[TVARC] Ham Radio Trivia Quiz

[K2PS Pete Stafford]

Among other things that keep me busy in The Villages, I subscribe to a
trivia league.  In the off-season, which is now, members are encouraged to
supply their own set of questions on various topics, and one individual did
so for Ham Radio.  I tried my hand at it and, while my score wasn't perfect,
I found the questions to be at a level at which most of you should be able
to do well.

 

Give it a try, and if you care to send me your answers, I'll grade them and
publish the answers by Wednesday night.

 

73, Pete, K2PS

 

 

1.  Radio frequencies are measured in hertz (cycles per second), but the
bands of frequencies allocated to amateur radio use are generally known by a
measurement in meters, corresponding to what property, which varies
inversely with frequency? For example, the frequency 146.52 MHz is
considered to lie in the 2 meter band because it has a what of about 2
meters?

 

2.  When hams say a band is "open", we mean that communication within it is
possible, usually across great distances. What charged region of the
atmosphere is responsible for bending and reflecting radio signals to go
around the curved surface of the Earth?

 

3.  The dipole, the discone, the end-fed half-wave, the G5RV, the Zepp (as
in Zeppelin), the J-pole, the Yagi-Uda, the hex beam, and the "rubber ducky"
are all types of what essential piece of radio equipment?

 

4.  One of the most appealing aspects of amateur radio, to a lot of hams, is
making contacts with other hams in unusual places. Two amateur radio
stations, call signs NA1SS and RS0ISS, operate from what difficult-to-access
location? The attached audio transcription is part of a recording of an
8-year-old girl making contact with one of these stations. Audio
transcription: YOUNG GIRL'S VOICE: "November Alpha One Sierra Sierra, Mike
Zero Lima Mike Kilo, my name is Isabella, I'm eight years old, you're five
and nine. Thank you." MAN'S VOICE: "Mike Zero Lima Mike Kilo, this is
November Alpha One Sierra Sierra. Isabella, it's so great to chat with you,
thank you for getting on the radio and saying hello." YOUNG GIRL'S VOICE:
"Thank you, bye."

 

5.  Hams operate many different modes of transmission: for example, AM and
FM, such as you'd find in a broadcast receiver, but also CW (Morse code),
SSB (single sideband), RTTY (radioteletype), SSTV (slow-scan television),
and FT8 (a type of digital mode). Such modes make different uses of what
process by which information is added to a radio wave?

 

6.  The first part ("prefix") of an amateur radio station's call sign tells
you which government licensed the station. For example, the prefixes K, W,
and N all belong to the United States; F indicates France, and 6Y is
Jamaica. Virtually all of these prefixes are assigned by what specialized
agency of the United Nations, which is responsible for many matters related
to information and communication, and which, at 158 years old, is one of the
oldest international organizations still in operation? (Either the full name
or its three-letter acronym is acceptable.)

 

7.  One particularly difficult amateur radio activity is to try to "bounce"
a signal off of what object, allowing anyone who can see that same object to
receive your signal? The use of this object to reflect radio waves was first
proposed during the Second World War, but the development of communications
satellites in the 1960s made the idea obsolete for practical use.

 

8.  The competitive activity known as amateur radio direction finding
combines locating hidden radio transmitters (or "foxhunting") with what
sport, in which a map and magnetic compass are used to navigate from point
to point across terrain? In its non-radio version, this sport has petitioned
for entry to the Olympic Games multiple times, and a version on skis was
staged parallel to the Winter Olympics in 1998 in Nagano, Japan.

 

9.  What 1997 science-fiction film opens with a memorable scene culminating
in a shot of a girl talking on a ham radio? The girl later grows up to
become a scientist who puts her knowledge of radio to practical use.

 

10.  To become licensed in amateur radio, you must demonstrate some
knowledge of basic electrical engineering. One fundamental principle of
electricity states that the current through a conductor between two points
varies in direct proportion to the voltage across the two points; this is
expressed by the equation V = IR, where V stands for voltage in volts, I for
current in amperes, and R for resistance in what unit-named after the same
physicist who lends his name to this law?

 

11.  In 1957, Buddy Holly felt blue and recorded a classic rock song
yearning for what woman, who became a ham later in life with the
personalized call sign K5PSG? (First and middle names required; last name
optional.)

 

12.  The abbreviation SK is often used as a euphemism to indicate that an
amateur radio operator is deceased. SK derives from the Morse code
procedural sign that is traditionally the last signal sent from a station
before ceasing operation, when the station would no longer be heard on the
air. The K stands for "key" (as in a telegraph key)-what does the S stand
for?

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