Foundation course

[Hamradioop]

if you do the study the exam is straight forward, an 11 year old could pass and the frequently do.

[Wingfoot]

if you do the study the exam is straight forward, an 11 year old could pass and the frequently do.

Its been a long time since I went to school & of all the items found in the book, I find the maths & theory required to answer the questions on Ohms law & on current flow calculations etc, are proving challenge enough for me, my maths have never been my strong point.

Other stuff is, as you say, straight forward, even the licence conditions don't seem to complicated given that you are allowed to have a band plan for the exam.

Good luck to all the guys on this thread who are currently going for it.

Wf

[Hamradioop]

Whilst there are maths involved it is mainly Ohm's law so not to hard to master just a little multiplication and division.

[Wingfoot]

Tonight was week 4 of 6 & I have to say im seeing the advantages of the weekly approach to the course.

At first I really wanted to do this course over a single weekend as im a little impatient, but couldn't find one that dropped right for my working commitments, & so I signed up to this weekly course instead, & while its a longer route in actual time to your licence it also allows you to cover the various sections of the course in greater detail, because there is greater time for group discussion.

By attending the club every week you get the opportunity to discuss so many other aspects of radio with the vastly more experienced club members & learn so much more than what would normally be possible on a more intensive single weekend course & I like that approach, not to mention the longer time spent as a group is great for building new friendships.

Just two more weeks before the exam !


Wf

[filsgreen]

Well done Wingfoot, I've started the Essex Ham online course, that is also modular. I'm hoping the background study will help me through the two day course that SADARC is running in November. I know members have said the course was easy, but it doesn't hurt to put extra prep in. Plus, when you start the intermediate level, it won't be such a shock as you haven't winged the basis of the subject.

Phil

[Wingfoot]

Well done Wingfoot, I've started the Essex Ham online course, that is also modular. I'm hoping the background study will help me through the two day course that SADARC is running in November. I know members have said the course was easy, but it doesn't hurt to put extra prep in. Plus, when you start the intermediate level, it won't be such a shock as you haven't winged the basis of the subject.
Phil

Hi Phil

Doing the essex ham course is a good move, I did it as well & was very happy to discover that the club im now doing the course with use the essex ham course slides & so its all been quite familiar

Last night was week 5/6 & its been great to far, one of the club guys brought along his antenna analyser last night so I could check a project I completed over last weekend

It's a copy of the SOTA multi function dipole antenna, & Im pleased to say it now works great after slightly shortening it with a good vswr & resenant at 145mhz, so very happy with my effort.

I simply copied the idea from this youtube video, & while the version from sotabeams is about £40 to buy, you can build it yourself from parts purchased at screwfix, which cost me less than £15, plus I had the fun of building it & the reward of now having an antenna Ive made myself.

http://youtu.be/BLlb97KYzi4

Gooď luck with your course.

Wf

[filsgreen]

Hi WF

Thanks for the heads up on that project; I'm going to give it a go as I've got most of that stuff in the shed.

Phil

[The-Mendologist]

Hi WF

Thanks for the heads up on that project; I'm going to give it a go as I've got most of that stuff in the shed. I haven't got the coax though, what is the best make and can you get it at the likes of Maplins, or should I order on line?

Phil

For 2m i would go for RG213, its a thick cable, but if its a short run say 5m then go for RG58 which is smaller.
There are losses on cables, you may have to do a bit of homework on the cable loss as each cable is different.
You need to get at least a 97% woven outer braid, the tighter the braid the less loss. Dont go for cheap cable.

MIL spec is good quality.

I got 150ft plus from Unispectra. What area are you in?

[Wingfoot]

Hi Phil

I know my local maplins stocks the RG58 coax, but they are a bit on the expensive side, I have used the internet to buy it in the past when I purchased the RG213 for my homebase antenna which worked out fine & was the cheapest option, but for this project I picked up a length of mini8 while visiting the Telford Hamfest in September off one of the stalls.

I would say if you have a local radio shop then give them your support, but if you dont have anywhere close just order of the web, its easy & usually the best price, but as this antenna is designed to be portable you dont need a huge length.


Wf

[The-Mendologist]

Hi WF

Thanks for the heads up on that project; I'm going to give it a go as I've got most of that stuff in the shed. I haven't got the coax though, what is the best make and can you get it at the likes of Maplins, or should I order on line?

Phil

For 2m i would go for RG213, its a thick cable, but if its a short run say 5m then go for RG58 which is smaller.
There are losses on cables, you may have to do a bit of homework on the cable loss as each cable is different.
You need to get at least a 97% woven outer braid, the tighter the braid the less loss. Dont go for cheap cable.

MIL spec is good quality.

I got 150ft plus from Unispectra. What area are you in?

Hold the phone!

I have just found some new (9.5M long) RG58/U, PM your address and i will shove it in Snail mail, its got a solid centre core, im never going to use it as it was given to me, i will also chuck in a plug for the other end too.