W9PE's July 2009 RACES class at the Lake County, IL EOC.
alt="July 2009
class"-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
W9PE's FREE: HAM CRAM TECHNICIAN LICENSE COURSE and/or CW MORSE CODE COURSE
W9PE's FREE HAM CRAM COURSE
HAM CRAM is
free no code AMATEUR RADIO TECHNICIAN LICENSE cram course designed to
be given in two, 3 to 3 1/2 hour sessions. Since 1991 over 800 of my
students have used it as an aid to passing the FCC exam. A number of
other instructors have also used it.
With a FCC no
code Technician Class License, one may participate in Amateur Radio,
and have full HAM privileges at all VHF/UHF frequencies above 50 MHz.
This includes repeaters, all of the new digital modes, HAM satellites,
and RACES/ARES.
Since February
23, 2007 all Technician licensees -- whether or not they have passed a
Morse code examination -- have "Tech Plus" operating privileges.
This means you will have all of the current VHF/UHF (and higher
frequencies) and you also will have access to the Novice/Technician
Plus
frequencies on HF. These include: Technicians
can upgrade to General by passing the Element 3 written exam and to
Amateur Extra by also passing the Element 4 written exam. No Morse code
test will be required. This course
will provide participants with everything they need to know to pass the
FCC Technician license exam. Every question in the question pool is
covered. The course does not attempt to go far beyond the minimum
required by the FCC. Knowledge of Ohm's Law type algebra (E = I x R and
λ = 300 / MHz.) and memorization of some items is required. As a minimum,
students should review the slides as a handout before taking the class.
To obtain an edge and be better prepared, participants are encouraged
to review a license manual. Please note that the question pool has
been updated, so use a newer license manual that covers exams
after 1 July 2010, if that is when you are going to take the exam.
Check a public library or order "The ARRL Ham License Manual 2nd Edition # 0830"
from the ARRL at 1-888-277-5289 or
3525-3600 kHz CW only
7025-7125 kHz CW only
21,025-21,200 kHz CW only
28,000-28,300 kHz CW, RTTY and Data
28,300-28,500 kHz CW, SSB
The power limit is 200 W PEP output for Technicians as well as all
other HAMs on these HF frequencies.
The name HAM CRAM was coined by W9ZSJ in 1993 the first time I taught it at Harper College in Palatine, Illinois. It was listed as HAM CRAM in Harper's catalog from 1993 through 2002.
I usually give session 1 in the morning and session 2 after lunch and then right into the exam. Our pass rate hovers just under 90%.
Ham Cram is now available free as a power point slide presentation. Just click on the hyperlink. Schools and clubs are encouraged to offer the HAM CRAM course.
HAMCRAM2010r0.ppt is the power point presentation, updated to the July 1, 2010 question pool. Click on HAMCRAM2010r0.ppt and it will download. The download will take some time with a dialup web connection, as the file contains 120 slides and is over 5.9 Mb long.
Handout_readme contains printing instructions for a "two to a page, double sided, B&W, handout printing." This will convert 120 slides into a 30-page pre class study handout. Click on it to download.
"GOOD MORNING, JUST WANTED YOU TO KNOW THAT I USED YOUR HAMCRAM SLIDE PRESENTATION OVER THE WEEK END TO TEACH A GROUP OF 10 PEOPLE. AT THE END OF THE DAY WE HAD 9 OF 10 PASS. THE GAL WHO DID NOT PASS WOULD NOT TAKE ANOTHER EXAM TO SEE IF SHE COULD GET IT ON THE SECOND TRY."
"THANKS FOR THE GOOD WORK."
73 JIM K8KSN
alt="July 2009
class"W9PE's FREE CW MORSE CODE COURSE
If you want to learn Morse code you came to the right place. Be you a senior citizen desiring to fulfill a put off ambition or a scout planning to earn a merit badge here is an easy free way to master the code.
When we start to learn Morse code we tend to count the dots and dashes. One dot followed by one dash is an “A.” This works, but we only can count so fast. Hence copy speed is limited to a few words per minute. To increase speed above this a large amount of additional practice (sometime full relearning) is required. The Farnsworth method of learning Morse code sends the characters at high speed with the spacing between letters long to train our mind to associate a letter/character with a sound, rather than counting dots and dashes. The goal is to prevent counting and start with the sound just as we learn language. Kotch found that some that learned this way also hit a roadblock hence he suggested that the characters be learned at higher speed, but only a few letters at a time until they were solidly learned. This course will sound the characters at 16 wpm with spacing between letters/characters long enough to have an actual speed of 5 wpm. Options allow higher rates. This course uses both Farnsworth and Kotch and adds a third item, some instant gratification. This positive feedback lets you know that you are making progress, i.e. words are copied as soon as possible even in the first lesson.
This course is based upon the software program "CwType" for Windows 9x/NT/2000/XP/Vista. It installed and worked fine on my both VISTA 32 and 64 bit in HP laptops. It is made available here with the author, Sergei Podstrigailo UA9OV’s permission. The practice macros in the "READ_ME.doc" file (the individual lessons) are then added to Sergie’s macro files to complete the CW course. The macros are in English, but feel free to translate to any other language and distribute the course. You have permission to distribute "CwType," however you must do it at no charge (for free) and no modifications to its original configuration when distributed are allowed.
Download "CwType" and "READ_ME.doc by left clicking each.
Please send me any suggestions/corrections to the address shown on http://www.rfgillette.com linked below. Subject HAM CRAM or CW. The email address is a graphic to avoid spambots.
This web site provided complements of RF gillette inc. http://www.rfgillette.com/
Click to join ham_instructor.