Our Approach
We believe in a two-way learning process and welcome discussion and comments from students to improve our course and materials. The materials are presented freely to the public in the hope that they will help encourage persons to study on their own and become qualified as amateur radio operators.
We can run a Morse Code course if there is sufficient interest but it is not required. We do run Basic and Advanced courses periodically.
There are two Accredited Examiners in the Society that can administer these exams. If interested contact Ian Rennie or Ron Thompson.
- RIC-01 — Guide for Examiners Accredited to Conduct Examinations for Amateur Radio Operator Certificates
- RIC-03 — Information on the Amateur Radio Service
- RIC-09 — Call Sign Policy and Special Event Prefixes
- Questions Test Data Bank
- RBR-4 — Standards for the Operation of Radio Stations in the Amateur Radio Service
Objective
The object of this course is to prepare you to pass the examination that is set by Industry Canada for the Basic Qualification. By passing the exam you will be able to obtain an basic amateur radio licence and become a full member of the Society. It is in YARS’ interests that you pass the course and get licensed. There is a shortage of amateur radio operators in the North.
Design
The course consists of modules that follow closely the Canadian Amateur Radio Basic Qualification Study Guide (New Market, Ontario: Coax Publications Inc., 2009). That guide is available from Radio Amateurs of Canada or from the Yellowknife Amateur Radio Society (YARS). The level of materials is at about the high school level and you will need to study the materials and put some effort into the course.
While the course presented by the Society is patterned after the textbook cited above, that textbook is patterned after RIC-3 Information on the Amateur Radio Service, which in turn is patterned after various legislation as noted in Class 2 below.
NB - For those who do not have MS Powerpoint, you can get a free PPTX Viewer from Microsoft or you can download a full opensource presentation viewer that is included in an open source program such as LibreOffice or OpenOffice .
Class 1 – Orientation
A basic introduction to the amateur radio service. Site orientation. Introductions. What is YARS. All candidates become associate members (upgraded to regular member on passing the exam). Expectations. Duration of course and exam details. Materials. Resources. Demonstrations.
Class 2 - Regulations
References: Canadian Amateur Radio Basic Qualification Study Guide (New Market, Ontario: Coax Publications Inc., 2009), Chapter 1, 17 and Appendix 1.
Regulations and policies. Since the licence is issued under the Radiocommunication Act (Canada) and its regulations, this module covers details about the legal requirements in Canada of an amateur radio operators.
Classes 3 and 4 - Basic Electrical Theory
References: Canadian Amateur Radio Basic Qualification Study Guide (New Market, Ontario: Coax Publications Inc., 2009), Chapters 2 and 3 (week 3); Chapters 3 and 4 (week 4).
Basic electrical theory and simple circuits. Resistance, capacitance and inductance. Ohm’s Law and Power. Q factor. A bit on impedance. AC and DC currents. RMS.
- Getting Down to Basics (Basic Circuit Theory) (PowerPoint) {There is a calculation error in one of the slides but we have left it in deliberately in order to show the value of dimensional analysis as a method of detecting errors in calculations. Can you find it? Hint: The error has to do with metric units and their prefixes}
- https://www.partsim.com/simulator
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_free_electronics_circuit_simulators (try MicroCap)
Class 5 - Active Devices and Power Supplies
References: Canadian Amateur Radio Basic Qualification Study Guide (New Market, Ontario: Coax Publications Inc., 2009), Chapters 9 and 10.
This module covers active devices including diodes, transistors, field effect transistors and vacuum tubes. A very basic explanation of doping is presented. The use of these devices in rectifiers and amplifiers is discussed. This module also discusses power supplies in a very general way. There is a great deal of information on line, including on YouTub and information that is supplementary to electronics courses. If interested in building circuits, one should download a circuit simulator such as in Module 2 and try building circuits using that software first.
- Active Devices and Power Supplies (PowerPoint)
- Transistors (YouTube)
- More on Transistors (YouTube)
- Voltage Regulated Power Supply (YouTube)
- For Examination Practice try Questions Test Data Bank and a CTL+F word search of it for terms such as diode, transistor, tube, junction and power supply.
