PCARS Education

Welcome to the PCARS Education Information Website!
de Gary Liljegren, W4GAL / VK6GAL

This site provides information about our
Amateur Radio classes and testing programs.

Testing is in Melbourne, Florida, USA.

For more information and making arrangements
with either of the two PCARS testing teams
click on the following buttons:

Last Man Standing actor Tim Allen pretended to be a ham in the show. He has now passed his Technician exam, for real.

Astronaut Suni Williams talking with students at Flagler Beach, Florida from the
International Space Station via Amateur Radio. This can be done with a Technician license.

A student at the "Earth" end of the Amateur Radio contact with the International Space Station.

We have regular scheduled testing for the three levels of FCC Amateur Radio "Ham" licenses in the USA: Technician, General, and Extra Class. Most other countries world-wide have a one, two or three tier licensing system, somewhat similar to the USA. Reciprocal licensing may be available to expatriate American radio amateurs residing elsewhere, who hold a valid license issued by the FCC. In addition, for those FCC licensed hams who are short-term visitors to other countries, short-term reciprocal licensing is a possibility.

What is it that you would like to do with your ham radio license? There are a lot of avenues:

Technician (similar to the Foundation, or beginning licence) licensees may use:

1. VHF and UHF. Your Technician license allows operating on VHF frequencies from 50 MHz up through the microwave bands. You can set up and talk with hams aboard the International Space Station. You can communicate with friends locally through the repeaters or direct with your handheld radio, a mobile installation, or a base station. This operating includes working with local hams on community events like furnishing communications with the March of Dimes, or you can join others who prepare for emergencies including the local Brevard County Sheriff’s Emergency Center. You can also run slow-scan television, fast-scan (real TV) television, moon-bounce, meteor scatter, aurora contacts, etc. You can play with hidden transmitter hunting (fox-hunting), or become a weather-spotter as examples.
2. HF. You can talk on 10 meters on SSB (voice), and if the band is open, you can reach out pretty much internationally. You can talk on CW (Morse code) on 10 meters, 15, 40 and 80. Learning Morse code is not as difficult as it sounds. Morse code can be fun, but it is no longer required for any of the three ham licenses in the US today. That's not true with all countries...

Many new hams are not interested in doing more than that.

Or, you can upgrade to the next level called the General license (known in some other countries as the Standard or Intermediate licence). Then there are a lot more avenues:

1. Making SSB contacts on HF on more of the 10 meter band, and 12, 15, 17, 20, 40, 60, 80, and 160 meters.
2. Making CW or digital contacts on those bands plus 30 meters. The digital modes include PSK (which is keyboard to keyboard), JT65, JT9, FT-8, FT-4 and a variety of unusual modes.
3. Make contacts on a variety of those modes with stations all over the world. That is “DXing.” You can run 1,500 watts output, or nothing more than 1 watt output and be surprised where you can reach. When you work 100 different countries, you qualify for the DXCC award.
4. You can try different antennas… everything from stealth antennas your neighbors can’t spot, up through large tower installations. Antennas make the difference. You can have efficient antennas on your car so you can operate from the woods or beach. You can stick a series of telescoping fiberglass poles into the sand at the beach, string up an antenna and work the world. The opportunities are plentiful for joining a local club or two, meeting for breakfast or lunch or dinner with hams in the nearby area, or participate in contests… the largest of those is field-day the last full weekend in June.

The top level of license is the Extra Class license in the USA (also similar to the Advanced or Full licence in other parts of the world). Then you have all the priveleges on all the ham bands. On the lower end of the CW bands, there is extra territory. Also, on 15, 20, 40, and 75 meters, there are segments in the phone bands which are only allotted to Extra Class.

Age is not a restriction for obtaining a license. Neither is gender, race, religion, political direction, or an infirmity of any kind.

The material covered in the classes and on the exams we offer are based on FCC rules and content in the USA. In other countries, the rules and requirements are often different, but the material on electronics, operating procedures, and radio contruction is common throughout the world.

Below this paragraph, you will find a link to what we suggest in the way of materials to study for the classes and to prepare for your exams. Then, as you continue to scroll down, past the testing dates and the picture of the Zoom Technician Class, you will find several helpful links.

Zoom Technician Class - July 10, 2021

LINKS:

American Radio Relay League: ARRL

American Radio Relay League - Exam Review: ARRL Review

On-Line VE Testing: On-Line

Platinum Coast Amateur Radio Society PCARS (Melbourne, Florida): W4MLB

Vero Beach Amateur Radio Club: W4OT

Orlando Amateur Radio Club: W4PLB

The history of the car radio courtesy of Dylan and his dad: Car radio history

EXAM PREPARATION - FREE:

AA9PW Review: AA9PW.... .Practice Exam - The exam questions and the 4 answers for each.

eHam Review: eHam.... .Practice Exam - The exam questions and the 4 answers for each.

How much math is needed on the Technician exam?: Math

Test Taking Hints for Amateur Radio Exams: Hints

Diagrams for the Technician Exams: Diagrams

Memorizing Technician Frequencies: Bands

EXAM PREPARATION - NOT FREE

Ham Test On-Line: HTOL........ .An explanation of ALL the exam questions and answers.

Study Books. K4IA: The Easy Way. The question and only the right answer. Amazon has them.

ARRL Books: ARRL Store or Amazon

Then, when you have received your new license, check out our "New Ham" page HERE.

W4GAL / VK6GAL