Advanced Certification

a.   Band overview

1.   Long / Short bands

2.   Day / Night propagation

b.   HF Antennas

1.   Theory

• 1.   Calculating dipole length

• 2.   Field chokes

• 3.   Baluns

2.   Practical Antennas

• 1.   Dipole

• 2.   Vertical

• 3.   Beam

• 4.   Random long wire

• 5.   Packable emergency antennas

c. HF Radios

1.   Grounding

2.   Safety

3.   Antenna tuners

4.   Filtering, DSP and other radio features

5.   Sideband operation and other modes

a.  HF Voice

b.  HF Digital modes

1. 1. Pactor

      • Levels and speed

      • Available hardware and recommendations

   2. PSK-31, RTTY, and other soundcard modes

      • Limitations and advantages

      • Overview of available software and recommendations

   3. CW

   4. Other modes

      • SSTV

      • AMTOR, GTOR

      • Packet

      • WSPR

a.  Data

1. 1. Serial: DB9, DB25

   2. Ethernet

   3. USB

b.  Power

1. Anderson connectors

2. Ring terminals

3. Banana plugs

4. Coaxial

5. Molex

c.  RF

1. PL-259

1. N-connectors

2. BNC

3. SMA

4. Types of Coax

d.  Audio

5. 1. TRS

   2. DIN

   3. Mini-DIN

e.  Gender

f.  Soldering basics

a.  Battery boosters

b.  Importance of voltage stability

c.  Alternative power sources

1. 1. Solar power / charging

   2. Wind power

   3. Fuel cells

d.  Generator power

1. 4. Inverter vs. Alternator

   5. Fuel sources (gasoline, diesel, propane)

   6. Battery charger

   7. Safety

      1. Venting

      2. Extension cords

e.  Standalone AC Power Inverters

f.  Using a multimeter

g.  Power and equipment requirements of common Items

1. 100W HF Radio

1. 50W Mobile Radio

2. Desktop Computer

3. CRT Monitor

4. LCD Monitor

5. Laptop Computer

6. Inkjet Printer

7. Laser Printer

8. Electric Space Header

9. Electric Blanket

h.  Consumer UPS units

TBD

TBD

a. Simplex repeater operation

b. Duplex repeater operation

c. Cross-band repeaters

1. Extending range of handhelds

2. Access point for isolated stations

3. Creating a link between two duplex repeaters

d. Cavity duplexers

1. How they work

2. Why they are needed

3. Temperature and shock sensitivity

e. Cavity filters

1. When you might use them

2. How to apply them to a system

f. Band pass filters

a. Echolink

b. IRLP

c. Propagation testing networks

a. Common hardware

1. Laptops

2. Desktops

3. Netbooks

4. Handhelds

b. Operating Systems

c. Serial communication

1. Cables

2. Null modems

d. Terminal Programs

1. Basic settings

2. Common uses

e. Sound interfacing

f. USB adapters for newer systems

1. Serial

2. Audio

g. Emergency power

h. Networking

1. Wired Ethernet

2. Wireless Ethernet

3. IP addresses

a. 300, 1200, 9600 baud

b. AX.25 and IP

c. Digipeaters

d. Systems

1. A simple TNC mailbox in a pinch

2. Advanced BBSes and routing networks

e. Clients

1. Terminal

2. Outpost

3. Airmail

a. System overview

1. CMS

2. RMS

3. Relay

b. Clients

1. Airmail

2. Paclink

3. RMS Express

c. HF Pactor/Winmor

1. Available Pactor I hardware

2. Available Pactor II/III hardware

3. Winmor software and hardware requirements

d. RMS/Packet access

e. Internet access

a. Voice

b. Slow and High-Speed data

c. Repeaters

d. Gateways

1. Callsign Routing

2. Reflectors

3. DVDongle

4. DVAP and Hotspot

a. GPS receivers

b. Simple trackers

c. Available hardware

d. Offline mapping stations and software

e. Internet gateways

f. Other types of data

1. Messaging

2. Weather

3. Telemetry

a. Arrival and setup

1. Determine power situation

• Is AC power available, cords needed

• Generator or some other source of aux power

• Battery power only, determine plans for recharging

2. Determine antenna needs

• Portable masts

• Antennas

• Feed lines

3. Determine equipment needs

• Bands of operation

• Modes required

4. Advise if you need additional resources to set up

b. Determine initial contacts

1. Locate people you will be working with

2. Determine how to best get information to and from them

3. Obtain any necessary paperwork for shift

TBD

a. Shift planning

b. Task assignments

c. Dealing with personalities

d. Handling emergent volunteers

e. Tabletop deployment