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Amateur Radio No-Code Technician License Examination Study Guide and Workbook
Amateur Radio
No-Code Technician
License Examination
Study Guide and
Workbook
For tests given after July 1, 2003


Everything you need to know to pass the FCC test!


Compliments of:

Our Amateur Radio Club
Club City, State
WWW.OURCLUB.ORG

and

Bruce Spratling W8BBS
www.w8bbs.com


NOT FOR SALE

© 2003 Bruce Spratling W8BBS

Introduction

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The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) makes and enforces the rules for amateur radio (the amateur service) in the
United States. Two reasons for amateur radio in the US are to increase the number of trained radio operators and electronics
experts, and improve international goodwill. The FCC must grant you an amateur operator/primary station license before you can
operate an amateur station in the US (or wherever the FCC is in charge). The FCC may inspect your station at any time.

The amateur operator licenses are: Technician, Technician with Morse code, General, and Amateur Extra.

A Volunteer Examiner (VE) is an accredited amateur who volunteers to administer amateur license exams.
There are 4 examination elements.
For a Technician amateur license, you must pass a single 35 question multiple-choice written exam, Element 2.

THE ANSWER TO EVERY QUESTION ON THE ELEMENT 2 EXAM IS IN THIS DOCUMENT!
SIX YEAR OLD CHILDREN HAVE PASSED THIS TEST, AND YOU CAN TOO!

Anyone except a representative of a foreign government can become an amateur licensee in the US, and there are no age limits.
The questions on the Element 2 exam are taken from a pool of 510 questions. A score of 26 is passing.

Included in this study guide are 2 pages of graphics. These graphics are used in some of the questions. In this study guide I ask
you to write things on your copy of the graphics. This will help you remember, and you can study it later. Unless you enjoy long
division, you should have a calculator handy while studying. Youre allowed to use a calculator while taking the exam.

After you pass element 2, you may transmit as soon as the FCC grants you a license and the data appears in the FCC's ULS
database (available on-line). Licenses are good for 10 years. You may renew your license no more than 90 days before it expires.
If your license expires, you may NOT continue to transmit, however youll have a 2 year grace period in which to renew. A
Technician class license is the only FCC certification required for amateur radio operators to build or modify their own transmitting
equipment. FCC Part 97 contains a detailed list of your operating privileges.

To upgrade your license from Technician to Technician with Morse code, youll need to pass the 5 word-per-minute Morse code
exam, element 1. A deaf person can take this test using a flashing light or vibrating surface. When you pass the element 1 exam
youll receive a Certificate of Successful Completion of Examination proving that you passed, and that you are authorized to use
certain amateur frequencies. This credit can be used for license upgrade purposes for 365 days.

The Table of Contents tells you how much time you should need for each section, and the questions from the question pool that
are covered. Youll pass the exam if you learn enough to answer half the questions, and eliminate half the choices on the other
questions.

If one of the choices on a question is All of these, that will be the correct answer 62% of the time.
The technical material is covered in the first half of this study guide. The second half is easier, so dont get discouraged!

Some of the topics in this study guide have been over-simplified to make it easy for you to pass the test.
Please send comments to: W8BBS@YAHOO.COM.

Table of Contents

- 3 -

Section:


Time:

Questions from the question pool answered:
Introduction
Pg 2
5 minutes
(24 questions)
T1A01-03 T1C01-06 T1C08 T1C11 T1D01-10 T4B09 T5A04 T8F14
Table of Contents Pg
3

Basic electronics
Pg 4
10 minutes
(59 questions)
Electricity
T7A01-08
T7C01-03
T8F01-02
T8F04-06
T8F19-21
Multimeters
T8F03
T8F07-08
Ohms Law



T7A12-15
Capacitors
T7A10-11
T7C04-07
T0A11
Metric system prefixes & decibels

T7A16-17 T7A20-21
Fuses T0A02-03
T0A10
T0A12-13
Other components



T7A09 T7A11 T7B10-11 T7C08-19 T8F18

Radio waves

Pg 5
20 minutes
(86 questions)
Frequency / Wavelength
T2A01 T2A03-04 T2A06-12 T2A14-16 T7A18-19 T7B05-09 T0C01
Modulation, bandwidth, and emission types
T2A13 T2B08 T2B10-11 T2B13 T2B15 T2B19 T3B10 T6B01-04
T7B01-04 T8A13 T8B02 T8C09 T9B11 T9B15
Operating privileges
T1B01-07 T1B10-11 T1B15 T2B01-02 T2B05-07 T2B12 T2B14 T6B06
Propagation
T3A05 T3A07-08 T3A10-11 T3B01-05 T3B09 T3B13
Ionosphere




