09/15/2008 1) A warbling signal around 14.230 MHz is probably...
a. RTTY
b. AMTOR
c. SSTV
d. HF Fax

2) Slow Morse code "O" characters sent on 2 meters in the weak-signal band are likely...
a. EME
b. ATV
c. Meteor Scatter
d. Intruders

3) You've just worked a station on 13.995 by calling them on 14.025. What day is it?
a. April Fool's Day
b. Armed Forces Day
c. MARS Appreciation Day
d. Halloween

4) A station calling "CQ FOC" is looking for other members of what club?
a. French Oceania Club
b. Friends of CW
c. First Class Operators
d. Foreign Operators Conference

5) What operating event takes place on New Year's Eve?
a. Rag Chew Night
b. Straight Key Night
c. Hootowl Sprint
d. Moonlight Ramble

6) The All Asian contests permit YLs to send "ØØ" as part of their exchange. What does this number represent?
a. Age
b. Serial Number
c. Zone
d. Marital Status

7) What HF band has a substantial population of FM users?
a. 75 meters
b. 30 meters
c. 12 meters
d. 10 meters

8) Which of the following modes supports digital voice?
a. D-STAR
b. Synchronous Demodulation
c. PSK31
d. IRLP

9) A worldwide network of DX beacons is operated by...
a. DX Magazine
b. WWV
c. the Northern California DX Foundation
d. RSGB

10) What is the only amateur band on which CW transmissions are not allowed?
a. 60 meters
b. 17 meters
c. 12 meters
d. 902 MHz

11) Which of these amateur bands are shared with other services?
a. 20 meters
b. 6 meters
c. 440 MHz
d. All of them

12) 56 kbps data signals are permitted on ham bands above what frequency?
a. 30 MHz
b. 50 MHz
c. 144 MHz
d. 222 MHz

13) If you tune across an MFSK signal, what would it sound like?
a. White noise or hissing across a wide bandwidth
b. Sharp clicks or pops at regular intervals
c. Random notes from a whistle or organ
d. Two tones alternating rapidly

14) When shortwave broadcast audio is received on SSB, what causes the whistling tone when the signal is off-frequency?
a. The signal's carrier
b. The signal's sidebands
c. Interference from nearby signals
d. Ionospheric Doppler shift

15) While on a VHF FM simplex frequency, you encounter a continuous weak signal that sends an identification signal every few minutes. What are you listening to?
a. A defective cordless telephone
b. A satellite's downlink
c. The tracking signal from a migrating burrowing owl
d. The transmitter being sought in a "fox hunt" or "bunny hunt"

Bonus: For what 2 meter repeater output frequency can the input be offset either +600 kHz or -600 kHz?

 

Answers

1. c -- This is the Slow-Scan Television calling frequency.

2. a -- EME signals send "O" to listen for their own echoes and alert other EME stations to their presence.

3. b -- Armed Forces Day -- this is an annual event in May during which hams make cross-band QSOs with stations on US military bases. With call signs of WAR, AIR, NAV, they have memorable QSLs.

4. c -- The First Class Operators Club holds several on-the-air events each year.

5. b -- Dust off that brass and pound away before heading out to that midnight gala described here.

6. a -- Age. Who said chivalry was dead?

7. d -- Tune up to 29.600 for the calling frequency or try some of the repeaters between 29.5 and 29.7 MHz.

8. a -- D-STAR is the new digital voice and data mode defined by the JARL-sponsored standard. D-STAR repeaters are found on the 144 MHz, 440 MHz and 1.2 GHz bands.

9. c -- The NCDXF now has beacons on all bands from 20 through 10 meters -- very handy!

10. a -- US amateurs are limited to five fixed-frequency channels on which USB voice is the only mode permitted. Sixty meters is also the only amateur band below 10 MHz on which USB is the standard sideband.

11. c -- A number of amateur bands are shared or have restrictions of which the user must be aware. The 70 cm is shared with radiolocation and other government services.

12. d -- The lower the band, the lower maximum data rate becomes -- down to 1200 bps in the HF bands.

13. c -- In fact, one MFSK variant is called Calliope for that reason. Answer a would be a spread-spectrum signal, answer b could be key clicks and answer d would be typical of RTTY.

14. a -- This is a "beat tone" caused by the carrier mixing with the receiver's BFO. When the carrier and BFO frequency are the same, the beat frequency is zero -- the condition known as "zero beat."

15. d -- Direction-finding contests use low-power transmitters as the quarry for the competitors.

Bonus: Repeater outputs on 147.00 MHz comply with both -600 kHz and +600 kHz offset planning.