Unless otherwise specified, the information contained in this document was created and written by John Devoldere ON4UN and Mark Demeuleneere ON4WW (the . "authors") and as such is the property of the authors and protected by copyright law. Permission to use this information for purposes other than those described above, or to use the information in any other way, must be requested in writing to any of the authors.
INTRODUCTION
WELCOME
He offers loyalty, encouragement and support to other amateurs, local clubs, the IARU Radio Society of his country, through which amateur radio in his country is represented nationally and internationally. He operates slowly and patiently when called upon; offers friendly advice and counsel to the beginner; friendly assistance, cooperation and consideration of the interests of others.
AMATEUR RADIO CODE OF CONDUCT
- Basic principles
- The danger of conflicts
- How to avoid conflicts
- The moral authority
- The code of conduct
- This manual
GENERAL OPERATING
HAM LANGUAGE
LISTEN
USE YOUR CALLSIGN CORRECTLY
ALWAYS BE A GENTLEMAN
ON THE REPEATER
HOW DO YOU MAKE A QSO?
WHAT DO YOU TALK ABOUT ON THE AMATEUR BANDS?
MAKING CONTACTS ON PHONE
- How do you call CQ?
- What does ‘CQ DX’ mean?
- Calling a specific station
- How do you make a QSO in phone?
- Fast back and forth switching
- How to make QSOs in a phone contest
- The correct use of ‘QRZ’
- Check your transmission quality
THE ART OF TELEGRAPHY (CW, MORSE CODE)
- The computer as your assistant
- Calling CQ
- Prosigns
- Calling ‘CQ DX’
- Calling a specific station (a directive call)
- Carry on and wrap up the CW QSO
- Using ‘BK’
- Still faster
- Using the prosign ‘AS’ (DIT DAH DIT DIT DIT)
- Using ‘KN’
- How to answer a CQ
- Someone sends an error in your call
- Call a station that’s finishing a QSO
- Using the ‘=’ sign or ‘DAH DIT DIT DIT DAH’
- Send good sounding code
- I am a QRP station (= low power station)
- The correct use of ‘QRZ?’
- The use of ‘?’ instead of ‘QRL?’
- Sending ‘DIT DIT’ at the end of a QSO
- Correcting a sending error
- CW contests
- Abbreviated numbers (cut numbers) used in contests
- Zero beat
- Where can one find slow speed CW stations (QRS)?
- Do I have key clicks?
- Too fast?
- CW training software
- Most used CW abbreviations
OTHER MODES
- RTTY (Radioteletype)
- PSK 31 (Phase Shift Keying)
- SLOW SCAN TV (SSTV)
ADVANCED OPERATING
PILEUPS
- Simplex pileup
- Split (frequency) pileup
- How to behave in a pileup?
- Simplex pileup in phone
- Simplex pileup in CW
- Split frequency pileup in phone
- Split (frequency) pileup in CW
Listen carefully to see if the DX station is calling specific geographic areas. If you send 'K' after your call (perhaps after too short a space), the DX station may think it is the last letter of your callsign. Try to know as much as you can about the DX station's way of working.
Repeat this procedure until you hear the DX station coming back to someone (hopefully you!). This means that we can hear the DX station in the same split second when it starts broadcasting. It can help you avoid accidentally transmitting while the DX station is on the air.
TAIL ENDING
Unfortunately, you will always hear stations that keep calling endlessly, even while the DX station is working with someone. Perhaps the DX station operator will identify them as bad operators by answering these abusive perpetual callers and giving them an RS '00' report. UP' or 'DWN' usually means that the DX station is listening 1 to 2 kHz up or down from its transmit frequency.
In many cases, it is not just the tail that they step on, but more or less the whole beast. Often the DX station can be heard coming back to them, two or three times, but to no avail. They don't hear the DX station because they (almost) never listen, and maybe because they have a typical.
DXPEDITIONS
Don't be tempted to become a frequency policeman, we have plenty of them already (see § III.10). If you witness this, don't react, just ignore it, they will leave if they don't have an audience to interact with. If you need any information about a DXpedition, don't look for it on the DXpedition frequency.
Check the DXpedition website or one of the DX bulletins where you can find all the details: QSL address, operating frequencies, operators and, if applicable, calls from possible pilot stations. If you need to know something that you can't find on the DXpedition website, send an email to the pilot station. Better yet, never transmit on their frequency (assuming we're talking split frequency operation).
DX NETS
Contacts with these DXpeditions are usually as short as contacts during a competition: only a telephone call and a quick report are exchanged. When major DXpeditions are active, some hams act as if they have to complete a sacred mission to play frequency agent. If you are confident that you have identified one of these DQRMers, consider filing a formal complaint with your licensing authorities.
Ethics and Operating Procedures for Radio Ham 52 immediate success, the MC will be happy to help (from '…SS station, call again…' to giving half of the report: '…readability is correct but the signal strength is better than what you said .. .'). Both serious DXers and experienced DX stations will avoid such DX nets if possible. Such DX nets are not the place to learn the sport of DXing, nor how to improve your station or your operational capabilities.
