I bit the bullet and went along to my local amateur radio club a few Fridays ago, and I'm now three weeks into the foundation course along with another student.
The formulae are making my head spin but I'm enjoying it. The best bits are the half hour sked that takes place with an old member in the club's permanent shack halfway through the session, and the hour or so where I get to operate under supervision afterwards. Two contacts in Portugal, two in Italy and just before the rig was switched off, one in Newfoundland last Friday night...
I really want to do the intermediate soon, because although QRP sounds interesting I'd like to have a reliable 50w behind my signal ASAP!
Wish me luck!
Pete (London)
Halfway Through...
- mattltm
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Re: Halfway Through...
Good luck Pete!
73 & 88
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26TM1979
AOR3000A
Yupiterus (a lot!!)
VX-7R
Lowe HF 150 & 225
TS850 SAT
A longwire & GR5V
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Re: Halfway Through...
Hope you do OK.
Those formulas?
The only ones you MAY need to be aware of are the V/I = R and the P/I = V, where:
V = volts
I = current
R = resistance
P = power (watts)
Study the 'formula triangles' and try to remember the sequnce of letters.
I tell my students to recall the first three letters of VIRUS and PIVOT and place those in the appropriate triangle depending on what you are trying to calculate - see a Foundation booklet for more on this.
None of the questions will be difficult - the last one I saw simply asked which formula would be used, no calculations required, the answer being in the formula triangle.
If you do get a maths question, it is unlikely to be any more difficult than this:
12 volts across 6 ohms, what is the current?
For this you use the VIR triangle.
You want to know the 'I' (current) so by covering the wanted symbol with your finger, leaves the V on the top and the R under the divide line.
This means V divided by R, or 12 divided by 6.
If you can divide 12 by 6 you can answer any questions on this as they won't be any more difficult. Be aware that finding some values my require finding the answer first using the VIR triangle and then applying it to the PIV triangle - a two step calculation - but I've never seen that crop up in a question.
Good luck.
Those formulas?
The only ones you MAY need to be aware of are the V/I = R and the P/I = V, where:
V = volts
I = current
R = resistance
P = power (watts)
Study the 'formula triangles' and try to remember the sequnce of letters.
I tell my students to recall the first three letters of VIRUS and PIVOT and place those in the appropriate triangle depending on what you are trying to calculate - see a Foundation booklet for more on this.
None of the questions will be difficult - the last one I saw simply asked which formula would be used, no calculations required, the answer being in the formula triangle.
If you do get a maths question, it is unlikely to be any more difficult than this:
12 volts across 6 ohms, what is the current?
For this you use the VIR triangle.
You want to know the 'I' (current) so by covering the wanted symbol with your finger, leaves the V on the top and the R under the divide line.
This means V divided by R, or 12 divided by 6.
If you can divide 12 by 6 you can answer any questions on this as they won't be any more difficult. Be aware that finding some values my require finding the answer first using the VIR triangle and then applying it to the PIV triangle - a two step calculation - but I've never seen that crop up in a question.
Good luck.
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Re: Halfway Through...
Thanks for the tips! I've got my head down studying as often as I can - I know that you can pass by learning the 'answers' by rote, but I want to understand the scientific principles involved etc. I guess the exam will be in about a month's time, at which point I'll have to start thinking about the Intermediate...