The Newcomer's Operating Guide
From The WB7TJD Wiki
Larry, WB7C
This is one of those round tuits that I have wanted to get ahold of. I have been meaning to get a round tuit for some time now.
This newcomer's guide is just that, a guide, to help the newbie become familiar with the way things should be, but are not always, done on the ham bands. I will try to add to this from my 40-year association with amateur radio.
Contents |
Listen, Listen, Listen
One may get started in amateur radio from many backgrounds, including Class D Citizen's Band, having heard amateur radio transmissions on a police scanner, or listening to amateur radio communications on a shortwave receiver. I got my start listening on my AM broadcast radio to signals just above the AM band in the 160 meter ham band in 1967. It just happened that there were local hams on AM commuting back and forth to work, operating from home and running a club net called The Elbow Bender's Net on 1806 kilocycles every Friday evening.
I listened to these guys talking back and forth, sometimes in a roundtable discussion, where each operator took turns transmitting to the group. I became familiar with the operating habits and procedures of these ragchewers. I started keeping a log of the stations that I heard.
One of the best ways to learn how it is done is to listen, and to keep listening. Before coming onto a repeater it is a good idea to listen to its users to become familiar with its protocol.
Following are some examples of the jargon used in amateur
radio. It can be said that hams rely on plain language more
than jargon.
Jargon and its meaning
Handle: Your first name or the nickname you like to go by. Interchangeable with Name. If you came into ham radio from CB where your handle is a made-up on-air identity that serves in place of a call sign, and feel uncomfortable using the term Handle, just use the word Name. Many from the CB world offer the misuse of the word "Personal" to represent the word "Name."
QTH: Your
location, usually your city or town, and where necessary, your state.
Usage is more common on HF than on VHF repeaters.
This and other Q signals should be used sparingly in ordinary
voice communication, preferring plain language. They were
developed for Morse and teleprinter operations, but do serve their
purpose in voice communications to bridge the language gap.
"QTH," when spoken by someone in Australia, usually sounds like "Cutey-H," instead of "Cue-Tea-H." I particularly enjoy hearing the
richness
of the English language as spoken abroad.
QSL: Used
on-air to confirm information, but prefer plain language to the use of
this Q code for voice communication. Used most often to refer
to the QSL card sent through the mail to confirm a contact.
QSO: Sometimes
called "Q-so," this Q code refers to the contact that has been
established for the exchange of information, conversation.
QSL and QSO sometimes get crossed with each other in new
hams' minds, as they do sound similar. One way to keep it straight might be to refer to a "Q-S-L" card, and to refer to a "Q-so," as in conversation. You'll fall right in to place on the air.
Zed: The last
letter of the English alphabet, better known as Zee in America.
Used in amateur radio to distinguish Z from B, C, D, E, G, P,
T, and V. If you have a Z in your call sign or in a model
number or serial number, call it Zed. Alternatively, you can use the phonetic alphabet to assist in clarification.
"Over"
"Out"
"Over and Out"
Over: Spoken at the end of a radio transmission to indicate its end, and that a reply is expected. Particularly useful when speaking over a manually-switched phone patch, to let the control operators know when to switch between receive and transmit. It is used on emergency communication nets where precise meaning of words is at a premium to avoid confusion.  Participants will always say "Over" when sending it back to Net Control, and Control will say "Over" when expecting a response from the participant. It's not a bad habit to use "Over" in ordinary communications when a response is expected.
Out: Spoken at the end of a radio transmission to indicate its end, and that no reply is expected. "Out" is used on emergency communications nets where precise meaning of words is at a premium to avoid confusion. On such nets, "Out" is reserved for use by Net Control to indicate end of transmission, and no reply is needed or expected from the participant.
Over and Out: An improper protocol, which says to the listener that the sending station is through transmitting and is simultaneously expecting and not expecting a response. It was popularized by the movies, but has no place in amateur radio communications, where precice meaning of words is at a premium to avoid confusion.
Calling Procedure (Voice)
It is important for clear,concise communication to follow a proper calling procedure. Calling another station should follow this protocol:
First ascertain that the frequency is clear, so that your communication is not interfering with ongoing communications.$nbsp; On an FM repeater, this involves listening to the repeater for a minute before speaking, to ensure the frequency is not already occupied. It has happened many times that one would switch to a repeater frequency, hear nothing and call, when in fact the repeater had just dropped a moment before coming to the frequency, and there was a brief lull between ongoing transmissions.
On HF and on FM simplex, this involves listening, then asking if the frequency is in use, then listening for any response.
Speak clearly and distinctly when calling others and when identifying yourself. Sound each letter as an individual sound. Avoid saying, "Kayayate" for KA8, for example. When using a repeater, especially a linked repeater system, it is a good practice to squeeze the push-to-talk, and then bring the microphone up to your mouth, and then speak, allowing your transmitter time to come up, allowing the link transmitters to come up before you begin your call.&another way of accomplishing the delay in speaking is to squeeze the mic button and then silently count "One thousand one" and then speak.
Speak the call sign of the party being called, once or twice. Follow with "This is" and speak your call sign once or twice. For example: W2XYZ, this is WA3XAM. This may often be heard in a shortened version: W2XYZ, WA3XAM.
On HF, the calling procedure is extended to allow for the receiving station to fine-tume his receiver, so one should say, "Calling, followed by the call sign of the station being called three times, the words, "This is," and your call two or three times.
Revisiting the advice to speak clearly and distinctly, for one moment: Years ago, when the FCC had recently issued KA7 callsigns, a friend of mine, K7JKG, would give his call with a drawn-out K: "This is kaay seven J K G." This was sometimes confused with KA7JKG, because the indistinct way of saying KA7 is similar tho the KA8 given above, "Kayay seven J K G." Rorty years ago, a friend of mine said he once got cited by the FCC for improper identification, because he said, "This is double-you-ayate O K Q," perhaps even "double-you-aaate O K Q." After receiving the citation, he very deliberately said, "This is double-you, Ay, Ate, O K Q," with a break in the voice between each letter.
During the contact
If you have established contact with the other station, be sure to sign your call once every ten minutes, saying "This is" (call sign). It is not required to say the call sign of the other station at all once contact has been established.
Station identification rules from the FCC only require identification every ten minutes and at the end, but it is good amateur practice to identify at the start of communication. Some repeater owners require this as a condition to using their repeaters.
You may legally start a conversation on the air thusly: "Hey Randy! You out there? ... Yeah, I'm here," then talk for ten minutes before signing a call. But expect to get the rug pulled out from under you if you try that on a repeater or a crowded band. It just isn't good practice, and won't be tolerated. Reason for this intolerance is because there are people out there who fire up without a license, and you appear to be one of them until you identify.
Knowing where you are on the band
If you are using FM, your signal will spread approximately 8 kHz either side of your dial frequency, using up most of a 20 kHz channel width. You need to stay at least 10 kHz from a band edge in order to keep all of your emissions within your assigned band.
If using SSB, and if lower sideband is used, then your signal will occupy a band of frequencies close to 3 kHz wide below your dial setting and maybe 1 kHz above, and if upper sideband is used you will occupy 3 kHz above your dial frequency and maybe 1 kHz below. We want to allow for the 1 kHz because not always is the opposite sideband completely eliminated, and excessive audio drive or other issues can broaden your signal. You also need to accommodate any drift in your frequency. You are required to keep your signal within the amateur band limits and within your class of license section of the band, and not spill into the CW portion with your voice transmission.
