Amateur Radio Victoria Foundation Licence Course February 23rd & 24th 2013

[Bob Powers]

Hello,

Is anyone else interested in getting started with amateur radio?

I've just signed up to the next course for Feb. 23/24. The Foundation license is the first step in the Amateur Operator's Certificate of Proficiency license regime. It is legally required to broadcast on certain radio bands and up to certain broadcast powers in Australia. From the information online, it looks like it should be very easy for anyone with an electronics background and pretty approachable by anyone willing to put in a just little reading. The only minor problem is it overlaps with a general hacking session with CCHS, but nothing's perfect.

If you're interested, you'll have to contact the organizer (Barry Robinson vk3...@bigpond.net.au) and get the ball rolling. Here's some more information I received in an email from him:

-----------Forwarded Email

Thank you for your inquiry about the Foundation Licence training and assessment sessions. Held at Ashburton it all begins at 9am with experienced trainers covering what you need to know. The training runs until 4pm with a break for lunch (not provided). Everyone returns at 9am on the Sunday at 9am for an hour revision and questions session that is extremely helpful.

 

Also on Sunday morning all assessment registrations are completed. The written assessments begin on Sunday at about 9.45am with all candidates sitting at the same time.

 

The practical assessments from 11.30am involve two candidates, one each located at the assessment areas where two amateur radio stations are set up.

 

It is important to have had a look at the easy to read Foundation Licence Manual and we also suggest the Foundation Webpage www.amateurradio.com.au/foundation

 

The costs:

The training course fee is $50

The Foundation assessments (written and practical) $70.00 (under 18 Fee $35.00)

 

The Foundation Licence Manual is $26.00 including postage. Those enrolled in the training course can be sent the manual and pay for it on the day of the course. 

 

All payments should be in cash before the start of the training course, our volunteers do not have credit card facilities.

 

Enrolment for the training and assessments is very simple. You only need to provide your residential address, contact details and agree to attend.

 

Hope to hear from you again soon to confirm your enrolment so that some more information can be provided,

-------------END

More Info:

http://www.amateurradio.com.au/licence/foundation

Cheers,

Bob Powers

[Clifford Heath]

Bob,

I gained an Advanced amateur radio license at this Ashburton weekend course several
years ago, and almost aced it using just general knowledge from decades of hobby
electronics. If you want to know whether your electronics knowledge is up to snuff there
are two each Standard and Advanced license theory exams available online. They're
meant to run for 60 and 90 minutes each, but I did all four in under two hours and
passed all comfortably. In addition to theory, you need to know the regulations, which
include an idea of which bands you can use, and what you can use them for, and to
show some operating proficiency (calling procedure, etc). Morse is no longer needed.

I'd recommend shooting above Foundation level, as that only gives you the right to
operate commercially built equipment in the Ham bands; not to operate any equipment
you've built yourself. What kind of hacker does't want to build as well as operate?

If anyone wants more information about the ins and outs of getting a ham radio license,
feel free to hit me up, either here or on Skype, as "cjheath".

Clifford Heath.

> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Connected Community HackerSpace" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to connected-community-h...@googlegroups.com.
> To post to this group, send an email to connected-commu...@googlegroups.com.
> To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/connected-community-hackerspace/-/YB2_jRQUb7sJ.
> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
>
>

[Dave Chanter]

Man I would love to, but I'm busy that weekend. 

I'll have to keep my eyes open for one later in the year.

[Robert Powers]

Hi Clifford,

Thanks for the info. That gives me a lot of confidence (or at least
justification for my confidence : ).

Although technically I know quite a bit, I'm pretty happy to attend
this course for a few reasons:
1) The conventions and regulations are new to me and I wouldn't mind
someone walking me through that so I don't have to fumble around,
potentially annoying folks with better things to do.
2) The price and time commitment seem well justified. $50 and a day in
a classroom isn't much and on the other side of the transaction, I'm
sure I'm supporting the community both financially and by giving
someone the opportunity to teach.
3) I value personal interactions and see this as an opportunity to
make connections and introduce myself to their community. If I were to
just show up and ask for an assessment, although I might pass, I also
might pass up the chance to get to know some of the faces on the other
side of the ether.

That being said, on your advice I'll examine the chance to gain some
higher qualification at the same time. That's only reasonable given
I'm pretty sure I would look to do that eventually.

All the best,
Bob

[Clifford Heath]

On 01/02/2013, at 1:11 PM, Robert Powers <rdpo...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Thanks for the info. That gives me a lot of confidence (or at least
> justification for my confidence : ).

Good stuff - but please do the sample exams. I wouldn't want you to
be too confident and have to try a second time! The exams should give
you a good idea of the areas you must study more. For example, I
wasn't clear on the differences between Class B and Class C operation
of a switching transistor.

