Recently, I was talking with a new ham about a problem he was experiencing when trying to “tune up” his transmitter. While operating SSB (single-sideband) on 10 meters, he pressed the Push-To-Talk (PTT) button on his microphone but no RF power came out of the transmitter. He was confused and started to think that his transmitter wasn’t working properly. What’s going on with SSB transmit power? Modulation To understand what is going on, we need to look at the various types of modulation we use with ham radio. The figure below shows the RF output for Morse Code (Continuous Wave or CW), Amplitude Modulation (AM) and Frequency Modulation (FM). The Morse Code (CW) case is the simplest as we are just turning the transmitter carrier on and off as we press the key. The AM waveform is more complex because the RF carrier is modulated by the microphone audio. On the peaks of the audio, the amplitude of the RF carrier also peaks. SSB is a particular variation of AM, but with a critical difference. Conventional AM has a carrier that is always present and the voice modulation causes that carrier to increase and decrease instantaneously. SSB is a form of AM that has the carrier suppressed. This is one of the reasons that SSB is more efficient than AM— no power is “wasted” in the carrier. This also means that when there is no audio from the microphone, there is no RF output from the transmitter. This is what our new ham experienced: press the PTT button and nothing comes out…until he speaks into the microphone. With FM, the modulation is applied to the frequency of the carrier and the amplitude remains constant. Press the PTT button on an FM transmitter and you will get a nice steady RF output. Speaking into the microphone causes the frequency of the carrier to change but the amplitude remains constant. This is probably the behavior our new ham was expecting: push the button and transmit a carrier. Tuning Up There are many reasons we might want to key up our transmitter. To use an SWR meter to check our antenna system, we usually need to have a steady carrier coming out of our transmitter. If we are using an antenna tuner, we normally need a carrier to drive the antenna system while adjusting the tuner settings. Older radios (or amplifiers) may have vacuum tubes in the output and a matching network that needs to be tuned up, requiring some power transmission to affect the tuning process. Or maybe we just want to key up the transmitter to see how much RF output power we are putting out. Whatever the purpose, it is handy to have a way of quickly transmitting a steady RF carrier. So how do we do this? Well, it depends. It depends on the specific design of your transmitter and how your ham shack is configured. If your rig has an internal antenna tuner, it probably has a “tune” button to activate the transmitter and adjust the tuner, as shown in the image here. Often, these tune buttons automatically reduce the transmit power to minimize interference on the bands, but outputs a carrier as required for the tuning operation. (You should always try to “tune up” on an unused frequency.) If you have a Morse Code key connected to the radio, you can just flip to CW mode and operate the key to produce a steady carrier. Some transmitters allow you to use the microphone PTT to key the transmitter in CW mode. Just flip to CW mode and press the PTT button. If your station is set up for RTTY or other digital modes, you can probably use those modes to transmit a steady carrier. Another option is to use AM or FM to output a constant carrier. (Be careful to not have any audio coming into the microphone, else you won’t have a steady carrier on AM or you may inadvertently transmit FM in a band where it is not allowed.) You’ll need to fiddle with your radio and maybe even read the manual to figure out what works best with your rig. -- Bob KØNR

A previous Technician question pool item inquired about using a multimode transceiver for weak-signal communications on the VHF bands, such as 6-meters, 2-meters, and 1.25-meters, highlighting a significant operational option that is often overlooked by Technician licensees: Q. Which of the following devices is most useful for VHF weak-signal communication? A. A quarter-wave vertical antenna B. A multi-mode VHF transceiver C. An omni-directional antenna D. A mobile VHF FM transceiver Option B, a multi-mode VHF transceiver, was the correct response. But, VHF weak-signal communication? What’s that mean, exactly? Usually this phrase refers to long distance communications, beyond the local area, and sometimes via ionospheric skip propagation, using the VHF bands of 6-meters or possibly 2-meters. Let’s consider how this is different from the more well-known local simplex and repeater operations. Local communications by simplex and repeaters is most commonly conducted with FM mode, and the majority of these communications tend to be phone or digital. FM is terrific for clear, locally propagating signals, but when you want to