FRRL Education
The FRRL is committed to promoting the growth of amateur radio and providing educational opportunities for acquiring and upgrading one's ham ticket. If you are interested in a ham radio class, please contact Eric KB9IDT at Education "AT" FRRL.org for information and scheduling. Below you will find resources you can use to achieve your amateur license, or upgrade to General. Please check back here often for special announcements.
Extra Class Upgrade Seminars Offered
I hope you're ready for some serious studying!The location has been confirmed. The seminars will be held at:
St. Paul Lutheran Church
85 S. Constitution Dr.
Aurora, IL 60506
(41°45'45.51" N, 88°22'14.22" W)
** Room 101 (signs will be posted) **
If you need help with directions, let me know. If you can find your way to the corner of Orchard Rd and West Galena Blvd, go east on Galena to Constitution, turn right (south), go past the gas station and the old Cub Foods entrance, and you will see the church entrance on your right.
The seminars will be from 9:00am until noon on June 7, 14, 21, and 28.
Hopefully you all have your copy of the ARRL Extra Class License Manual, 8th edition, by now. We will refer to it during the training.
Please bring a notebook and pens/pencils for taking notes or for practice. You may also want to bring a basic scientific calculator with trigonometric and logarithmic functions (but no memories) for practice, especially if you intend to use one when you take your exam.
Again, if for some reason you are no longer interested or no longer need training, or if I've reached you by mistake, please let me know and I can take you off this list.
To the Elmers on the list: Thank you for volunteering to help!
If you have any questions, let me know.
Thanks and 73,
Eric KB9IDT
education "AT" frrl.org
Special Announcements
On Sat., Jan 12th, Mike, K9FE continued the popular Ham Radio Digital Workshop series from 9:00-12:00 at the Oswego High School. This session focused on building interfaces to let participants join in on the digital fun! Read more, here.
On Sat., Oct. 13th, Mike, K9FE presented a Ham Radio Digital Workshop, highlighting HF Digital Modes. This free clinic was well attended, as FRRL members packed the room to see a theory presentation and live demo of a working digital station. FRRL members received an introduction to digital communication modes, commonly referred to as "sound card" modes (PSK31 and other modes). Several software packages were introduced. This well-organised "how to" seminar was designed for the beginner to intermediate user. Computer-to-rig interfaces were also discussed. Both commercially available units as well as homebuilt interfaces were used.
General Upgrade Classes Completed
The FRRL has concluded its General Upgrade class for 2007. The class was held on five Saturdays in April and May. Our regular attendance this time was five, with one or two walk-ins from time to time.
On May 19, at the conclusion of the class, we held a VE testing session, so that everyone in the class would have an opportunity to take the exam before the question pool changes in July. I am pleased and excited to announce the following successful upgrades to General class on May 19:
Catherine KC9KJU
Norm KC9CKZ
Pat N9TBD
Lloyd KC9DMS (walk-in)
Congratulations, new Generals! (You know, it's not too late to get started on that HF Challenge now...)
I would really like to thank those who attended any of the classes as Elmers and helped out in any way, including Bart, KC9FQA, Denny, W9HI, Greg, N9CHA, and Kermit, W9XA. (If I missed anyone, I apologize!)
Special thanks to Doug, W9RD, and Alan, W9AN, for stopping by on short notice on a beautiful Saturday afternoon during "Dayton weekend" to help administer the VE session at the end of the class. I really appreciated your willingness to serve, and I know those who took the exam did, too!
For those who did not get an opportunity to attend this time, we will be holding another General upgrade class next spring, featuring the new question pool effective July 1, 2007. Also, stay tuned for information about our Technician class this fall - a perfect opportunity to invite someone you know to join the hobby!
73,
Eric KB9IDT
FRRL Education
Week |
Modules Covering |
1 |
G1 Commission’s Rules (2.5MB) |
2 |
G3 Radio-Wave Propagation (16.5MB) G4 Amateur Radio Practices (2.5MB) |
3 |
G5 Electrical Principles (1.2MB) |
4 |
G7 Practical Circuits (760KB) G8 Signals and Emissions (1.6MB) |
5 |
G9 Antennas and Feedlines (996K) GØ RF Safety (2.0MB) |
Technician Class License
Week |
Modules Covering |
1 |
T1 Welcome to Amateur Radio (0.8MB) |
2 |
T2 Radio and Electronic Fundamentals (6.2MB) |
3 |
T4 Communicating with Other Hams (3.1MB) |
4 |
T6 Operating Regulations (1.3Mb) T7 Radio Safety (0.7MB) |
Elmer List
Do you have questions about some facet of our wonderfully diverse hobby? Please consider contacting an "Elmer" from our club volunteer list. And if you'd be willing to share your expertise with the club, contact our Elmer coordinator, Mike, K9FBI to have your name added to the Elmer list.
What about the Morse Code?
Please note that the Morse Code is no longer required for an Amatuer Radio license. However, a lot of stations still use this popular mode of communication. In order to practice receiving Morse code at 5 wpm, you can listen to the audio practice files, below. Right click on the file and choose "save target as" to download to your computer. The files are available as mp3 or Windows Media Audio.
| Week 1 | A E I 1 ? | mp3 | wma |
| Week 2 | B K U 2 . | mp3 | wma |
| Week 3 | C N O 3 7 | mp3 | wma |
| Week 4 | D L Q 4 8 | mp3 | wma |
| Week 5 | F W 5 9 , | mp3 | wma |
| Week 6 | G J S Y 6 | mp3 | wma |
| Week 7 | H T V Z Ø | mp3 | wma |
| Week 8 | M P R X / | mp3 | wma |
| Week 9 | DE BT AR K KN SK Exam | mp3 | wma |
Additionally, here's a link to K7QO's website which has a code course which can be downloaded (344MB), if you have a fast Internet connection, such as cable or DSL. There's also an article about sending with an iambic keyer, here.