At RF, you can do things you'd never do at lower frequencies. For
example, distortion is expected - even to the point that a class C RF
output stage is only actually turned-on for a small part of the cycle.
That's enough to get a tuned circuit ringing, and the Q and subsequent
filtering determines the actual harmonic content.

If you're coming from audio, you may need to add a practical knowledge
of inductance. I built this kit and spent a number of happy hours winding
inductors, with and without cores, to understand their behaviour.
Recommended - the 'space should have one!
<http://www.altronics.com.au/index.asp?area=item&id=K2533>

Clifford Heath.

[Luke Weston]

Does anyone know if and when they are doing a similar thing for the standard license, not foundation?
I am interested but i think I'll skip the foundation and just go directly to the standard first.

On Friday, 1 February 2013 09:29:12 UTC+11, Bob Powers wrote:

[Clifford Heath]

On 02/02/2013, at 2:14 AM, Luke Weston <reindeer...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Does anyone know if and when they are doing a similar thing for the standard license, not foundation?
> I am interested but i think I'll skip the foundation and just go directly to the standard first.

I believe the course is the same, only the theory exam is different.
You have to do the same proficiency and regulations tests.

Luke, you should do Advanced, not Standard. All three are the same
price.

Clifford Heath.

> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Connected Community HackerSpace" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to connected-community-h...@googlegroups.com.
> To post to this group, send an email to connected-commu...@googlegroups.com.

> To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/connected-community-hackerspace/-/wG3bDfARgKsJ.

[Grant Diffey]

On Sat, Feb 2, 2013 at 10:28 AM, Clifford Heath <cliffor...@gmail.com> wrote:

On 02/02/2013, at 2:14 AM, Luke Weston <reindeer...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Does anyone know if and when they are doing a similar thing for the standard license, not foundation?
> I am interested but i think I'll skip the foundation and just go directly to the standard first.

I believe the course is the same, only the theory exam is different.
You have to do the same proficiency and regulations tests.

Luke, you should do Advanced, not Standard. All three are the same
price.

There are 2 or 3 requirements for a licence

You must do the practical profficiancy test:
which involves operating a radio on air procedure qsying etc
 
You must do one of the 3 technical tests

Foundation
Standard
Advanced

if you do standard or advanced you must do the regulations exam (same for standard and advanced (integrated in foundation and lighter)

Grant.

[Toby Corkindale]

On Saturday, 2 February 2013 10:28:17 UTC+11, Clifford Heath wrote:

On 02/02/2013, at 2:14 AM, Luke Weston <reindeer...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Does anyone know if and when they are doing a similar thing for the standard license, not foundation?
> I am interested but i think I'll skip the foundation and just go directly to the standard first.

I believe the course is the same, only the theory exam is different.
You have to do the same proficiency and regulations tests.

Luke, you should do Advanced, not Standard. All three are the same
price.

Hmm, I've been sitting on a foundation license for years, and it's mostly been unused. (I just don't have a whole lot of interest in local UHF/VHF chatter, and the foundation license precludes high-power HF, any microwave stuff, and any data. bah!)

I'd be kind of interested in a course to upgrade to Advanced.. I'm actually dubious that the course above would cover all three levels at once. Clifford, could you confirm that if possible?

Thanks,

Toby

[Joshua Mesilane]

High-Power HF?

Do you know how well you can work with just 5 watts? While at LCA I was using my FT-817 on HF, with a resonant end-fed antenna and got out better than my friend who had a "random" longwire using 20W

You would be suprised just how far 5W can get you!

---
VK3XJM
0416039082
jo...@zindello.com.au
http://www.zindello.com.au/

--

You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Connected Community HackerSpace" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to connected-community-h...@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send an email to connected-commu...@googlegroups.com.

To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/connected-community-hackerspace/-/Td117xY3RoYJ.

[Clifford Heath]

The course almost certainly won't cover the theory for either Standard nor
Advanced - but if you have done the study it'll allow you to do the test to prove
it. At least, that was the case when I did a weekend course at Ashburton.
Check out the sample exams and the curricula to figure out how much study
you need to do… but don't expect to learn theory in a course full of Foundation
candidates.

And I agree with Josh there's no reason to want high power - QRP (reduced
power operation) is more interesting anyhow. Advanced gets you extra bands
(not very useful) and modes (possibly useful, but there are digital modes in
Standard anyhow). You should check the ACMA website for the bands,
modes and power limits for each license type to be sure.

Clifford Heath.

[Toby Corkindale]

On 11 February 2013 12:28, Joshua Mesilane <jo...@zindello.com.au> wrote:
> High-Power HF?
>
> Do you know how well you can work with just 5 watts? While at LCA I was
> using my FT-817 on HF, with a resonant end-fed antenna and got out better
> than my friend who had a "random" longwire using 20W
>
> You would be suprised just how far 5W can get you!

