Ham Radio License Notes

Amateur Radio Service is Governed by 3 pieces of legislation:

Notes from 

* Industry Canada RIC – 2 and RIC 3

Radio Communications Act contains:
1. Requirements to obtain license    2. Penalites for failure to do so

 

The Act states that you cannot:
install, operate or possess a device capable of transmitting electromagnetic waves lower than 3000GHz  without being licenced in accordance with the Act.  Also, the equipment must be located in a place with a station license.

The Regulations encompasses:
the rules for the hobby including 3rd party traffic, bandwidth, permitted frequencies, communications content, power limits, etc.

• post yellow/white station license
• 3rd party traffic means a message sent to a non-amateur via an amateur station.
•  there are some countries which it is forbidden to communicate with   (N. Korea, Iran)
• Obscene Language
• Confidentiality
• You must state your CALLSIGN at the beginning and end of an exchange. You must identify again at 30mins. Identification must be in English or French.
• You may only communicate with other amateur stations
• You cannot develop a secret code
• You cannot play music or commercially recorded material
• You cannot demand nor accept remuneration for any communication

Sanctions under the Act

• maximum fine of $5000.00
• imprisonment for up to 1 year
• or both

Regulations Continued …

Bandwidth:

is the portion of the band that your transmitted signal occupies:

 Transmitter Power:

1. direct current input power: Basic License – max 250 watts  Advanced License – max 1 kW  :  to the anode or collector or circuit of the transmitter stage
2. radio frequency output power measured across an impedance matched load: Basic License – max 560 watts peak envelope power. Advanced License – max 2250 watts (for transmitters producing SSB emission)  or  Basic License – max 190 watts carrier  power. Advanced License – max 750 watts (for other types of emission)

Harmful Interference:

• interference must neither endanger or degrade the use or functioning of safety-related transmitters and receivers (ie police, ambulance, coast guard)
• or, significantly degrade, obstruct or repeatedly interrupt the use or functioning of radio apparatus or radio sensitive equipment.

Measurements:

1. Device capable of measuring the transmitted frequency (with the same accuracy as a crystal calibrator), AND
2. Device capable of preventing and indicating overmodulation, AND
3. Frequency stability of the transmitter of frequencies below 148 MHz must be equivalent to a crystal-controlled radio.

** All modern transceivers meet these 3 requirements.

Number of Amateur Radio Stations

You may have:

2  Type 1 site-specific stations

1 module station

** Only 2 stations can operate simultaneously (one of which must be the mobile station)

** Station does not mean transmitter, so, station may have many transmitters operating simultaneously

 

Emergency Communications

Amateur stations have the authority to communicate any message that relates to an emergency (earthquake, flood, tornado) on behalf of any person, government, or relief organization.

Distress: – grave and imminent danger, need immediate assistance: “MAYDAY, MAYDAY, MAYDAY, CALLSIGN”  Repeat until you get a response. Priority over all other communication.

Urgency:- urgent message concerning safety of person, place, vehicle, plane or vessel. “PAN PAN, PAN PAN, PAN PAN, CALLSIGN”. Priority over all other communication except distress.

Safety: – safety navigation or weather advisories. “SECURITY, SECURITY, SECURITY CALLSIGN”

 

Safety Code 6

Health Canada’s document “Limits of Exposure to Radiofrequency Fields at Frequencies from 10kHz to 300 GHz”

http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ewh-semt/pubs/radiation/99ehd-dhm237/preface-preambule_e.html

 

Certification

 

Basic Certificate (70%)

• restricted to frequencies above 30MHz
• lower power below 250W
• not be the license holder of a repeater
• not be holder of a club station
• must use commercially manufactured equipment

Advance Certification (80%+)

• operate on HF bands
• below 30 MHz
• operate less than 1000W

The frequency allocations for Canada in ITU Region 2 are:

 

 

Notes:

“B” means an Amateur Operators Certificate with Basic Qualification
“5” means an Amateur Operators Certificate with Morse Code (5 w.p.m.) Qualification
Radio Amateurs are secondary users in the bands marked with asterisks **, and may not cause interference to primary users.

