P73

Assembling an Amateur Station

Assembling an Amateur Station

Part of the Amateur Radio practical assessment process is the ability to demonstrate the right way to connect up an Amateur station.

Basic Station

A basic HF station will comprise a radio, power supply, microphone, and depending on your radio’s options, an external VSWR meter and Antenna Tuning Unit (if required).

Of course, there will also be power cords and feedlines connecting the components together. VHF and UHF stations will use resonant antennas, so an ATU is not required.

This video clip demonstrates the process of correctly hooking up a power supply, radio antenna tuner (ATU) and antenna.

The Foundation Level Study Guide

All Blue Tiles form part of the syllabus for the Foundation Level Recognition Certificate (operator licence).  A primary source of information for many of the blue tile topics can be found within the Foundation Level Study Guide.  This is a free download available at:

https://vkradioamateurs.org/flsg/  This is a digital book and contains many links to other resources and explanatory videos.

Information about setting up an Amateur Station, relevant to Foundation Level Qualifications  can be found in this book from Chapter 8, on Pages 60 to 62

Additional information on this topic is also available within the Welcome to Amateur Radio handbook.

You can download a free copy from:

https://vkradioamateurs.org/welcome-to-ar-guidebook-for-newcomers/

ACMA Syllabus Extract

According to the ACMA Foundation Syllabus, the required knowledge on this topic is:

8.1   Equipment Practices

Demonstrate connecting a transceiver safely to a power supply, microphone, VSWR meter, antenna matching unit, transmission line and antenna.