WEBVTT NOTE The Volunteer Monitor Program and HF Practice 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.698 The Volunteer Monitor Program. 2 00:00:02.698 --> 00:00:11.258 Question. What is the Volunteer Monitor Program? 3 00:00:12.158 --> 00:00:20.561 Answer. Amateur volunteers who are formally enlisted to monitor the airwaves for rules violations. 4 00:00:21.161 --> 00:00:27.601 Question. Which of the following are objectives of the Volunteer Monitor Program? 5 00:00:28.501 --> 00:00:36.541 Answer. To encourage amateur radio operators to self-regulate and comply with the rules. 6 00:00:37.141 --> 00:00:47.786 Note the objective carefully: encourage self-regulation, not enforce. Volunteer Monitors observe and report; the FCC enforces. 7 00:00:47.786 --> 00:00:58.261 Most of what the programme produces is a courteous note about something the operator did not realise, and that is by design. 8 00:00:58.261 --> 00:01:07.301 It replaced the older Official Observer programme in 2019, under an agreement between the FCC and the ARRL. 9 00:01:07.301 --> 00:01:19.541 Question. What procedure may be used by Volunteer Monitors to localize a station whose continuous carrier is holding a repeater on in their area? 10 00:01:20.441 --> 00:01:30.121 Answer. Compare beam headings on the repeater input from their home locations with that of other Volunteer Monitors. 11 00:01:30.721 --> 00:01:46.336 Triangulation by several stations at once, the direction-finding technique from the Technician track, applied cooperatively. Two bearings intersect at a point. Azimuthal maps and long path. 12 00:01:46.336 --> 00:01:52.190 Question. Which of the following describes an azimuthal projection map? 13 00:01:53.090 --> 00:02:00.170 Answer. A map that shows true bearings and distances from a specific location. 14 00:02:00.770 --> 00:02:11.862 Centred on your station, so a straight line from the centre to any point is the true great-circle bearing and the radius is the true distance. 15 00:02:11.862 --> 00:02:20.064 An ordinary Mercator map cannot do this, it makes Greenland enormous and turns great circles into curves. 16 00:02:20.064 --> 00:02:30.610 If you own a directional antenna, an azimuthal map centred on your location is genuinely the most useful piece of paper in the station. 17 00:02:30.610 --> 00:02:39.211 Question. How is a directional antenna pointed when making a "long-path" contact with another station? 18 00:02:40.111 --> 00:02:46.191 Answer. 180 degrees from the station's short-path heading. 19 00:02:46.791 --> 00:03:06.455 Exactly opposite. If Japan is at 310 degrees short path, the long path is at 130. That is why an antenna that turns a full circle is worth having and one restricted to a half is not. The small habits. 20 00:03:06.455 --> 00:03:21.694 Calling CQ on HF: Repeat "CQ" a few times, followed by "this is," then your call sign a few times, then pause to listen. The same structure as VHF simplex. 21 00:03:21.694 --> 00:03:31.231 On HF you generally call a few times more, since propagation may bring you in and out. Phonetics: 22 00:03:31.231 --> 00:03:37.204 Question. Which of the following are examples of the NATO Phonetic Alphabet? 23 00:03:38.104 --> 00:03:44.984 Answer. Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta. 24 00:03:45.584 --> 00:04:01.784 The standard set. Improvised alternatives ("Alabama, Boston") are common and worse: the NATO words were selected specifically to survive noise and accents. Logging: 25 00:04:01.784 --> 00:04:06.379 Question. Why do many amateurs keep a station log? 26 00:04:07.279 --> 00:04:13.820 Answer. To help with a reply if the FCC requests information about your station. 27 00:04:14.420 --> 00:04:32.540 The FCC has not required a log since 1983, and keeping one is still the sensible answer to a question about what you were doing on a given evening. Modern logging software makes it free. Contest identification: 28 00:04:32.540 --> 00:04:39.934 Question. Which of the following is required when participating in a contest on HF frequencies? 29 00:04:40.834 --> 00:04:47.554 Answer. Identify your station according to normal FCC regulations. 30 00:04:48.154 --> 00:04:56.514 A contest suspends nothing. Every ten minutes and at the end, as always. QRP: 31 00:04:56.514 --> 00:05:00.560 Question. What is QRP operation? 32 00:05:01.460 --> 00:05:06.060 Answer. Low-power transmit operation. 33 00:05:06.660 --> 00:05:23.540 Conventionally 5 W or less on CW and digital, 10 W on phone. It is a deliberate constraint that teaches more about antennas and propagation than any amount of power does. Signal reports: 34 00:05:23.540 --> 00:05:30.428 Question. Why are signal reports typically exchanged at the beginning of an HF contact? 35 00:05:31.328 --> 00:05:36.888 Answer. To allow each station to operate according to conditions. 36 00:05:37.488 --> 00:05:53.466 Not courtesy, information. Knowing you are a weak, fading signal at the other end tells you to keep transmissions short, repeat call signs, and skip the small talk. A strong report says the opposite. 37 00:05:53.466 --> 00:06:10.649 The report shapes the contact. Check yourself. A station is at 40 degrees short path from you. Where do you point for long path? Does the FCC require you to keep a log? Your report comes back "3 by 3, deep fading". 38 00:06:10.649 --> 00:06:13.861 How should that change what you do next? 39 00:06:19.861 --> 00:06:32.715 220 degrees, 180 degrees from the short-path heading. No, not since 1983. It remains the practical way to answer an FCC enquiry about your operation. 40 00:06:32.715 --> 00:06:44.621 Keep it short, repeat call signs, confirm the essentials, and skip anything optional. That is exactly what the exchange of reports is for.