CANADIAN CALLSIGN PREFIXES

 

VE1, VA1	NS
VE2, VA2	QC
VE3. VA3	ON
VE4, VA4	MB
VE5, VA5	SK
VE6, VA6	AB
VE7, VA7	BC
VE8	NWT
VE9	NB
VE0	International Waters
VO1	NF
VO2	Labrador
VY1	Yukon
VY2	PEI
VY0	Nunavut

Phonetic Alphabet

alpha	beta	charlie	delta	echo
foxtrot	golf	hotel	india	julliet
kilo	lima	mike	november	oscar
papa	quebec	romeo	sierra	tango
uniform	victor	whiskey	xray	yankee
zulu

Q Code

 

See More: http://www.kloth.net/radio/qcodes.php

Q Code	Ques	Ans	Remember
QRZ	Who is calling me?	You are being called by …	Snooze
QSO	Can you communicate with… direct .. or relay?	I can communicate with… direct .. or relay	So and So
QRM	Are you being interfered with?	I am being interfered with … 1,2,3,4,5	Radio Man
QRN	Are you troubled by static?	I am troubled by static … 1,2,3,4,5	Radio Natural
QRS	Shall I send more slowly?	Send more slowly (wpm)	Radio Slower
QTH	What is your position?	My position is lat long	The Home
QSL	Can you acknowledge receipt?	I can acknowledge receipt.	QSL Card
QRG	Can your tell me my exact frequency?	Your exact frequency is KHz or MHz	RiG frequency
QRT	Shall I stop sending?	Stop Sending.	Radio Terminate
QTR	What is the exact time?	Exact Time is … 2000 Z	Time Right Now
QRO	Shall I increase my transmitter power?	Increase your transmitter power.	Ridiculously Overload
QRP	Shall I decrease my transmitter power?	Decrease transmitter power.	Reduce Power
QSY	Shall I change frequency?	Change frequency to …	See You Change
QRH	Does my frequency vary?	Change frequency to …	Radio Hold Frequency
QRI	How is the tone of my frequency?	The tone of your transmission is 1=good, 2= variable, 3=bad	Radio Intonate
QRK	What is the intelligibility of my signal (or those of …)?	The intelligibility of your signal is 1=bad, 2=poor, 3=fair, 4=good, 5=excellent	Radio Klearly

1 nil

2 slightly

3 moderately

4 severely

5 extremely

The DC input power of a transmitter operating at 12 volts and drawing 500 milliamps would be: 6 watts   
P = E × I   =   12 × .5   =   6 watts

 

Current and Voltage

 

Current (I) is the flow of electrons through a conductor, and is measured in amperes (A).

Voltage (E) is the electrical pressure, or electromotive force, that causes the electrons to flow, and is measured in volts (V).

 

 

Resistance   Resistance (R) is the opposition to current, and is measured in ohms (Ω). A resistor is a circuit component that provides resistance.  Resistors are made from materials with moderate resistance, like carbon. Bad Beer Rots Our Young Guts But Vodka Goes Well. The Standard EIA Color Code Table per EIA-RS-279 is as follows: Color 1st band 2nd band 3rd band (multiplier) 4th band (tolerance) Temp. Coefficient Black 0 0 ×100     Brown 1 1 ×101 ±1% (F) 100 ppm Red 2 2 ×102 ±2% (G) 50 ppm Orange 3 3 ×103   15 ppm Yellow 4 4 ×104   25 ppm Green 5 5 ×105 ±0.5% (D)   Blue 6 6 ×106 ±0.25% (C)   Violet 7 7 ×107 ±0.1% (B)   Gray 8 8 ×108 ±0.05% (A)   White 9 9 ×109     Gold     ×0.1 ±5% (J)   Silver     ×0.01 ±10% (K)   None       ±20% (M)   Note: red to violet are the colors of the rainbow where red is low energy and violet is higher energy.

Component Symbol Photo Description   Resistor Opposes the flow of electricity and converts electric energy to heat.  Commonly used to limit current flow in a circuit. Variable Resistor A resistor with a wiper arm that has a terminal connected to it, allowing you to vary the resistance.  When hooking them up, the middle terminal is always the wiper arm.  Also called a potentiometer.

 

Series versus Parallel Circuits

A series circuit is wired so that current passes through a series of components, one after the other.

In a parallel circuit, current branches out through multiple paths.  Kirchhoff’s Current Law says that the sum of the currents flowing into any branching point is equal to the sum of the currents flowing out.  In other words:

I_A  =  I_B + I_C

 

 

German physicist Gustav Robert Kirchhoff (1824-1887) made major contributions to our understanding of electricity, spectroscopy, and other fields.

 

 

 

Ohm’s Law

 

Ohm’s Law shows the relationship between: electromotive force or voltage (E) in volts (V) current (I) in amperes (A) and resistance (R) in ohms (Ω) This law is expressed by three equivalent formulas: E = I × R — to determine voltage I = E / R — to determine current R = E / I — to determine resistance

A rule of “thumb” for remembering Ohm’s Law Move the mouse over a letter to see its formula

 

 

 

Resources

 

http://www.certbc.com

Amateur Certification – Fact Sheet – Industry Canada

RIC-2 – Standards for the Operation of Radio Stations in the Amateur Radio Service

http://www.hamtestonline.com