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528 Pages
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The revised edition of the most trusted guide in ham radio is here just in time to help you pass the new No-Code Technician Class exams Used by thousands of ham operators to set up their first shortwave transmitters and to get their licenses, Clay Laster's Beginner's Handbook of Amateur Radio, Fourth Edition delivers all the guidance you need -- from radio and electronics fundamentals needed to set up a transmitter to the newest equipment to revisions to the Federal Communications Commission rules and tests. If you want to communicate over the airwaves both locally and globally and listen in on conversations heard by very few, take this book home, and it will take you into the realm of communication, new friends, good times, and technical mastery beyond your dreams.
You get:
Understandable instruction in wave propagation, power supplies, and electronic circuits
Complete study guide for getting your Novice Operator or No-Code Technician Class licenses
Study hints for preparing for FCC exams
Shortwave operator's do's-and-don't's, practices and procedures
Appendix packed with 250 sample examination questions and answers
| Preface | p. xv |
| Introduction | p. xvii |
| Acknowledgments | p. xix |
| Introduction to Amateur Radio | p. 1 |
| Who Can Become a Ham Radio Operator? | p. 1 |
| New Avenues into Amateur Radio | p. 2 |
| About Amateur Radio | p. 2 |
| A History of Amateur Radio | p. 3 |
| Early pioneers | p. 3 |
| Beginning of amateur radio | p. 5 |
| First licenses for amateur radio operators | p. 7 |
| The death knell for amateur radio | p. 8 |
| The golden age of amateur radio | p. 9 |
| Amateur Radio--A Scientific Hobby | p. 11 |
| Amateur Radio Public Service | p. 12 |
| The Path into Amateur Radio--The Technician Class License | p. 15 |
| How to Prepare for the FCC Technician Class Examination | p. 19 |
| The Federal Communications Commission | p. 21 |
| The FCC Volunteer Examiner Program | p. 22 |
| FCC Amateur Radio Operating Classes | p. 22 |
| The Amateur Radio Frequency Spectrum | p. 23 |
| FCC Rules and Regulations | p. 25 |
| Part 97: Amateur Radio Service | p. 25 |
| Amateur Call-Sign Allocations | p. 55 |
| How to Learn International Morse Code | p. 58 |
| What is Morse Code? | p. 58 |
| How code is transmitted | p. 59 |
| Who can learn Morse code? | p. 61 |
| The FCC Written Examinations | p. 67 |
| The VEC question pool | p. 67 |
| Scheduling the examination | p. 69 |
| Taking the examination | p. 69 |
| Radio Communications Theory | p. 71 |
| Definitions | p. 71 |
| The Radio Circuit--Transmitter to Receiver | p. 73 |
| The Electromagnetic Spectrum | p. 74 |
| Frequency and wavelength | p. 76 |
| The radio frequency spectrum | p. 78 |
| Wave propagation | p. 80 |
| Types of Propagation | p. 80 |
| The Effects of the Ionosphere on Radio Communications | p. 82 |
| Ionospheric layers | p. 83 |
| Sunspots affect the ionosphere | p. 83 |
| High sunspot activity | p. 84 |
| Propagation characteristics of the ionosphere | p. 85 |
| Nighttime propagation conditions | p. 87 |
| Principles of Electricity and Magnetism | p. 89 |
| Definitions | p. 89 |
| Fundamentals of Electricity | p. 91 |
| Atoms and matter | p. 92 |
| Negative and positive charges | p. 93 |
| Electricity--the flow of electrons | p. 93 |
| Units of voltage and current | p. 94 |
| Conductors and insulators | p. 95 |
| Resistance and resistors | p. 95 |
| Some Basic Electrical Laws | p. 98 |
| Ohm's law | p. 99 |
| Resistors in series | p. 100 |
| Resistors in parallel | p. 100 |
| Series-parallel combinations | p. 101 |
| Current flow in series dc circuits | p. 101 |
| IR voltage drops | p. 104 |
| Current flow in parallel dc circuits | p. 105 |
| Magnetism | p. 106 |
| The magnetic field | p. 106 |
| Temporary and permanent magnets | p. 107 |
| Electromagnetism | p. 107 |
| Magnetomotive force (MMF) | p. 108 |
| Electromagnetic induction | p. 109 |
| Alternating current and voltage | p. 109 |