get your VHF signals out to greater distances the best bet is to use modes other than FM. Why? First, FM tends to degrade rapidly with weakening signal strength as compared to other modes such as single sideband (SSB). That is, when an FM signal becomes weak with distance the audio quality craps out rather suddenly. A single sideband signal will become noisier with severe signal weakening but the audio will remain present and readable more so than with FM. SSB tends to provide significantly better long distance performance. Secondly, the bandwidth of an FM signal will range from 5 to 15 kHz or greater, whereas the SSB bandwidth is about 3 kHz or less. For the same transmitting power the SSB signal will have a higher average amplitude across the transmit band since the power is distributed over a narrower range of frequencies. Thus, FM has an inherent average signal power disadvantage that contributes to its range limitations. As compared to the very narrow bandwidth of CW (~150 Hz), FM is far more disadvantaged. The power advantage of SSB, CW, and many digital modes over FM makes these other modes more attractive for long distance propagation, especially when ionospheric skip propagation is feasible such as 6-meter sporadic E operations. With skip propagation not only does the extreme distance reduce received signal strength, but the polarization of the signal will no longer be unchanging or known as with vertically polarized local FM ops. The shifting or scrambled polarization further reduces signal strength at the receiving station. As such, it is advantageous to operate on modes other than FM when weak signal VHF communication is desired or required. Clearly, a common VHF FM transceiver cannot accomplish this. A multi-mode transceiver is most useful. Many transceivers on the market offer 6-meter band multi-mode capability, and a narrower set provide multi-mode ops up to the 2-meter and even UHF 70-centimeter bands. This latter category of transceivers is particularly useful for VHF contesting in which weak signal, long distance contacts using SSB, CW, or digital modes are highly coveted on all the bands above 50 MHz. When operating SSB on the VHF or UHF bands, the signal polarization convention is horizontal polarization. Since these signals usually will not be transiting the ionosphere and getting their polarization twisted, matching polarization between stations results in the highest signal strength. Note the horizontal Yagi antenna being employed by KØNR in the photo above. So, don't overlook the opportunity to use SSB and CW on the VHF bands, especially in contesting or for reaching out greater distances. You can work these modes with the Technician privilege bands and get an entirely different experience than with FM. Give it a try! -- Stu WØSTU

The technician question pool (2018-2022) item T3B11 asks: What is the approximate velocity of a radio wave as it travels through free space? A. 3000 kilometers per second B. 300,000,000 meters per second C. 300,000 miles per hour D. 186,000 miles per hour Radio waves are electromagnetic waves. Like the visible light waves that we perceive with our eyes, like the invisible ultraviolet rays that may burn and damage our skin, and like the X-rays used to image our innards, radio waves have electric field and magnetic field components that move through free space very rapidly. All electromagnetic waves travel through free space at identical velocity. Just exactly what velocity is the subject of this Technician question. A common phrase for the velocity in question is “the speed of light,” even though it applies to all frequencies of electromagnetic waves including those categories mentioned above. The term velocity simply means speed in a particular direction, and it applies well since electromagnetic waves tend to travel in straight line directions barring the effects of the environment such as the atmosphere or ionosphere, sharp edges, metal and other objects. Free space, in this case, means the vacuum of outer space or our earth’s atmosphere at normal pressures. Electromagnetic waves may also travel through some materials that are not free space. For instance, you can transmit and receive radio waves from inside your home since the radio waves easily transit some of the materials from which your home is constructed. Light waves obviously travel through glass, else windows would be somewhat less alluring. X-rays clearly travel through your body tissues readily to expose a sensitive film, else your doctor would be more confounded by your ailment. However, when electromagnetic waves travel through materials other than free space the velocity is somewhat reduced. Light waves slow down a bit when going through window glass or a camera’s lens. Similarly, radio waves change speed and slow down somewhat when transiting different kinds of materials. The difference in velocity between vacuum and air is very tiny, to the point of being insignificant. Hence, free space is air or