KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog

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2016 Extra Class study guide: E2C - Operating methods

Posted: 20 Mar 2016 08:26 AM PDT
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/kb6nu...m_medium=email


E2C Operating methods: contest and DX operating; remote operation
techniques; Cabrillo format; QSLing; RF network connected systems

Contesting is one of the most popular activities in amateur radio. While
the rules differ from contest to contest, in general, the goal is to make
as many contacts as possible in a given time period.

To enter a contest and be considered for awards, you must submit a log of
your contacts. The contest organizers will check the log to make sure that
you actually made the contacts that you claim. To make this easier to do,
most contest organizers now request that you send in a digital file that
lists your contacts in the Cabrillo format. The Cabrillo format is a
standard for submission of electronic contest logs. (E2C07)

In contest operating, operators are permitted to make contacts even if they
do not submit a log. (E2C01) If you do not submit a log, you obviously
cannot win a contest, but there are several reasons why you still might
choose to participate in a contest. For example, for big DX contests, some
amateurs travel to locations where amateur radio operation is infrequent.
Making contact with those stations during a contest gives you an
opportunity to add countries to your total.

Another reason is that it will give you a good idea of the capabilities of
your station. If, for example, during a contest, you need to call
repeatedly before a DX station replies, it might mean that you should
improve your antenna system.

There are some operating practices that are either prohibited or highly
discouraged when operating a contest. On the HF bands, for example,
operating on the “WARC bands,� is normally prohibited. Therefore, 30 meters
is one band on which amateur radio contesting is generally excluded.
(E2C03). The other “WARC bands� are 17 meters and 25 meters.

Another prohibited practice is “self-spotting.� Self-spotting is the
generally prohibited practice of posting one’s own call sign and frequency
on a call sign spotting network. (E2C02) The reason this is prohibited is
that doing so might give you an advantage over other operators.

VHF/UHF contests rarely include FM operation. During a VHF/UHF contest, you
would, therefore, expect to find the highest level of activity in the weak
signal segment of the band, with most of the activity near the calling
frequency. (E2C06)

Operating DX

“Working DX,� or contacting stations in far-off places, is one of the most
popular amateur radio activities. To be successful at working DX you need
to know the protocol or etiquette involved in doing so. For example,
sending your full call sign once or twice is the way you should generally
identify your station when attempting to contact a DX station working a
pileup or in a contest. (E2C11)

When many stations want to contact a DX station, it may become almost
impossible for the DX station to hear anyone calling him. When this
happens, the DX station often requests that stations call him on another
frequency, usually above the frequency on which he is transmitting. We call
this “split operation.� All of these choices are correct as reasons why
might a DX station state that they are listening on another frequency
(E2C10):

Because the DX station may be transmitting on a frequency that is
prohibited to some responding stations

To separate the calling stations from the DX station

To reduce interference, thereby improving operating efficiency

Being aware of propagation conditions can also help you work more DX. For
example, one thing that might help to restore contact when DX signals
become too weak to copy across an entire HF band a few hours after sunset
is to switch to a lower frequency HF band. (E2C12)

After youve made contact with a DX station, you may want to receive
confirmation of that contact. Youll need confirmation, for example, to
qualify for awards, such as Worked All Continents or the DX Century Club.
An economical way to do this is to use the QSL bureau. Contacts between a
U.S. station and a non-U.S. station may be confirmed through the U.S. QSL
bureau system. (E2C08)

What the bureau does is group QSL cards to be sent to a particular country
and sends hundreds or thousands of them in a single shipment to the QSL
bureau in that country. The DX QSL bureau then sorts the cards and sends
them to individual amateurs. This makes sending and receiving QSL cards
from DX station much cheaper, but it may take a year or more to receive a
reply from a DX station.

Mesh networks and remote operation

Because the amateur radio band at 2.4 GHZ overlaps with some WiFi channels,
some amateurs are using those frequencies to set up digital networks called
mesh networks. The type of transmission most often used for a ham radio
mesh network is spread spectrum in the 2.4 GHz band. (E2C04) A standard
wireless router running custom software is commonly used to implement a ham
radio mesh network. (E2C09)

Connecting to amateur radio stations over the Internet has made remote
operation easier than ever before. A frequently asked question about remote
operation is whether or not a special indicator is required when operating
a remote station. No additional indicator is required to be used by
U.S.-licensed operators when operating a station via remote control where
the transmitter is located in the U.S. (E2C13)

The post 2016 Extra Class study guide: E2C Operating methods appeared
first on KB6NUs Ham Radio Blog.

In article writes:

VHF/UHF contests rarely include FM operation. During a VHF/UHF contest, you
would, therefore, expect to find the highest level of activity in the weak
signal segment of the band, with most of the activity near the calling
frequency. (E2C06)

Actually, VHF/UHF contests almost always include FM operation. During a
contest, one would normally find more activity on SSB/CW in the weak signal
portions of the band, but there are notable exceptions, such as 223.5 MHz FM
being popular due to the relative scarcity of 222.1 SSB/CW equipment. Some
ARRL contests include FM-only entry classes now.

The Extra exam may have the answer kb6nu included, but reality is that having
FM capability can get the serious contester more contacts, and provides a chance
for others to play on FM.

Alan