[W8MWA] General Upgrade Class - Spring 2018
Bob West
wa8ycd at hotmail.com
Mon Mar 12 00:13:12 EDT 2018
I am thinking that we should run from Sunday April 15
(that gets us past both Easters) and Sunday May 13.
(May 20th is Dayton!) and plan on running 3 or 4 hours
[!! With appropriate breaks!!] so we can get it all in.
This will have us average about an hour per chapter. Some
Chapters are shorter, some are longer (like the one with
Ohm’s Law, series and parallel resistors, RMS, and dB!!)
So 2PM to 5PM, some days we finish early…?
Or demo time, or go in the shack and make a contact if the
Antennas are good.
I have a RIgol oscilloscope and signal generator for when we
Cover waveforms and resonance. We can grab some coils and
Capacitors and feed 1K or 10k or 100k sine wave to them and
See how they behave.
We should be able to come up with enough gear to do a demo
Of PSK or RTTY or whatever between the classroom and the
Bored room using a dummy load. Split the group up and have
Them QSO each other…
SHOW AND TELL – components, connectors. Coax, antennas.
Test equipment, radios, whatever you can think of, we want to
Show them stuff.
WE DON’T NECESSARILY NEED TO DO THE CHAPTERS IN ORDER.
If you have two consecutive chapters you can swap weeks with
Someone so you aren’t killing yourself with one monster day.
The ARRL General Class License Manual, 8th Ed (GCLM8)
SUMMARY OF TOPICS BY CHAPTER
1 INTRODUCTION (TBD)
Expanded privileges enjoyed by Generals
Reasons to upgrade from Technician
Requirements and study materials for the General Exam
How to prepare for your exam
How to find an exam session
Where to find more resources
2 PROCEDURES AND PRACTICES KD8ZMV
Basic HF operating procedures
Common HF practices and modes
Receiving and transmitting on HF
Digital operating on HF
Emergency communications
ARES and RACES organizations
Distress calls
3 RULES AND REGULATIONS KD8ZMV
International operating rules
The ITU, FCC, and FAA
Rules for exams and examiners
Frequency privileges
Managing interference issues
Third-party rules
Technical rules and standards
Good amateur practices
4 COMPONENTS AND CIRCUITS WT8WV
Resistors, capacitors and inductors
Series and parallel circuits
Transformers and vacuum tubes
Reactance, impedance and resonance
Diodes, transistors, ICs and microprocessors
Basic test equipment
5 RADIO SIGNALS AND EQUIPMENT W2BSA
Basic signal concepts a review
Oscillators
Mixers, multipliers and modulators
Transmitter and amplifier fundamentals
Receiver fundamentals
Installing an HF station
6 DIGITAL MODES WT8WV
Digital data definitions
Digital codes and protocols
Rules for digital modes
Digital operating procedures
Receiving digital signals
7 ANTENNAS WT8WV
Antenna basics
Dipoles and ground planes
Effects of antenna height and polarization
How Yagis work
Loop antennas
Antennas with special characteristics
Feed line basics
SWR and impedance matching
8 PROPAGATION KD8ZMW
Reflection and absorption
Sky-wave and ground-wave signals
Sunspots and sunspot cycles
How to assess propagation
Solar phenomena
Scatter propagation
9 ELECTRICAL AND RF SAFETY (TBD)
Basic electrical safety practices
Electrical shock hazards
Safety grounding and protective components
RF exposure
Evaluating RF exposure
Antenna installation practices
10 GLOSSARY
11 QUESTION POOL
73. Bob West WA8YCD
________________________________
From: Randy Crowe <n8ozy at comcast.net>
Sent: Sunday, March 11, 2018 9:01:57 PM
To: w2bsa at arrl.net; Spence Graham
Cc: Carpenter Al W8OP; Monongalia Wireless Association; Mc Clain N8QFQ, Tom; Chuck Mcclain; Bob West
Subject: Re: [W8MWA] General Upgrade Class - Spring 2018
I'll try to be around as much as I can. I'll take components and circuits if no one else wants.
Randy
On 03/11/2018 04:32 PM, w2bsa at arrl.net<mailto:w2bsa at arrl.net> wrote:
I have taught in the past as part of a technician license. I have taught the section on equipment and
could expand into signal types.
Bill Stewart, W2BSA
Sent from my iPad
On Mar 11, 2018, at 09:25, Spence Graham <wt8wv.spence at gmail.com<mailto:wt8wv.spence at gmail.com>> wrote:
I can do antennas... maybe digital... maybe components... depends on the time you set. Think we need to see how long someone is willing to go per week... 2 or 4 hours... afternoon or evening.
Spence WT8WV
On Mar 11, 2018 5:11 AM, "Bob West" <wa8ycd at hotmail.com<mailto:wa8ycd at hotmail.com>> wrote:
*** FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ***
DISTRIBUTE WIDELY – MONONGALIA AND SURROUNDING COUNTIES
(Within convenient driving distance to Morgantown)
Forward to clubs: W8MWA – K8MCR – W8CUL – W8SP – K8DM - ???
I will also add it to the ARRL Class Schedule page soon.
I asked N8OZY to check with Red Cross about using either the Classroom or the Bored Room
For a General upgrade class coming up. Looks like we can do MAR-APR-MAY. March is already upon us,
and Easter is Apr 1, (Orthodox Easter is Apr 8) so it looks like mid-April.
Room Pro Con
CLASSROOM Large May be pre-empted for Red Cross training
BOARDROOM RADIO SHACK Smaller, not as much “elbow room”
I’d like to start on Sunday April 15, 1400EDT (that’s 2:00 PM for the chronologically challenged!)
And am looking at 8-10 weeks at 2 hours per week or 5-6 weeks at 4 hours (with a break) per week.
There is a lot to cover and I want to include time for some HANDS-ON activities to make this more than
just “teaching the test”.
I am currently formatting a Workbook to go along with the ARRL General Class License Manual, 8th Ed.
UPGRADE!
IF YOU ARE a Tech and want to upgrade, we hope this session will be just what you need.
--or--
IF YOU KNOW OF a Tech Class person who might want to upgrade, PLEASE LET THEM KNOW!
TEAM TEACHING:
I would like for several people to present Chapter topics. I will be on hand to assist, and will take any
Chapters or Sections that nobody else wants.
This is a rough list, only listing Chapters. Coming soon: A list including the Sections.
If there is someone to work with, you can switch off between Sections within each Chapter.
It might be a good idea to have an alternate for each Chapter in case the primary presenter
has an unforeseen distraction. I’ll do backup if necessary.
If you’re interested in taking a Chapter, send me an e-mail or catch me at a Taco Tuesday/Thursday
BTW, we’d probably better plan to skip DAYTON WEEKEND!!!
Based on the ARRL GCLM8 (General Class License Manual, 8th Ed)
So far I have:
GCLM8 Chapter: Primary: Alternate:
1 INTRODUCTION ? WA8YCD
2 PROCEDURES AND PRACTICES KD8ZMV ?
3 RULES AND REGULATIONS KD8ZMV ?
4 COMPONENTS AND CIRCUITS ? ?
5 RADIO SIGNALS AND EQUIPMENT ? ?
6 DIGITAL MODES ? ?
7 ANTENNAS ? ?
8 PROPAGATION KD8ZMW ?
9 ELECTRICAL AND RF SAFETY ? ?
-- Final review & Exam ? VE Team
I will provide backup material to match the book, but if you have any kind of
additional good stuff, show & tell, demos, hands-on activities, etc. PLEASE
DO LET ME KNOW, we will see how we can include them!
73. Bob West WA8YCD
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