vacuum. The velocity of EM waves is approximately 186,000 miles per second, not miles per hour as the distracter option D proposes. This equates to roughly 300,000 kilometers per second, but do not be fooled by option B’s miles per hour unit attached to that numerical value. Option A is getting closer, but 3000 kilometers per second converts to 3 million meters per second, since a kilometer is 1000 meters. That’s only 1/100 of the correct answer. Electromagnetic waves travel 300 million meters per second, or 300,000,000 meters per second. It is the only response option with the unit meters per second. The answer to Technician question T3B11, “What is the approximate velocity of a radio wave as it travels through free space?” is B: 300,000,000 meters per second. -- Stu WØSTU

First comes the furrowed brows. Then perhaps a frown or two. At last, a hesitant hand goes up. “I don’t get this whole mode thing.” “Yea, me either,” follows a comforted chorus, each student relieved that it’s not just them having a little trouble. It never seems to fail to confound the beginner studying for the Technician Class license – modes. In the Technician Class that I teach regularly along with several other experienced hams it is always the subject of many questions and the source of puzzled expressions. Couple an introductory discussion of modes with frequency bands or signal bandwidth topics and you’ll mostly get slowly shaking heads. So, let’s carefully dissect this matter of modes, disentangle the terms and the implications, and provide a few solid examples that we can all latch onto. Then we’ll sprinkle in the relationships with frequency and bandwidth. Afterwards you’ll be ready to answer those puzzled looks emanating from your fellow newbies! What’s a Mode? The term “mode” really has two meanings in ham radio. The two different meanings are often scrambled together in conversation, and the definitions do overlap somewhat. It boils down to whether you are referring to a type of general radio operation or to a specific type of signal modulation, as follows: Operating Mode – An operating mode is a description of what you, the operator, are doing to send and receive signals. For example, the term “phone” refers to using your voice on the radio. Hence, you will hear hams referring to “phone mode” or “the phone modes,” meaning an operation in which the operator is speaking into a microphone and pumping voice signal out over the airwaves. Other general operating modes include the digital modes and video modes. In digital modes you are using a computer (or other electronic device) to send encoded signals, and in video modes you transmit and receive specially formatted video stream signals. Key concept here: An operating mode may be carried out with one or more individual modulation modes. Modulation Mode – A modulation mode refers to the specific method by which information is encoded into the radio emissions. For example, a transceiver may affect frequency modulation (FM), amplitude modulation (AM), or single sideband modulation (SSB) to encode your voice into the radio transmission. Each of these three modulation modes (FM, AM, SSB) may be used with the phone operating mode. Another example: PSK31, Packet Radio, Radio Teletype (RTTY), and Multiple Frequency Shift Keying (MFSK) are specific modulation modes that can each be implemented with, or characterized as, a digital operating mode. Usually continuous wave (CW) is lumped into the digital modulation mode category as well, even though it is unique as a manually implemented operating mode using a key to tap out Morse Code signals. The table above is a somewhat simplified view of operating modes and the affiliated modulation modes. But sometimes things get scrambled together a little more. For instance, there are digital phone modes. That is, your voice is converted into digital signals to be transmitted by a digital modulation method over the air. The ICOM D-STAR mode and DMR (Digital Mobile Radio) are two examples of digital phone. Computer software is available that will encode and decode CW for you, allowing you to use a computer keyboard and monitor to send and receive Morse Code by CW modulation mode. This may be characterized as a blend of a digital operating mode with CW modulation mode. What’s Modulation? The operating mode concept is pretty easy to grasp – you are typically speaking into a microphone, tapping out some code, or keying a computer. But modulation modes are a little more ethereal to us since it involves manipulation of invisible and strangely behaving radio frequency waves of electromagnetic radiation. So, let’s get a refresher on the different types of modulation mentioned in the preceding discussion. Amplitude Modulation encodes a signal into the RF waveforms by changing the amplitude (power) of the RF waveforms, as depicted in the figure to the right. The top waveform in blue is an input audio signal, perhaps generated with your microphone. In the transmitter’s