Ham Radio General case studies
Ham Radio General · Put your knowledge to work in context.
The General Class is one of the operator classes the FCC issues in the Amateur Radio Service, which the FCC describes as a service for qualified persons of any age interested in radio technique solely with a personal aim and without pecuniary interest. The service exists for self-training, intercommunication, and technical investigations, and the FCC notes that most new amateur operators start at the Technician Class and then may advance to the General Class or Amateur Extra Class. The Ham Radio General case studies are 5 cases and about 2,746 words.
1Field Day 40 m Station Overheating at Full Power
You are operating a Field Day 40 m SSB station with a 100 W transceiver through 50 ft of RG-8X to a 40 m inverted V dipole. After 20 minutes of continuous CQ calling at full power, the SWR meter climbs from 1.3:1 to 2.8:1, and the transceiver's heatsink is uncomfortably hot.
541 words, about 3 min2Interference Complaint From a Neighbor's Television
A neighbor two houses away reports that your 2 m FM transmissions break into their TV audio. You operate a 50 W mobile rig through a ground-plane antenna at 25 ft, and the neighbor's TV antenna is a rooftop Yagi aimed away from you.
539 words, about 3 min3Choosing a Portable Antenna for a Mountain SOTA Activation
You plan a Summit On The Air activation on 20 m CW from a 12,000 ft peak. Your radio is a 10 W QRP transceiver.
607 words, about 3 min4Homebrew Linear Amplifier Plate Current Anomaly
You are testing a homebrew 3-500Z grounded-grid linear amplifier. At 1,800 V plate voltage and 400 mA plate current, the output is 400 W into a dummy load.
555 words, about 3 min5Repeater Coverage Complaint After Antenna Change
A 2 m repeater uses a 150 W amplifier, a duplexer, and a 100 ft run of 7/8 inch heliax to a 4-bay folded dipole antenna at 200 ft. Users report that coverage to the north has degraded, and the SWR at the transmitter reads 1.8:1.
504 words, about 3 min