I totally believe you, and have read enough reports from people who've
done that too that I understand it's possible.
However I think you'd also be surprised at just how far it doesn't get
you sometimes when you're in a non-ideal situation.
Back when I was into radio experimentation more, I tried a bunch of
different antenna styles while operating out of townhouses and
vehicles, over a period of a few years, and frankly nothing ever
worked effectively on HF.

In rental properties you just can't hoist massive antennas onto the
roof, and if you lay out antennas in the roof, under tiles, or small
loops against windows, you do seem to lose a lot of output due to the
lack of elevation and the obstructions.

Succeeding with low power is possible, but harder, and I felt like the
initial learning curve of HF was already quite steep, and I basically
failed to get up it because I couldn't use any of the simple antenna
designs. (Insufficient space to hang dipoles, unable to mount giant
verticals). At least that's what I thought at the time.. it's been a
while and I'm far from an expert. Just felt like things would have
been easier if I had access to the shorter bands, like 20m, and had
just a bit more power available.. 3 or 6 db gain for "free" by ramping
up the power would have been nice..

T

--
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer
Things fall apart; the center cannot hold
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world

[Jonathan Oxer]

Thanks Bob for posting about the course!

I've signed up for the 23rd/24th :-)

Cheers

Jon

[Paul Szymkowiak]

While we're on the topic of Ham radio ...

Mike Borthwick (VK3UBM) used a hand-etched AVR board and the Arduino library for his Yaesu FT-817 to build a microwave transverter controller for the Summer 2013 VHF/UHF Field Day.

You can see Mike putting it through its paces here:
http://vimeo.com/57373241

He entered it in the homebrew competition at the Kyneton Hamfest last weekend and won a handheld VHF/UHF transceiver.

Nice one Mike!

Paul

 
Paul Szymkowiak 

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Connected Community HackerSpace" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to connected-community-h...@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send an email to connected-commu...@googlegroups.com.

[Luke Weston]

As far as I understand it, the practical assessment is exactly the same for all classes of license and only needs to be done once, and the regulations assessment is the same for both standard and advanced classes, but doesn't exist as a separate thing in the foundation class.

Cliff/Mike/Grant etc., can you confirm if that's correct?

I might attend this thing just for the practical component, and ask them if I can also take the regulations assessment and standard (or advanced if available) theory assessment with previous study myself beforehand, even though they're not actually offering the on-site training for it.

Regards,
  Luke

[Grant Diffey]

That's correct.

you'd need to confirm but I understand this is a at least somewhat common practice. (doing the regs and advanced theory with the practical exam)

Grant

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Connected Community HackerSpace" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to connected-community-h...@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send an email to connected-commu...@googlegroups.com.

To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/connected-community-hackerspace/-/Ok8wsgYZJW4J.

[Clifford Heath]

Thats exactly what I did Luke. Just make sure they know you want
the advanced paper so they have a copy available.

Clifford Heath.

[Luke Weston]

I've done both sets of practice tests for both regulations and advanced-level technical theory on the Amateur Radio Victoria website... does anyone know if any more such practice tests are freely available online anywhere else?

[Clifford Heath]

On 18/02/2013, at 4:54 PM, Luke Weston <reindeer...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I've done both sets of practice tests for both regulations and advanced-level technical theory on the Amateur Radio Victoria website... does anyone know if any more such practice tests are freely available online anywhere else?

I couldn't find any more when I did it. But what I wish I had found before
doing the test is the *curriculum*! It's kinda hard to find IIRC - please do
ask someone at WIA if you can't find it. I think I got 2 of the 96 questions
wrong, and if I had seen the curriculum beforehand, could have had a
perfect score :)

However you don't now (as was the case) have to do anything as difficult
as to design a complete schematic of a 2 or 3 device (tube or transistor)
receiver or transmitter, with all tuning and impedance calculations. The
current format is a *lot* easier :P.

Clifford.

[Jonathan Oxer]

Hey folks,

Over the weekend 3 CCHS members (Bob Powers, Jeff (surname? can't
remember) and myself) completed the Foundation training day and
assessment at ARV. I chickened out of doing any higher assessment
because I didn't really know what I was getting myself into, but at
Foundation level at least it turned out to be easy. The ARV guys were
super helpful, too.

My intention is to upgrade to Advanced as soon as possible now that I
know what the process is. For what I want to do the Foundation licence
isn't useful anyway (no data!) so I was just treating it as a way to
get started rather than an end goal.

I'd appreciate any suggestions on books to read in preparation for an
Advanced assessment. Googling shows plenty of books available, but I
don't know which ones are particularly good. Recommendations from
personal experience would be very handy. Yesterday one of the guys
sitting the Advanced test mentioned a book with a red cover with a
title something like "Introduction to radio communications theory" (I
could be completely off there!) but I didn't note it down at the time.

Cheers

Jon