- L1 1Introduction to semiconductors
- BJT Amplifiers
- Power Supplies
- Transformers
Class 6 - Modulation and Demodulation and Receivers
References: Canadian Amateur Radio Basic Qualification Study Guide (New Market, Ontario: Coax Publications Inc., 2009), Chapters 13 and 14.
This module is an overview of modulation, demodulation, receivers and transceivers. Such systems for AM, DSB, SSB and FM are considered.
- Modulation and demodulation/Receivers and Transmitters (PowerPoint)
- Wikibooks on Modulation and Demodulation
- AM on YouTube
- FM on YouTube (US Army 1954)
- Mathematical Foundations of Modulation (Analog Dialogue 47-06, June (2013)
- Internet Connected Software Defined Receivers
- AM, FM and PM Modulation
Class 7 - Wave Theory and Propagation
References: Canadian Amateur Radio Basic Qualification Study Guide (New Market, Ontario: Coax Publications Inc., 2009), Chapters 5 and 6.
Basic wave theory including their characteristics. Bands, frequencies and properties of waves. Electromagnetic waves. How radio waves interact with different parts of the atmosphere and what it is that allows radio amateurs to communicate thousands of miles on very little power. Solar effects including aurora. D layer, E layer, F1 and F2 layers. Survey of all HAM bands.
Class 8 - Transmission Lines and Antennas
References: Canadian Amateur Radio Basic Qualification Study Guide (New Market, Ontario: Coax Publications Inc., 2009), Chapters 7 and 8.
Transmission line theory and antennas. What is a transmission line is discussed along with characteristic impedance, balanced lines, unbalanced lines, coaxial cable and ladder line, connectors and matching baluns. Standing waves, VSWR etc. are discussed. Antennas are discussed and how they function in propagating an EM wave into space. Voltage distribution and elementary dipole design are presented. Radiation patterns, various designs, tuning, dumm loads, etc. are all discussed.
- Transmission Line and Antenna Theory (PowerPoint)
- Similarities of Wave Behaviour 1959 (Flashplayer Needed - Video)
- RCAF Antenna propagation
- Wire Antenna Currents
Class 9 - Amateur Radio Station and Safety
References: Canadian Amateur Radio Basic Qualification Study Guide (New Market, Ontario: Coax Publications Inc., 2009), Chapters 11 and 12 and 16 (safety).
This module deals with establishing an amateur radio station and its routine operation. Equipment, location, operating modes etc. are discussed with a physical demonstration of the VE8PAT operating station. Q-codes, the phonetic alphabet, voice procedure and the use of repeaters (including VE8YK/R locally) are discussed. CW operation (i.e. Morse Code) is discussed - a seemingly antiquated operating mode that we have discovered to be extremely reliable and robust in the North. Other modes are discussed including telephony and digital modes. PSK31 will be demonstrated along with APRS and ATV. QSL cards are discussed along with time zones. Emergency communications are also discussed. Radio operating procedures will be discussed with reference to RIC-22. Time permitting some discussion of ergonomics may occur.
- Establishing a Station and Operating (PowerPoint)
- Q Codes
- RIC-22 General Radio Operating Procedures (Industry Canada)
- World Map of Time Zones (Her Majesty's Nautical Almanac Office)
- NWT Safety Act and Occupational Health and Safety Regulations (PDF)
- Safety Code 6 (Health Canada)*
- RF Safety from NASA (PDF)
- Safety from ARRL
- Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) from ARRL
Class 10 - Exam Study Tactics
This and additional classes are devoted to working through sample exams with the Industry Canada Exam Generator and the Questions Test Data Bank
. We can go over particular areas of difficulty and write practice exams. It is our experience that these trial runs make the difference between a pass and an honours pass (>= 80%). These class(es) are devoted to study tactics.
NB - If you find any broken links on this page, please let Ian Rennie know and they will be either fixed or removed. Internet links are dynamic and sometimes break or are changed.