Lesson 11:

Establishing and Equipping an Amateur Station

Objectives:

When the students have finished this chapter they should be familiar with:

Apparatus:

Complete VHF and HF stations.

Handouts:

Block diagrams from Chapter 11. Printable copy of handout

Lesson Plan:

Chapters 11 and 12 should almost be taught as one unit. If you have access to a club station then all the better. Otherwise you are going to have to take the students to someone's home or lug the equipment to class. Having some other Amateurs on site would be most helpful. Arrange for other Amateurs to be available as on-air contacts off site.

  1. Go over any questions from the Chapter 10 homework.

  2. Show the students a complete VHF station, ideally both a base station and an HT. Point out the various pieces of equipment and have your students operate the station under the supervision of a qualified ham. Demonstrate both simplex and duplex operation.

  3. Show them an HT and its accessories, preferably a relatively uncomplicated one

  4. Show the students a complete HF station. Explain why there is so much more equipment in a typical HF station than a VHF station. Demonstrate how an SWR meter and an ATU are used

  5. Demonstrate SSB operation with VOX and PTT

  6. Show the various types of CW paraphernalia: straight key, bug, iambic keyer. Let the students play with this (off the air!). Also show them a Morse tutor programme loaded on a PC.

  7. Show and demonstrate a station set up for the digital modes.

  8. Don't forget to show the students the antenna farm. Explain that antennas for the lower HF bands can become huge!

Homework:

  1. Read Chapter 11

  2. Do Chapter 11 Quiz

  3. Skim Chapter 12

Chapter 11 Quiz:

Printable copy of the Review Quiz

Answers to Chapter 11 Quiz
1 A 5 C 9 D 13 B 17 C
2 D 6 A 10 D 14 A * *
3 B 7 D 11 B 15 B * *
4 A 8 A 12 A 16 C * *

Overhead Slide Versions of the Diagrams

  1. Slide 1
    11.1 Arrangement of Components in an HF Station

  2. Slide 2
    11.2 Arrangement of Components in a Digital Station