modulation circuits the relatively low frequency (long wavelength) audio signal is imposed on the much higher frequency (shorter wavelength) radio waveforms. The radio frequency (black waveform) amplitude is conformed to the varying amplitude of the audio signal. The RF signal is transmitted with variable amplitude, as in the bottom figure, with the audio signal waveform shape riding along in the amplitude variations. The receiving station demodulates the RF waveform, reproducing the lower frequency audio signal from it to drive a speaker. This is the modulation mode AM. The modulation mode Single Sideband (SSB) is a specialized, highly efficient form of AM, but the basic concept of amplitude modulation is the same with SSB. Frequency Modulation encodes the audio signal by deviating the frequency of the RF rather than the amplitude. The next figure compares AM modulation with FM modulation for the same audio input signal. Notice how the FM amplitude is unvarying, but the frequency increases and decreases with the input audio amplitude. This is the modulation mode FM, used by your HT and most repeater systems to encode your voice and transmit it over the air. Continuous Wave (CW) encodes signals simply by turning the transmission on or off in patterns of Morse Code. With CW there is no manipulation of the waveform amplitude or frequency – the wave is continuous, only interrupted by the operator in patterns to encode characters. Each ‘dit’ and ‘dah’ of Morse code is produced by a brief transmission of unvarying RF emission, with about a 3:1 ratio of the emission duration, ‘dah’ to ‘dit.’ Digital Modes use several unique modulation methods, from shifting the phase of an RF waveform between two or more relative states, to transmitting two or more different tones in on-off sequences for encoding characters, to other schemes. Each specific digital modulation mode has unique characteristics, performance, and operating mode activities. You can learn more about the specifics of digital modulation modes in the HamRadioSchool.com Technician License Course book and from the ARRL. How Do Frequency Bands and Bandwidth Relate? First, let’s quickly refresh the beginner on just what constitutes a band and bandwidth. A band is a contiguous range of frequencies used by radio operators to send and receive signals. The FCC Amateur Radio Band Plan defines the specific bands of frequencies available to hams. Frequency bands are designated by their associated approximate wavelength. So for instance, the band from 50.0 to 54.0 MHz is called the “6-meter band” (6m) because the wavelengths in that frequency range are all about 6 meters long. And further, the width of those bands in units of hertz (Hz) or megahertz (MHz) is its bandwidth. So, the 6m band has a bandwidth of 4 MHz: 54.0 MHz – 50.0 MHz = 4.0 MHz. The same concept of bandwidth applies to a narrower radio transmission. A small band of frequencies is used by a transceiver to send and receive any radio message, typically from a few hundred hertz to several thousands of hertz. The bandwidth needed for a transmission depends on the modulation used. It is important for the new ham to understand that any operational mode and any modulation mode is technically usable on any of the amateur frequency bands. So, it is feasible to operate phone mode FM on the 70 cm band, on the 2m band, on the 6m band, and lower frequency bands. It is feasible and quite popular to use SSB on any of those same bands. It is also feasible to use CW or digital modulation modes across those same frequency bands. Modes and bands are completely distinct concepts! Any mode may be coupled with any band… strictly technically speaking. However, a prominence of some modes over others has evolved across the bands for very practical reasons, not the least of which is the consideration of bandwidths required by the different modes. As such, some bands tend to be mentally associated with particular modes more than others. This is why the confusion between modes and bands tends to crop up with the beginner ham, along with the fact that an operational mode, a modulation mode, a particular frequency band, and a bandwidth comment may all be squished together in a single statement by the typical gray beard elmer! Here is how some of the frequency bands and modes tend to shake out together, keeping in mind this is a grand generalization and that many modes are used across all the amateur frequency bands. For practical reasons of spectrum use the FCC restricts FM to the 10m and higher bands only [10m, 6m, 2m, 1.25m, 70cm, and shorter wavelength bands]. Frequency modulated phone tends to use up a broad, continuous swipe of the spectrum (large bandwidth), and it is not practical with the limited spectrum allocations of the lower HF bands [12m, 15m, 17m, 20m, 30m, 40m, 60m, 80m, 160m bands]. But phone mode using SSB is very popular on the lower HF bands, as it uses much less bandwidth than FM and there is enough room to accommodate many