Volunteer Monitoring Program, HF operations
In 2019, the Volunteer Monitoring Program is set to replace the ARRL’s Official Observer program. The Volunteer Monitoring Program works with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to monitor the amateur radio bands for rules violations. It’s how amateur radio operators officially self-police the bands.
QUESTION: What is the Volunteer Monitoring Program? (G2D01)
ANSWER: Amateur volunteers who are formally enlisted to monitor the airwaves for rules violations
QUESTION: Which of the following are objectives of the Volunteer Monitoring Program? (G2D02)
ANSWER: To encourage amateur radio operators to self-regulate and comply with the rules
QUESTION: What skills learned during hidden transmitter hunts are of help to the Volunteer Monitoring Program? (G2D03)
ANSWER: Direction finding used to locate stations violating FCC rules
For contacting stations outside the U.S., many amateurs put up a directional antenna, such as a Yagi antenna or a quad antenna. To figure where to point a directional antenna you’d use an azimuthal projection map. This type of map is centered on your location and shows you the bearings that you need to point your antenna correctly.
QUESTION: Which of the following describes an azimuthal projection map? (G2D04)
ANSWER: A map that shows true bearings and distances from a particular location
Most communications take place on the “short path,” that is the most direct path between two stations. At times, however, propagation may favor the long path.
QUESTION: How is a directional antenna pointed when making a “long-path” contact with another station? (G2D06)
ANSWER: 180 degrees from the station’s short-path heading
Conditions on the HF bands can sometimes make HF contacts difficult. At times, atmospheric noise can be so bad that you will only be able to copy very strong signals. Atmospheric noise is especially bad in the summertime, when we have thunderstorms here in the U.S.
QUESTION: Which of the following is typical of the lower HF frequencies during the summer? (G2D11)
ANSWER: High levels of atmospheric noise or “static”
Whenever you’re operating, it’s best to follow standard procedures. There are, for example, standard procedures for making contacts and identifying your station. On phone, it’s always a good practice to identify your station using the NATO Phonetic Alphabet, which is the most widely-used of all the phonetic alphabets. Using a phonetic alphabet to identify your station helps receiving operators get the call sign correctly the first time.
QUESTION: Which of the following is a good way to indicate on a clear frequency in the HF phone bands that you are looking for a contact with any station? (G2D05)
ANSWER: Repeat “CQ” a few times, followed by “this is,” then your call sign a few times, then pause to listen, repeat as necessary
QUESTION: Which of the following are examples of the NATO Phonetic Alphabet? (G2D07)
ANSWER: Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta
One activity in which you might use a phonetic alphabet to identify your station is an amateur radio contest. One criticism of contests that you often hear is that stations don’t follow the rule that pertain to station identification. FCC rules do, however, apply to contest operation as well as normal operation.
QUESTION: Which of the following is required when participating in a contest on HF frequencies? (G2D09)
ANSWER: Identify your station per normal FCC regulations
Operating with very low output power is another activity that many amateur radio operators find to be a challenge. This is sometimes called QRP operation. Some even take pride in the fact that they always operate with low output power, and there are many clubs that promote QRP operation.
QUESTION: What is QRP operation? (G2D10)
ANSWER: Low power transmit operation
Digital operating procedures
In recent years, operating what’s known as the “digital modes” has become popular. They are known by this name because you can’t operate them without a computer. RTTY, PSK31, JT65, FT8, and PACTOR are examples of digital modes.
Amateurs operate these modes in specific sub-bands.
QUESTION: What segment of the 20-meter band is most often used for digital transmissions (avoiding the DX propagation beacons)? (G2E04)
ANSWER :14.070 – 14.112MHz
QUESTION: In what segment of the 20-meter band are most PSK31 operations commonly found? (G2E08)
ANSWER: Below the RTTY segment, near 14.070 MHz
QUESTION: What segment of the 80-meter band is most commonly used for digital transmissions? (G2E07)
ANSWER :3585 – 3600 kHz
Amateurs have actually been operating radioteletype, or RTTY, for a long time, but it has become a lot more popular in recent years because amateurs can now operate this mode using a computer and not a clunky, mechanical teletype machine. RTTY signals shift between two frequencies. That’s why this mode is called frequency shift keying. One frequency denotes a “1,” while another denotes a “0.” The difference between those two frequencies is called the frequency shift.