| The ac sine wave | p. 109 |
| ac circuits | p. 111 |
| Capacitors and Capacitance | p. 112 |
| How capacitors work | p. 114 |
| Capacitor voltage ratings | p. 115 |
| Connecting capacitors in parallel | p. 115 |
| Connecting capacitors in series | p. 116 |
| Capacitive reactance | p. 116 |
| Phase angle of capacitors | p. 118 |
| Testing capacitors | p. 118 |
| Inductors and Inductance | p. 119 |
| Inductance | p. 119 |
| Series inductors | p. 121 |
| Parallel inductors | p. 121 |
| Inductive reactance, X[subscript L] | p. 123 |
| Phase angle of inductors | p. 123 |
| Transformers | p. 124 |
| Basic transformer concepts | p. 125 |
| Testing inductors and transformers with a multimeter | p. 127 |
| ac Circuit Analysis | p. 128 |
| Impedance and phase angles | p. 128 |
| Resonance and tuned circuits | p. 129 |
| The Q of resonant circuits | p. 131 |
| Power Relationships | p. 131 |
| Power in a dc circuit | p. 132 |
| Power in an ac circuit | p. 132 |
| Maximum power transfer | p. 134 |
| Tubes and Semiconductors | p. 135 |
| Definitions | p. 137 |
| Vacuum Tubes | p. 139 |
| Thermionic Emission | p. 139 |
| General Types of Vacuum Tubes | p. 141 |
| Diodes | p. 141 |
| The diode as an ac rectifier | p. 143 |
| Triodes | p. 144 |
| How triodes work | p. 145 |
| Triode amplification action | p. 147 |
| Limitations of triodes | p. 148 |
| Tetrodes and Pentodes | p. 149 |
| The tetrode | p. 149 |
| Limitations of the tetrode | p. 150 |
| The pentode | p. 151 |
| The pentode as an amplifier | p. 152 |
| Beam-power tubes | p. 153 |
| Gas-filled tubes | p. 153 |
| Cathode-ray tubes | p. 154 |
| Diodes, Transistors, and Other Semiconductor Devices | p. 154 |
| n-type semiconductor | p. 156 |
| p-type semiconductor | p. 156 |
| How semiconductor devices are made | p. 156 |
| The pn junction | p. 157 |
| How diodes work | p. 160 |
| Reverse bias | p. 161 |
| Diode circuits | p. 162 |
| Special-Purpose Diodes | p. 164 |
| The zener diode | p. 165 |
| The varactor diode | p. 166 |
| Transistors | p. 166 |
| Bipolar transistor construction | p. 169 |
| npn transistor operation | p. 169 |
| pnp transistor operation | p. 171 |
| Common-base amplifying circuits | p. 171 |
| Common-emitter amplifier circuits | p. 174 |
| Common-emitter design considerations | p. 176 |
| Variations in transistor characteristics | p. 179 |
| Voltage gain of common-emitter amplifier circuits | p. 180 |
| Frequency limitations of transistors | p. 181 |
| The common-collector configuration | p. 182 |
| Summary of transistor characteristics | p. 184 |
| Transistor testing | p. 184 |
| Transistor testing with ohmmeters | p. 185 |
| Field-Effect Transistors | p. 187 |
| The junction field-effect transistor | p. 188 |
| Characteristics of junction field-effect transistors | p. 189 |
| JFET circuit configurations | p. 190 |
| Insulated-gate field-effect transistors | p. 192 |
| Depletion-mode IGFET operation | p. 192 |
| Enhancement-mode insulated-gate field-effect transistors | p. 194 |
| Care and handling of insulated-gate semiconductor devices | p. 196 |
| Optoelectronic Devices | p. 197 |
| Photodiodes | p. 198 |
| Light-emitting diodes | p. 199 |
| LCD displays | p. 199 |
| Integrated Circuits | p. 200 |
| Types of integrated circuits | p. 200 |
| A typical IC--the 555 timer | p. 202 |
| Packaging of integrated circuits | p. 202 |
| Linear and digital integrated circuits | p. 202 |
| Power Supplies | p. 205 |
| Definitions | p. 206 |
| Power-Supply Design Considerations | p. 209 |
| The power transformer | p. 209 |
| Rectifier circuits | p. 210 |
| Filter circuits | p. 213 |
| Electronic voltage regulators | p. 218 |
| A word of caution | p. 223 |
| Electronic Circuits | p. 227 |
| Definitions | p. 227 |
| Audio- and Radio-Frequency Amplifiers | p. 232 |
| Basic Types of Amplifiers | p. 234 |
| The ideal amplifier | p. 234 |
| The Decibel | p. 236 |
| Voltage and Current Ratios in Decibels | p. 239 |
| Amplifier Power Levels | p. 242 |
| Class-A, -B, -AB, and -C Amplifiers | p. 243 |
| Amplifier Efficiency of Operation | p. 244 |