T3A01-04 T3A06 T3A09 T3A12 T3B06-08 T3B11-12 T6A12 T9B05

Amateur Radio Equipment Pg 7
25 minutes
(99 questions)
Transceivers
T2B04 T2B18 T6C11 T8A01-02 T8A04-10 T8A12 T8B01 T8B03-06
T8B08-13 T8C01-08 T8C11-15 T8F09 T8F16-17 T0C05
Antennas
T4A07-09 T8A14 T8D01-02 T8D07-20 T8E14 T9B06
Feed lines and SWR meters
T8A11 T8B07 T8B14-18 T8D22 T8E01-13
RF
wattmeters

T5B05
T8F10-13
Calculating antenna length


T8D03-06 T8D21
Harmonics and filters



T2A02 T2A05 T6C02 T6C08 T8C10

Operating Practice
Pg 9
30 minutes
(167 questions)
Call
Signs
T1E01-12

Station identification



T1A12 T1E06 T5B01-04 T5B08 T5C01 T5C09 T6A01-02
Control Operator, Control Point


T1C07 T4B01-06 T4B08 T4B10 T4B12-13 T5A01-03 T5A05-08
Third-party messages


T4B07 T5A09 T5C03-07
Repeaters
T1A16 T2B09 T5A10 T5C12 T6A04 T9A01-20 T9B13-14 T9B16
T9B19-21
Other types of stations
T1A08-09 T2B03 T5B10 T5C02 T6B05 T8A03 T9B01-04 T9B07-10
T9B12 T9B17-18
FCC Rules
T1A04-07 T1A10-11 T1A13-15 T1B08-09 T1B12-14 T1C09-10
T4A01-06 T4A10 T5B07 T5B11-12 T5C08 T5C10-11 T6A03 T6C09-10
Procedural signals, Q signals, and Signal Reports
T2B16 T6A05-11 T6A13 T6B07-12
Emergencies
T4C01-14
T5B09
Television interference


T4B11 T6C01 T6C03-07 T6C12

Safety

Pg 13 30 minutes
(75 questions)
Tower
Safety

T0B03-10
T8F15
Electric Shock / Lightning


T0A01 T0A04-09 T0B01-02
Radiation Safety
T0C02-04 T0C06-13 T0C16-19 T0D02 T0D08-14 T0E02-09 T0E11
T0F11
Routine station evaluation


T0D04-05 T0D07 T0E01 T0F01-10 T0F12-15
More radiation safety



T0C14-15 T0D01 T0D03 T0D06 T0E10

Practice exams 1-6
Pg 15
15 minutes each
Basic Electronics

- 4 -
Electricity
A current is a flow of electrons in an electric circuit. Currents flow through electrical conductors such as gold, silver, and aluminum.
The basic unit of electric current is the ampere. Current is measured using an ammeter.
A direct current (DC) is a current that flows in one direction only.
An alternating current (AC) flows back and forth, first in one direction, then in the opposite direction.
To have a current, there must be an electromotive force to move the electrons.
The basic unit of electromotive force, or electric potential, is the volt (V). Voltage is measured with a voltmeter.
An automobile battery supplies about 12 volts.

Resistance limits the current that flows through a circuit for a particular applied DC Voltage. The basic unit of resistance is the ohm,
measured with an ohmmeter. A resistor is an electronic component that has a specific resistance. If two resistors are connected
in series, their total resistance is the sum of the two resistor values. The watt is the basic unit of electrical power.

Figure T8-9: Meter B is an ammeter. Label it current. Its connected in series with the circuit (so all the current flows through it).
Meter A is a voltmeter. Label it voltage. Its connected in parallel with the circuit under test, which means some of
the current goes through it, but not all.
Write Power = R x B squared. The power in a circuit is equal to the resistance times the current squared.

A Multimeter is a meter that combines an ohmmeter, an ammeter, and a voltmeter. Its used to measure voltage, current and
resistance. Measuring voltage when using the ohms setting might damage a multimeter that uses a moving-needle meter. When
you switch a voltmeter from a lower to a higher voltage range, inside the voltmeter resistance is added in series with the meter.

Ohm's Law is a formula that shows how voltage, current and resistance are related in an electric circuit.

Volts = Amperes X Ohms

To answer the Ohms Law problems, just try all the answers in the formula until you find the one that works.

A Capacitor is two sets of conducting plates facing each other separated by an insulator (a non-conducting material). In a variable
capacitor, the plates can be moved, changing the surface area where the plates face each other. A capacitor blocks the flow of
direct current while allowing alternating current to pass. A capacitor stores electrostatic voltage (and keeps t