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Here’s your video introduction to Section 3.2, Amateur Licensing Rules, of the ARRL General Class License Manual for Ham Radio.
When you have finished, click here to return to the list of videos.
The video is constructed in CyberLink PowerDirector 10, and the royalty-free music provided by SmartSound Royalty Free Music.
Here’s your introduction to section 3.1 in the ARRL General Class License Manual for Ham Radio. The video provides background and some discussion of the material to help you understand section 3.1 better.
In the video I mention that FCC Part 95 is online at ARRL. You can find that information by clicking here.
I also mention hidden transmitter hunting, often known in ham radio circles as “fox hunting.” You can learn more by visiting my fox hunting page, which has links to additional information both on this website and on others. If you want to be the fox, consider this post about the PicCon fox controller. If you’d like to find the fox, there are myriad different methods. I use my Fantastic Fox Finder, which you can read about here.
Once you have finished with this video and studying the section in the manual, you can return to the video list here.
Here’s your video introduction to section 2.3 of the ARRL General Class License Manual for ham radio. This video introduces the section, provides some background information that can help you study with more comprehension, and is a fun way to keep your study interesting. For more detail, you may go here, which has a complete list of the videos in the training sequence. Also, you can go here for the Technician Class videos.
Link to a site that explains the difference between ARES and RACES. Note that the contact info given is for the Tulsa area hams. Here’s another from the Half Moon Bay club. And here is the ARRL page on the subject.
In the video I mention my notes from the last SET exercise I participated in. You may find those notes here.
When you are done with this video, click here to return to the list of General Class training videos.
BTW, the background video was taken at the ghost town of Ironton, south of Ouray, CO, and just north of Red Mountain Pass.
Reader Chris Foust, KDØTHV, who used this site’s Technician Class training material as part of his ham radio technician exam preparation, has created a social media site for hams. You can find it at www.hamcrowd.com. He bills it as “like Facebook for hams.”
As an adjunct to the General Class Lesson 2.2 video introduction, I recorded a real QSO on PSK-31 so you can see what one actually looks like. I’ve narrated the 10.5 minute video to point out key features. The video is best viewed in 720p so you can see the screen clearly. Click on the cog wheel at the bottom of the video frame and choose 720p.
I’m using Ham Radio Deluxe, a Ten-Tec Jupiter transceiver, MFJ-993B IntelliTuner, a SignaLink USB sound card/computer/radio interface, and a full-wavelength 80m horizontal loop.
Video recorded using FrontCam screen capture software, CyberLink PowerDirector 10 video editing and rendering software. The royalty-free music is provided by SmartSound Royalty Free Music.
This is your video introduction to Lesson 2.2, Digital Modes, in the ARRL General Class License Manual for ham radio. There is a companion video to this one that records an actual on-the-air QSO. After you have finished the video, click here to return to the list of General Class training videos.
I’ve been pretty unhappy with the way YouTube puts in crazy video “artifacts” and have tried several different upload techniques to avoid them—to no avail. So, I thought I’d try Vimeo. Well, Vimeo is like stepping off a flying broomstick and into the cockpit of the Space Shuttle, so the learning curve is a bit steep. But, I successfully uploaded a test video. Here’s the Vimeo video:
Moonshine Park Fall Color from David Casler on Vimeo.
Now, to have something to compare it with, here’s the same video on YouTube from a previous post. You can compare the quality of the two. Comments welcome!
It’s possible to play both at the same time. The Vimeo video allows a choice of HD or not, and not HD is the default. The YouTube video allows several resolutions; it defaults to the lowest which is fine for viewing inside the box. You can go full screen with either Vimeo or YouTube.
My assessment is that YouTube seems to show a bit greater resolution out of the box, but the video artifacts are annoying and seem to come unpredictably. Vimeo shows no video artifacts at all. If I could figure out the secret to uploading to YouTube that would eliminate the artifacts, I’d certainly stick with YouTube. On the other hand, while Vimeo’s videos are artifact-free, the free Vimeo account is limited—I’d have to pay to put up longer videos or put them up more frequently. And, the kicker here is that I seem to get more viewers via YouTube than via this blog. Maybe I can upload to both and use Vimeo here for a better experience, and then put the videos up on YouTube anyway for those who want to discover them there.
I received an interesting ham-radio-related query from Chuck Burton, K9CBX:
I have a new Wouxun KG-UV6D and a TinyTrak4. My TT4 is setup to work with my Yaesu FT-8800 radio. Can you tell me how your TT4 JP8 jumper is setup to work with your Wouxun HT? Just need to determine if my JP8 needs to change when I use my TT4 with my Wouxun for APRS on search and rescue missions.
I’ve never paid any attention to JP8, to tell you the truth. My TT4 just works with everything I’ve tried it with. So I got it out and did some testing this evening. First some specifics: My TT4 hardware is the pre-built version with surface-mount technology (v7.1). JP8 has a jumper on it, meaning it’s closed (it came that way). JP8 is the PTT control. The manual says this:
This jumper adds the resistor R15 (2.2K) to the radio mic line to allow PTT via the mic audio connector. It should be closed (shorted) for use with handhelds other than Kenwood. For mobile radios and Kenwood radios, J[P]8 should be open.
Most radios key via a separate PTT line, but the Kenwood is a little different. I have two cables: HT2P (Icom) and HTKP (Kenwood). (Byonics has a big chart here that describes which cable to use with which radio.)
Anyway,the table below shows the results I got. Note that the Wouxun uses the Kenwood cable, and the Icom uses a separate cable specific for the Icom. The Kenwood keys differently from other radios, and requires a capacitor in series with the audio source fed to the mic input line, as does the Wouxun, but note that in the TT4, there’s already a capacitor in series with the audio line to the radio. The Icom has a separate PTT lead and is keyed by bringing the PTT lead to ground.
| Radio | Jumper 8 open (disconnected) | Jumper 8 closed (connected) |
| Kenwood TH-22A handheld | Transmits normally | Transmits normally |
| Wouxun KG-UV3D handheld | Transmits normally | Transmits normally |
| Icom IC-T7H handheld | Does not transmit | Transmits normally |
No wonder I’ve never had any trouble. My TT4 came with JP8 closed (jumper in place). These are the only three radios I’ve used with the TT4. My results show that the manual is not wrong, but I do get satisfactory results with all the handhelds with the jumper closed. I guess the bottom line is that experimentation is required to see what works.
You can see my previous posts on using the Byonics TT4 APRS unit and the Byonics PicCon unit here, which takes you to a list of the posts. The connection of radios for packet (APRS is a form of packet) is a subject unto itself. Sufficient to say that my APRS base station uses an Icom IC-2100H mobile rig, and I ended up putting in an audio isolation transformer for the transmit audio. I hope this helps.
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My Southwestern Colorado 