operators across the FCC’s band allocations. Additionally, SSB is significantly more power efficient for long distance, weak signal propagation conducted on the HF bands. For these reasons, SSB modulation mode is most associated with the HF bands for phone. FM is most associated with the VHF and UHF bands for phone operations and repeaters since local operations are not ‘weak signal’ situations and more bandwidth is available in the VHF and UHF bands for the wider bandwidth FM signals. But, SSB modulation is also used in the VHF and UHF bands for phone operations, especially for contesting on the 6-meter, 2-meter, 1.25-meter, and 70-centimeter bands. The CW mode is usually associated with the HF bands more than the VHF or UHF bands. The HF bands promote long distance contacts (DX) around the world with low power, so CW is very popular on the HF bands. However, many operators also use CW on 6m and higher VHF/UHF bands, especially during contests and special event station operation. Digital modes of various types are used extensively on HF to UHF, and beyond. The digital modes used predominantly on the HF bands tend to be narrow bandwidth methods such as PSK31, RTTY, MFSK, and various JT-modes (JT-65, FT-8, others). The chart below is a summary by KØNR of the most common modes on each of the amateur bands. Note, this chart is not all inclusive but only points out the most popular mode-band parings. Does this statement make sense to you now? “I really like SSB phone on 6m, or CW on 10m, but there lot’s more traffic on 2m FM, so I hang out on the repeaters more than anything.” Notice how the modulation modes and operational modes are mixed together or simply implied by the band-modulation combination (as in 2m FM). But now you can keep it all straight no matter how tangled up the terms! I hope this helps you to avoid the furrowed brow, the frown, and most confusion over the loads of modes, and the frequency bands, and the bandwidth considerations that tend to impact their combinations. It’s not nearly as confusing as it first sounds when listening to experienced hams jawing about their various operations. Good luck with your studies! 73 ~ Stu WØSTU

We’ve made it quick and convenient for you to manage your blog from anywhere. In this blog post we’ll share the ways you can post to your Wix Blog. Blogging from Your Wix Blog Dashboard On the dashboard, you have everything you need to manage your blog in one place. You can create new posts, set categories and more. To head to your Dashboard, open the Wix Editor and click on Blog > Posts. Blogging from Your Published Site Did you know that you can blog right from your published website? After you publish your site, go to your website’s URL and login with your Wix account. There you can write and edit posts, manage comments, pin posts and more! Just click on the 3 dot icon ( ⠇) to see all the things you can do. #bloggingtips #WixBlog

When it comes to design, the Wix blog has everything you need to create beautiful posts that will grab your reader's attention. Check out our essential design features. Choose from 8 stunning layouts Your Wix Blog comes with 8 beautiful layouts. From your blog's settings, choose the layout that’s right for you. For example, a tiled layout is popular for helping visitors discover more posts that interest them. Or, choose a classic single column layout that lets readers scroll down and see your post topics one by one. Every layout comes with the latest social features built in. Readers can easily share posts on social networks like Facebook and Twitter and view how many people have liked a post, made comments and more. Add media to your posts When creating your posts you can: Upload images or GIFs Embed videos and music Create galleries to showcase a media collection Customize the look of your media by making it widescreen or small and easily align media inside your posts. Hashtag your posts Love to #hashtag? Good news! You can add tags (#vacation #dream #summer) throughout your posts to reach more people. Why hashtag? People can use your hashtags to search through content on your blog and find the content that matters to them. So go ahead and #hashtag away!

With Wix Blog, you’re not only sharing your voice with the world, you can also grow an active online community. That’s why the Wix blog comes with a built-in members area - so that readers can easily sign easily up to become members of your blog. What can members do? Members can follow each other, write and reply to comments and receive blog notifications. Each member gets their own personal profile page that they can customize. Tip: You can make any member of your blog a writer so they can write posts for your blog. Adding multiple writers is a great way to grow your content and keep it fresh and diversified. Here’s how to do it: Head to your Member’s Page Search for the member you want to make a writer Click on the member’s profile Click the 3 dot icon ( ⠇) on the Follow button Select Set as Writer