The Basic Course

A third Basic Course is tentatively planned for the fall of 2010. If you want to know more about amateur radio in Atikokan, talk with any of our members. If you might be interested in the fall course, send Warren, our trainer, an e-mail. The course will only be held if six students sign-up. In the meantime, check-out some of the course materials, below.

Unless otherwise stated, all files below are pdf files. They should open automatically once you've dowloaded them. Most lesson files are slightly modified versions of the excellent Basic Course material developed by the Toronto EmmComm group.

ExHAMiner Software (Updated 20 July 2009)

Click here to go to the ExHAMiner software download page. This is a very good exam practice tool written by François Daigneault, VE2AAY for RAC. (Shameless plug: This is one more reason to join RAC.) Note that you must download both the program and the Basic question bank.This latest version now includes the Advanced question bank. E-mail me if you have difficulties, and I will make you a CD copy.

ExHAMiner tip: Once you've chosen the Basic question bank, choose Tools/Selection by Lesson from the menu. Click on the topics you want to review. This latest version will default to asking you all possible questions from each selected topic. Review them all and makes notes of your problem areas. You can select "Seek unanswered or incorrect" to focus on your previous problem area.

Industry Canada Background Material

1. Industry Canada: Technical Requirements Respecting Identification of Radio Stations (30 kb)
2. Industry Canada: Standards for the Operation of Radio Stations in the Amateur Radio Service (55 kb)
3. Industry Canada: Information on the Amateur Radio Service (80 kb)
4. Industry Canada: Call Sign Policy and Special Event Prefixes (660 kb)

Lesson Materials
(Items in italics are most recent additions)

1. Presentation to Potential Hams (1 mb)
2. Lesson One, Regulations (revised, 500 kb)
3. Lesson One, corrected slide (43 kb)
4. Lesson Two, Operating Procedures (3 mb)
5. Lesson Three, Block Diagrams and Safety (961 kb)
6. Lesson Four -Circuit Components (229 kb)
7. Lesson Five - Electronic Theory (640 kb)
• Series and parallel calculations
• Instructor Notes, Decibels
• Formulas
8. Lesson Six - Antennas (275 kb) {This presentation was not shown in class}
• Instructor Notes, antennas
9. Lesson Six - Feedlines (277 kb) {This presentation was not shown in class}
   • Instructor Notes, Feedlines
10. Lesson 7 - Propagation ( 698 kb) {This presentation was not shown in class}
    • Instructor Notes, Propagation
11. Lesson 8 - Interference (167 kb)

Bonus Material!

• A good online electronics course: This course nicely covers much of the electronics material we are learning.
• Decibels: "Decibels' or "dB" is a term you will encounter frequenty during this course. This tutorial explains the basics of decibels.
• Baluns: This is additional reading, but quite useful if you want to understand baluns when building your antennas.
• Solar Activity and Propagation: Again, this is additional reading, but provides a solid understanding of solar impacts on RF propagation.