QUESTION: What is the most common frequency shift for RTTY emissions in the amateur HF bands? (G2E06)
ANSWER: 170 Hz
When operating the digital modes, amateurs connect the transceiver audio input and output to a computer. This is often done via an audio interface, but the latest generation of transceivers have USB ports, and both the audio and radio control messages are sent over the USB cable. The computer does all the heavy lifting, decoding the tones on the input and generating the tones to be transmitted. Using a computer sound card to generate audio tones that shift the frequency of a transmitted signal is called audio frequency shift keying (AFSK). Amateurs normally use LSB for RTTY and USB for other digital modes.
QUESTION: Which mode is normally used when sending RTTY signals via AFSK with an SSB transmitter? (G2E01)
ANSWER: LSB
QUESTION: What is the standard sideband used to generate a JT65, JT9, or FT8 digital signal when using AFSK in any amateur band? (G2E05)
ANSWER: USB
Some older radios still require an RS-232 serial data connection. D-type connectors are usually used for these types of connections.
QUESTION: Which of the following connectors would be a good choice for a serial data port? (G2E12)
ANSWER: DE-9
FT8 has quickly become the most popular digital mode, and arguably the most popular mode, period. One of the reasons for this is that using FT8 you make contacts quickly because stations only exchange call signs, grid locators, and a signal report. Another reason that it is very popular, is because it can decode signals that are actually below the noise floor. One of the reasons that it can do this is that the computers at the transmitting and receiving stations are time-synchronized. To operate FT8, you must download and use the WSJT-X software suite.
QUESTION:Which of the following is characteristic of the FT8 mode of the WSJT-X family? (G2E11)
ANSWER: Typical exchanges are limited to call signs, grid locators, and signal reports
QUESTION:Which of the following is a requirement when using the FT8 digital mode? (G2E15)
ANSWER: Computer time accurate within approximately 1 second
Properly tuning a digital signal is important. There are many indications that you have not properly tuned in a digital signal.
QUESTION: What could be wrong if you cannot decode an RTTY or other FSK signal even though it is apparently tuned in properly? (G2E14)
ANSWER: All of these choices are correct
– The mark and space frequencies may be reversed
– You may have selected the wrong baud rate
– You may be listening on the wrong sideband
Many digital modes, such as RTTY and PSK31, have no error correction. Occasionally, there are errors receiving these signals, but generally, that’s not a problem, as operators can generally fill in the blanks.
If errors cannot be tolerated, you might want to consider using a mode called PACTOR. PACTOR uses the ARQ protocol for error correction, and a network of stations, called Winlink, running PACTOR has been set up to relay data between radio stations and the Internet.
QUESTION: Which communication system sometimes uses the internet to transfer messages? (G2E13)
ANSWER: Winlink
Stations that are connected to the internet are called gateway stations. These stations generally monitor a specific frequency, and to connect to them, and thereby the internet, you must transmit on that frequency.
QUESTION: Which of the following is a way to establish contact with a digital messaging system gateway station? (G2E10)
ANSWER: Transmit a connect message on the station’s published frequency
Even though the PACTOR protocol includes error correction, it’s still a good idea to choose a clear frequency so that there is no interference. Also, be aware that there is no way to join a contact between two stations using the PACTOR protocol.
QUESTION: How can a PACTOR modem or controller be used to determine if the channel is in use by other PACTOR stations? (G2E02)
ANSWER: Put the modem or controller in a mode which allows monitoring communications without a connection
QUESTION: What symptoms may result from other signals interfering with a PACTOR or WINMOR transmission? (G2E03)
ANSWER: All of these choices are correct
– Frequent retries or timeouts
– Long pauses in message transmission
– Failure to establish a connection between stations
QUESTION: How do you join a contact between two stations using the PACTOR protocol?(G2E09)
ANSWER: Joining an existing contact is not possible, PACTOR connections are limited to two stations
Thom - W8TAM says
I had to look up what a DE-9 connector is.
I’ve done serial connections for decades, and I’ve never heard someone call a D-Sub, or DB-9 connector a DE-9. Oh well, another question that got close, but missed reality.
Dan KB6NU says
I hear you, but DE-9 is technically the correct name for a 9-pin D connector. The names are doubly redundant. As you can see below, both the letter and number are different for connectors with different numbers of pins: