Amateur radio operator should always use common courtesy as a guide, as no one amateur or amateur group has priority access to frequencies. Do remember, however, that we are secondary to the government on several bands and should ALWAYS make sure we do not cause harmful interference with our signals.

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Tags: rules and regulations frequencies band plan

"Help! It's an emergency".

A call for help, or a station in distress should always be immediately acknowledged, and you should determine what assistance may be needed.

Don't just move away to another frequency or ignore the signal. You may be the only one in a position to help!

NOTE: It could be argued that the FIRST thing to do is actually cease all transmissions so that you can actually hear the message that the station in distress is transmitting. If the first thing you do is start transmitting yourself, then you may very well be talking over their signal.

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Tags: emergency communication operating procedures

Remember our golden rule: Be courteous and don't cause harmful interference. If the propagation of your signal changes during your contact or you notice increasing interference, it is a good indication that another station is operating on a nearby frequency and that your signal may be causing THEM interference as well. Use the initiative as a common courtesy, and move your contact to another frequency.

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Tags: operating procedures frequencies

Morse code (CW) operation takes very little bandwidth, and most CW operators use filters to keep their signals tight as well, so moving your frequency by as little as 150 to 500 Hz should be a sufficient minimum frequency separation to avoid interference.

Hint: Any answer with kHz is too large - not that much separation is required.

The only two remaining answers are in the Hz range, and 5-50 is certainly too small (since CW bandwidth is at LEAST 100 Hz), so the only obvious answer is 150-500 Hz.

Silly hint: The Roman numeral "C" means 100, so choose the answer for 150 - 500 Hz.

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Tags: morse code bandwidth operating procedures

The general rule is that you want to allow at least the amount of bandwidth occupied by the signal type between signals to avoid interference. A single sideband (SSB) transmission generally takes up less than 3 kHz of bandwidth. Therefore, the customary minimum frequency separation between SSB signals is approximately 3 kHz.

Remember from the technician question pool that 2400 Hz is an appropriate receive filter bandwidth to select in order to minimize noise and interference for SSB reception. 3000 Hz is the closest to this.

Easy Cheat* SSB rhymes with 123

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Tags: ssb bandwidth operating procedures

Always listen for a short while first --2 minutes followed by CQ is not required so that answer is wrong. Then, on CW send "QRL?" followed by your call sign, or using voice, ask if the frequency is in use, followed by your call sign. Always wait to give any other station a chance to respond before continuing with your transmission.

QRL means "Are you busy?" or "I am busy".

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Tags: morse code phone operating procedures best practices

Before choosing a frequency for your transmission, it is always a good idea to check the Voluntary Band Plan for the operating mode you intend to use, so you know that you are using the right segment of the frequency band. For example, within the CW/data section of a band, there are plans for which band segment to use specifically for RTTY or for packet, as well as CW.

"Check to see if the channel is assigned to another station" is false because amateur operators are not assigned any specific frequency and no one has a frequency monopoly.

"Identify your station by transmitting your call sign at least 3 times" is false because transmitting your call sign multiple times is unnecessary, all answers on the test that call for doing so are false.

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Tags: band plan frequencies best practices

This is commonly known as the DX (long distance) window on 6 meters. Complying with the DX window allows other amateurs to enjoy a low local noise level in order to more easily receive stations outside of the continental U.S.

Memory aid: The the 50.1 MHz to 50.125 MHz band is "not within the 48 contiguous states".

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The Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) is an organization which uses the radio service for emergency communications. It is a requirement that an amateur station in RACES must hold an FCC issued amateur operator license to transmit for assisting in relief operations during a disaster.

Note: RACES is authorized in Part 97.407, while Amateur Radio Emergency Service® (ARES) is organized by the ARRL.

For more info see Wikipedia: Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service

Refer to FCC Part: [97.407(a)]

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Tags: control operator races emergency communication rules and regulations

There may be a large number of participants that have put aside their time to attend a net meeting and look forward to the event. Due to weather conditions etc, a frequency may not be suitable to use at time of scheduled meeting. To ensure meeting can continue as scheduled, and not disappoint or disadvantage attendee's it is best practice to have an alternative frequency chosen and checked for suitability prior to starting Net.

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A restriction of 1 hour per week has been imposed on RACES for drills and testing etc to ensure there is not a large burden placed on volunteers.

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