Operating

In this section

• Bands and band plans What each amateur band is good for, and where to operate in it.
• Operating etiquette The unwritten rules — and the handful of written ones — that keep bands usable.
• The WARC bands 30, 17 and 12 meters — contest-free HF spectrum for relaxed operating, DX and QRP.
• HF operating Making contacts on the shortwave bands.
• VHF and UHF operating Local work, simplex, and weak-signal beyond the repeaters.
• Repeaters How they extend your range, and how to use one properly.
• Nets Scheduled on-air meetings, and the easiest place to start talking.
• Digital modes Sending data over the air, from FT8 to packet.
• QRP — low power operating Five watts, and why it works better than the arithmetic suggests.
• CW and Morse code No longer required, still the most efficient mode there is.
• Images and television SSTV, fast-scan amateur television, and pictures from the ISS.
• Satellites and the ISS Working orbiting repeaters with modest equipment.
• Weak signal, scatter and moonbounce Meteor scatter, EME, tropo ducting and QRSS — VHF and up, beyond line of sight.
• Contesting Competitive operating, and why it is worth trying once.
• Grid squares and UTC Maidenhead locators and why every log is kept in Zulu time.
• Logging and QSLs Keeping a log, confirming contacts, and the systems that count them.
• DX and awards Chasing distance, and the certificates that record it.
• Parks, summits and portable operating POTA, SOTA and taking the station outdoors.
• Software Logging, digital modes, programming and propagation tools, by task and by platform.