incidental to the purposes of the amateur service and remarks of a personal character
B.
Communications incidental to conducting business or remarks of a personal nature
C.
Only communications incidental to contest exchanges, all other communications are prohibited
D.
Any communications that would be permitted on an international broadcast station
53

T1F07
Which of the following restrictions apply when a nonlicensed person is allowed to speak to a foreign station using a station under the control of a Technician Class control operator ?
A.
The person must be a U.S. citizen
B.
The foreign station must be one with whom the U.S. has a third party agreement
C.
The licensed control operator must do the station identification
D.
All of these choices are correct
54

T1F11 To which foreign stations do the FCC rules authorize the transmission of non-emergency third party communications?
A.
Any station whose government permits such communications
B.
Those in ITU Region 2 only
C.
Those in ITU Regions 2 and 3 only
D.
Those in ITU Region 3 only
55

T1C04 When are you allowed to operate your amateur station in a foreign country?
A.
When the foreign country authorizes it
B.
When there is a mutual agreement allowing third party communications
C.
When authorization permits amateur communications in a foreign language
D.
When you are communicating with nonlicensed individuals in another country
56

T1C06
From which of the following locations may an FCClicensed amateur station transmit, in addition to places where the FCC regulates communications
?
A.
From within any country that belongs to the
International Telecommunications Union
B.
From within any country that is a member of the United Nations
C.
From anywhere within in ITU Regions 2 and
3
D.
From any vessel or craft located in international waters and documented or registered in the United States
57

T1D02 On which of the following occasions may an
FCC-licensed amateur station exchange messages with a U.S. military station?
A.
During an Armed Forces Day
Communications Test
B.
During a Memorial Day Celebration
C.
During an Independence Day celebration
D.
During a propagation test
58