Math Skills

VY1BB, Brian - Instructor

The Materials


Study Guide - Appendix 1 (about 10 pages)

Note book

Simple calculator

What You Need to Know

Arithmetic

Many people who start to study for their amateur radio license have been away from school for a bit and their math skills are rusty. For this course you need to know how to do the four arithmetic calculations: add, subtract, multiply and divide. You need to know what a formula is and what a "power" is. Appendix 1 is quite short. It won't teach you how to do math and arithmetic, but it will refresh your memory.

Calculator

You can use a simple calculator on the exam. It can have one memory storage but you can't use a calculator that can store several constants and formulas. Most stores sell the simple calculators for around $5. Practice with your calculator and know how to use it.

SI Units

These are terms for measurements used in science and radio. e.g. volts, ohms, etc. They will be used throughout the course and on the exam. Be familar with them.

Prefixes

This means such things as "mega", "kilo", "milli", "micro", etc. You need to know this to answer at least 10 of the questions in the question bank. You might want to practice with a few examples with your calculator so that you are confortable with doing the calculations. You will find 11 questions in the questions bank (B-005-5).

Logs and Decibels

The concept of logrithms (logs) and decibels (dB) may be new to most students. It is often a difficult subject - just read the material and note what you don't understand. Your instructor will try to explain this better. What you need to know for the exam, however, is in the table showing the relationship between changes in dB and changes in voltage and power. When you go through any questions in the question bank (B-005-8) that relate to power and db go back to this table. There are not many questions so you should be able to memorize the answers to these ones.

Next: Basic Electronics and Theory