THE USE OF PARTIAL CALLS
It is obvious that all this has little to do with real sports DXing. If later in the procedure the MC calls OH9ZZZ, he simply says 'station with ZZ at the end of the call, make your call'. OH9ZZZ now calls the DX station: 'this is OH9ZZZ, oscar hotel nine zulu zulu zulu calling ZK1DX, you are 55 over'.
If you send only 2 letters, the chance that at least part of your call will be copied is 3 times less than if you had specified all 6 characters. If the DX station copied your two letters (hopefully you're the only one using those two letters to make a call), it will still have to ask for the rest of your call. If, under any circumstances, someone asks you to identify yourself by two letters of your call, identify yourself by your entire call and perhaps tell him that you cannot do what he asks, because it is illegal.
DX CLUSTERS
- Main Purpose
- Who do you spot?
- Which information is available, how to retrieve it
- A spot appears: a new country for you. What now?
- Things not to do on a DX Cluster
Erroneous calls can sometimes be found in logs because the operator worked a station without even hearing his call sign, blindly copying a broken (incorrect) call from the DX Cluster. The purpose of this field is to provide additional useful information about the DX station. Make sure you've listened to the DX station's instructions before you call (its listening frequency, does it work with everyone or by numbers or by geographic areas?).
When you finish your QSO, you see the call from the DX station, which was there but went off the frequency after the contact was completed. This location has no added value to the DX community since the DX station is gone, but at the same time you attract a bunch of DXers to your frequency, hoping that it will help you find some other DX stations to work. In such a case you are not announcing the DX station, you are just bragging and telling the world how great you are.
DX WINDOWS
- DX windows on the HF bands
- On VHF-UHF
Ethics and Operating Procedures for Amateur Radio 56 A message sent using this feature will be sent to users of all worldwide connected clusters, which may number in the thousands at any given time. Most To All posts are actually aimed at one specific person, forcing 9,999 others to read a message that has no value to them. If the message is not of interest to everyone (or the vast majority), do not send it via the To All feature.
It seems that some deranged minds are checking into a DX cluster with someone else's callsign and doing totally unacceptable things. Even if we don't hear DX stations at that time, we may well cause QRM to other stations much closer to sunset. In these circumstances, all other stations should clear these frequencies and do so in the true spirit of the IARU gentlemen's agreement.
SPECIFIC OPERATIONAL PROCEDURES FOR VHF AND HIGHER
CONFLICT SITUATIONS
COPS (FREQUENCY POLICE)
- Types of ‘cops’
- What makes the cops appear?
- The good sinners …
A place is not to tell the world how great you are: don't spot a DX station (which has been spotted several times anyway) with a comment: I finally did it…. You want to give him a little push and you see him, although he is not a DX station at all. The TALK function allows you to send individual messages to another ham on your local DX Cluster.
Police officers most often appear on a rare DX station/DXpedition's frequency, usually when this station is operating in split mode. The trigger for their appearance is when an operator forgets to activate the split function on his transceiver and starts calling the DX station on his broadcast. When one is called to order by a policeman shouting 'at you idiot', it is sometimes difficult to refrain from replying on the spot 'have you never made a mistake, you arrogant policeman?'.
10.4. … and the bad sinners
Do you really want to be another cop?
A good number of hams simply do not know how to operate under all possible conditions. Not that they don't want to be good operators, they just don't know how. Everyone has broadcast on the wrong VFO (i.e. on the broadcast frequency of a DX station operating in split).
If ON9XYZ mistakenly repeatedly transmits on the wrong VFO, say '9xyz up please', not 'up you idiot'. If you still think it needs to be done, twist the tongue three times before moving on. If you need to tell someone they are transmitting on the wrong VFO, always add part of that station's call.
How to behave in the middle of a cop parade?
If you really have to say something (to correct a repeated mistake), say it in a friendly and positive way without sounding insulting or patronizing. Be aware that your intervention may cause more disruption than the actual fault you are trying to fix. Before playing cop, think twice about how your action will have positive added value.
If you happen to be the 9xyz station, don't feel too embarrassed, just err humanum est, and your apology will only cause more QRM.
TIPS FOR DX STATIONS AND DXPEDITION OPERATORS
If you added a 59 ratio, you've already made half the QSOs and there will be fewer erratic callers. In CW, in a similar case, never send a question mark if you copied a partial call (eg 3TA). If you continue to follow the same pattern, the group will know that when you say '5 to 10 up', you are again listening for new callers.
If you want to keep the pileup calm and more or less disciplined, and keep your broadcast frequency clear, the most effective way to do this is to keep the callers happy. If you follow a logical sequence, the pileup can more or less predict when it will be their turn. If you use this technique because the stack is too dense, quickly rotate between the continents or territories.
International Spelling and Phonetic Alphabet
