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46 FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | MARCH 2021 COMMUNICATION CHOICES ON HAM RADIO There are three ways that members of the Four Seasons Amateur Radio Club may choose to operate. It depends on how far the transmission needs need to go. Simplex operation is normally person to person. This can go from two to maybe five miles. Repeater operations utilize radios located on mountain tops that receive on one frequency and transmit out on another frequency. Signals from Keller Peak just above Running Springs may be heard as far away as Catalina Island or the San Diego area. These signals are being transmitted distances of up to one hundred miles or more depending upon weather conditions. Classic hams use HF or high frequency. Their goal is to make contacts worldwide so their stations will feature high antenna towers and powerful radios. These frequencies can transmit signals up to a thousand miles away by directing their signals up into the atmosphere. During sun spot activity ducting may occur. A ham's signal could be projected a distance of up to a world away. The signal could travel from Beaumont to Patagonia, Argentina. There are three ways that hams communicate. Single Side Band or SSB is voice communication. CW utilizes a series of dots and dashes called Morse Code to send messages. Contemporary digital communications are done with a computer and software called JT8. Digital communications have become very popular with hams trying to make lots of contacts. A contact was made when the stations exchanged their call signs, location, and grid square. This could be quite a lengthy process if the station had a weak signal. Digital software programs like JT8 have made this process obsolete. The information that took minutes to obtain could now be recorded almost instantly using a digital program. I was told that your success operating digitally hinged on the fact that the transmission had to be done with a certain rhythm. The Four Seasons Amateur Radio Club meets on the last Friday of the month at 10 am in the RCN Conference Room. Currently we are meeting on Zoom. Our next meeting is Friday, March 26 at 10 am on Zoom. ~ Jim Peterson, jim.k6jwp@gmail.com Radio Club