Ham Radio VE exams will be given at FCW at 12 noon on Saturday, November 22. Anyone interested in obtaining or upgrading an Amateur Radio (Ham) license is welcome to attend. Study materials may be found at http://www.qrz.com/ht/
This event is open to anyone wishing to obtain or upgrade an Amateur Radio license. The fee is $10 per attempt and a photo ID is required.
FCW will be conducting an entry level (Technician) Ham Radio workshop on three consecutive Fridays, July 18, July 25, and August 1 from 6-8PM. Topics include regulations, station setup, station operation, radio principles, antennas, and basic electronics, to prepare for the VE exams. Study materials and example tests can be found at http://www.qrz.com/ under the “resources” tab. This workshop is open to anyone interested in obtaining an Amateur (Ham) radio license, free of charge. Note that the Technician level question pool changed July 1. The topics and material are unchanged but questions have been changed.
On Friday, August 8 from 6-8PM there will be a question and answer session for anyone wishing to obtain or upgrade an Amateur Radio license.
Also, the VE exams for Ham Radio will be given at FCW on Saturday, August 9 at noon. All levels will be available and the exams are open to the public. A photo ID is required. Current exam fee is $10.
FCW has several classes/workshops scheduled for the next few weeks. Unless otherwise specified, all classes/workshops are free and open to the public.
Friday, February 21 5-9PM – Intro. To Electricity: Fundamental Concepts
Summary: Intended for beginners, this session introduces fundamental concepts of electricity and electronics. Included topics: voltage, current, resistance, and power; units; measuring; sources and loads; DC and AC; Series and parallel; Ground; and schematic symbols.
Pre-req material: basic math
Instructor(s): Dave Propst
Duration: 4hrs
Saturday, March 1, 12 noon – 3PM, Introduction To Blender 3D
Summary: This is an introduction to Blender 3D, an open source 3D modeling package. Topics include: 3D visualization; Views; Menus and keyboard shortcuts; 3D primatives; Modeling and object creation and editing; Boolean operations; Materials and Textures; Overview of advanced features.
Students need to furnish their own laptop computers with Blender 3D loaded (http://www.blender.org/download/) and an external mouse. Blender is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux.
Pre-req material: None
Instructor(s): Dave Propst
Duration: 3 hrs
Fridays, March 7,14,21 6-8PM, Ham Radio: Technician License Prep
Summary: These sessions provide the material to take the Ham Radio entry level (Technician) license exams. Topics include Rules and Regulations; Station Setup; Basic Electronics; Operation; Radio theory; and safety.
Pre-req material: None
Instructor(s): Michelle Suddreth
Duration: 3 sessions, 2 hrs each
Saturday, March 15, 12 noon-3PM, Intro. To Electricity: Component Identification
Summary: This session includes the construction, purpose, identification, and testing of basic circuit components including: resistors, inductors, capacitors, transformers, switches, lamps/leds, batteries and connectors.
Pre-req material: Fundamental Concepts
Instructor(s): Dave Propst
Duration: 3hrs
Saturday, March 22, 12 noon – 2PM, Ham Radio VE exams
These are the exams to obtain or upgrade an Amateur Radio (Ham) license. These are given by WCARS VEC and the cost is $10 per attempt. All levels will be available and you do not have to have taken FCW’s prep class prior to taking the exams. Study materials for all levels may be found at http://qrz.com/hamtest/
FCW will be conducting an entry level (Technician) Ham Radio workshop on two consecutive Saturdays, July 20,27 from noon until 2PM. Study materials and example tests can be found at http://www.qrz.com/ under the “resources” tab. This workshop is open to anyone interested in obtaining an Amateur (Ham) radio license.
Also, the VE exams for Ham Radio will be given at FCW on Saturday, August 3 at noon. All levels will be available and the exams are open to the public. A photo ID is required.
FCW now has seven members who are also hams. The station K4FCW is available to members at any time using the permissions of their license. In addition, group contests and events are conducted often to help familiarize members and guests with operating procedures.
On June 22-23, FCW via the Ham Station K4FCW participated in the ARRL Field Day. Field Day is the premier Ham Radio event of the year with two main purposes — test equipment and antennas that may be needed in an emergency situation; and promote Amateur Radio. This is the second field day for FCW and things were smoother this year, though there were still some glitches. The goal was to contact as many stations as possible during the 24 hours. The station worked many of the states, along with Canada and Spain. We were able to demonstrate Ham radio and spark interest in a non-ham who may be taking our Technician license class later in July. As usual from such events, we learned much and should be able to do better next year.