An period as a listener is likely to teach you more about operating practices and procedures than any amount of tuition ever will. That said, there is bad practice to be heard as well as the good, so some tuition is important in order that we recognise the difference. A shortwave receiver is useful in this respect, since it will allow you to listen to the HF bands and get used to tuning in to SSB stations quickly. You will also learn which bands are open at which times of day, and get some idea of what to expect when you yourself take to the air. A scanner or similar receiver will allow you to listen to the VHF and UHF bands. It is possible that a member of your local radio club may be able to lend you a receiver, or you could attend and spend time listening to the club station being operated. You may even like to consider building your own basic receiver. There are some simple receiver projects that are easy, even for a complete novice, to build featured elsewhere in this site.
It may sound like stating the obvious, but before any transmission we should listen a while to see if the frequency is being used. We should listen for a sufficient time to be reasonably sure that the frequency is free before transmitting. It may be that two stations are working on the frequency but only one of them is within our range and able to be received by us. The one transmitting may be too far away for us to hear. We must make sure we allow sufficient time for his "over" to finish before deciding that the frequency is indeed clear for us to use.
The phonetic alphabet given in Appendix S14 of the Radio Regulations and referenced in note (s) of BR68F should be used whenever it is necessary to spell out a word or callsign. It is most commonly used to spell out callsigns to check that they have been noted down correctly. You are advised to stick to this version of the phonetic alphabet only as it is universally understood.
| A | ALPHA | J | JULIET | S | SIERRA |
| B | BRAVO | K | KILO | T | TANGO |
| C | CHARLIE | L | LIMA | U | UNIFORM |
| D | DELTA | M | MIKE | V | VICTOR |
| E | ECHO | N | NOVEMBER | W | WHISKY |
| F | FOXTROT | O | OSCAR | X | X-RAY |
| G | GOLH | P | PAPA | Y | YANKEE |
| H | HOTEL | Q | QUEBEC | Z | ZULU |
| I | INDIA | R | ROMEO |
Signal reports are usually given as a two or three digit number based on the RST code shown in the table below. For telephone (voice) only the readability and signal are reported. Signal strength is taken from the radio's S-meter. Some stations have a habit of sending 5 9 reports regardless of what is actually received. This is of no use to the other station at all. Always give an accurate report.
|
Readability |
Signal Strength |
Tone |
|||
| R1 | Unreadable | S1 | Faint signals | T1 | Extremely rough |
| R2 | S2 | T2 | |||
| R3 | Readable with difficulty | S3 | Weak signals | T3 | Rough |
| R4 | S4 | T4 | |||
| R5 | Perfectly readable | S5 | Fairly good signals | T5 | Modulated (warble) |
| S6 | T6 | ||||
| S7 | Moderately strong signals | T7 | Slight ripple | ||
| S8 | T8 | ||||
| S9 | Extremely strong signals | T9 | Pure note | ||
The form of any initial calls will depend on our chosen operating frequency and mode. On VHF and UHF there are defined calling channels, set frequencies where initial calls should be made, however this is not the case on HF, where choice of frequency should be made with reference to the band plan for the frequency band being worked.
The form the contact takes will also depend on frequency and mode. For the assessment we will deal with voice contacts only.