| Interstage Coupling Techniques | p. 245 |
| Direct coupling | p. 245 |
| Resistance-capacitance (RC) coupling | p. 247 |
| Transformer coupling | p. 247 |
| Impedance coupling | p. 247 |
| Push-Pull Operation | p. 248 |
| Integrated-Circuit Amplifiers | p. 249 |
| An IC Audio Amplifier for the Ham Shack | p. 250 |
| The Oscillator: An Amplifier with Feedback | p. 253 |
| The Basic Oscillator Circuit | p. 254 |
| Oscillator Characteristics | p. 255 |
| The Tuned LC Oscillator | p. 255 |
| Oscillator Circuits | p. 257 |
| Introduction to Radio Transmitters | p. 269 |
| Definitions | p. 272 |
| The CW Transmitter | p. 275 |
| The Master Oscillator Power Amplifier Transmitter | p. 276 |
| Amplitude-Modulated Transmitters | p. 280 |
| Conventional AM transmitters | p. 280 |
| AM carrier and sideband signals | p. 282 |
| Single-Sideband Modulation | p. 283 |
| Frequency Modulation | p. 288 |
| FM transmitters | p. 289 |
| Transmitter Performance Tests | p. 290 |
| Transmitter frequency measurements | p. 290 |
| Frequency counters | p. 291 |
| Transmitter power measurements | p. 292 |
| Introduction to Radio Receivers | p. 295 |
| Definitions | p. 297 |
| Receiver Basics | p. 298 |
| Reception | p. 299 |
| Selection or selectivity | p. 300 |
| Demodulation or detection | p. 301 |
| Reproduction | p. 302 |
| Simple Receivers | p. 302 |
| Tuned radio-frequency (TRF) receivers | p. 302 |
| Direct-conversion receivers | p. 303 |
| The Superheterodyne Receiver | p. 305 |
| RF amplifiers | p. 307 |
| Local oscillators | p. 307 |
| Mixers | p. 309 |
| Regenerative-detector receivers | p. 310 |
| IF amplifiers | p. 310 |
| Detectors and beat-frequency oscillators | p. 312 |
| Automatic gain control | p. 312 |
| S meters | p. 313 |
| Interference and Receiver Limitations | p. 313 |
| Receiver Overload | p. 314 |
| Harmonic Signals | p. 315 |
| Constructing the "Sudden" 160- to 20-Meter Direct Conversion Receiver | p. 315 |
| FM Receivers | p. 319 |
| All about Transmission Lines and Antennas | p. 323 |
| Definitions | p. 324 |
| Transmission Line Basics | p. 326 |
| Types of Transmission Lines | p. 327 |
| Twin-lead lines | p. 327 |
| Coaxial transmission lines | p. 328 |
| Standing Waves | p. 329 |
| Standing-wave ratios | p. 329 |
| High-Frequency Antennas | p. 332 |
| Half-wave doublet (or dipole) antenna | p. 333 |
| Safety and other considerations | p. 340 |
| Multiband antennas | p. 347 |
| Vertical antennas | p. 350 |
| Beam antennas | p. 351 |
| Station Wiring Diagrams | p. 355 |
| RF Radiation Safety and Radio Communications Practices and Procedures | p. 357 |
| Definitions | p. 357 |
| Radio Frequency Environmental Safety Practices | p. 361 |
| Determining Compliance with FCC RF Safety Rules and Regulations | p. 365 |
| General RF safety recommendations | p. 367 |
| Radio Communications Practices | p. 368 |
| Station installation | p. 368 |
| Station layout | p. 369 |
| Station wiring | p. 370 |
| Radio-Frequency Interference (RFI) | p. 371 |
| Elimination of RFI | p. 371 |
| How to Use Test Equipment | p. 373 |
| Meter movements | p. 373 |
| Ammeters | p. 374 |
| Voltmeters | p. 374 |
| Ohmmeters | p. 375 |
| The multimeter | p. 377 |
| Wattmeters | p. 377 |
| Operating Procedures | p. 377 |
| Operating courtesy | p. 378 |
| CW or telegraph procedures | p. 379 |
| Q signals | p. 379 |
| The RST signal-reporting system | p. 380 |
| Prosigns and standard abbreviations | p. 380 |
| A Typical Contact on the Technician Bands | p. 380 |
| Element 2--Technician Class Examination Question Pool | p. 385 |
| Answers | p. 481 |
| The W5YI RF Safety Tables | p. 485 |
| Index | p. 491 |
| Table of Contents provided by Syndetics. All Rights Reserved. |
ISBN: 9780071361873
ISBN-10: 0071361871
Series: Tab Electronics Technical Library
Published: 28th November 2000
Format: Paperback
Language: English
Number of Pages: 528
Audience: General Adult
Publisher: TAB BOOKS
Country of Publication: US
Edition Number: 4
Edition Type: Revised
Dimensions (cm): 22.86 x 18.42 x 3.81
Weight (kg): 0.9
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