Amateur radio station

An amateur radio station is a facility equipped for radiocommunications in the amateur radio service. Any station on the air must identify itself with a call sign issued by the authorized regulatory authority of the country in which the station is located. Radio amateurs build and operate several types of amateur radio station, including fixed ground stations (located in a building), mobile stations (in a vehicle), space stations (aboard orbiting satellites), and temporary field stations.

A slang term for the location of radio equipment is the "shack," named after the small enclosures added to the upperworks of ships to hold the first radio equipment and their batteries.^{[citation needed]}

Contents 1 Stations and call signs 2 Fixed stations 3 Mobile stations 4 Portable stations 5 Space stations 6 Handheld stations 7 Repeater stations 8 External links

Stations and call signs

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In the early history of amateur radio, a call sign was issued to a station, and not the operator or owner of the equipment. A licensee was granted an operator license and a station license separately. The station license specified the address at which a station could be built with that call sign. If an amateur radio operator moved to a new address, or wished to build a station in more than one location, a new call sign was needed for each location. When radio amateurs began installing transceivers in automobiles, the use of call signs to designate potentially more than one collection of equipment suitable for radiocommunications became common. The trend continued with the operation of portable stations, popularized by Field Day events.

Today, most regulatory agencies worldwide issue call signs to the operator licensee, and not to the station. An amateur radio station may be operated under the call sign of the owner of the station or the call sign of the operator of the station. In some countries, special call signs might be made available for clubs, and are frequently used at a club station established for use of the club's members. Depending on the country, the call sign of the club may be specified exclusively for use at that particular station, or may be available for use in any club activity.

Fixed stations

An amateur radio station established in a permanent structure with equipment that is not intended for portable operation is referred to as a fixed station. This is the most common form of amateur radio station, and can be found in homes, schools, and some public buildings. A typical fixed station is equipped with a transceiver and one or more antennas. For voice communications, the station will be equipped with a microphone; for communications using the Morse code, a telegraph key is common; and for communications over digital modes such as RTTY and PSK31, a station will be equipped with a specialized interface to connect the transceiver to a computer sound card. While not a requirement for radiocommunications, most fixed amateur radio stations are equipped with one or more computers, which serve tasks ranging from logging of contacts with other stations to various levels of station hardware control. Fixed stations might also be equipped with amplifiers, antenna rotators, SWR meters, and other station accessories.

Fixed stations are generally powered from the AC mains electrical supply available in the building. Some equipment in fixed stations may run off low voltage DC instead of AC, and require a separate power supply. Some fixed stations are equipped with auxiliary sources of power, such as electrical generators or batteries for use in emergencies.

Mobile stations

An amateur radio station installed in a vehicle is referred to as a mobile station. A typical mobile station is equipped with a transceiver, one or more antennas, and a microphone. The transceiver may be specially designed for installation in vehicles. It may be much smaller than transceivers designed for fixed station use, to facilitate installation under a seat or in a trunk, and it may feature a detachable control head that can be mounted in a separate location from the rest of the radio. Antennas designed for mobile stations must accommodate the unique physical constraints of the vehicle and travel lanes which it occupies, allowing for clearance under overpasses and bridges, and safe passage by vehicles in adjacent lanes. Most antennas used in mobile stations are omnidirectional. Few mobile stations are equipped to communicate with Morse code or digital modes. Most mobile stations are designed to be operated by the vehicle operator while driving.

Most transceivers installed in vehicles are designed to run on 12-16 VDC, and are generally powered by the starting battery in the vehicle. Because of the power demands placed on the vehicle battery, most mobile stations either do not include external amplifiers or include amplifiers with power outputs that are more modest than those commonly found in fixed stations.

A specialized form of mobile station used for competition in a VHF amateur radio contest in North America is called a rover station. A rover station is often designed to be operated by a passenger in the vehicle rather than the driver, and may include multiple transceivers, transverters, directional antennas, and a laptop computer to log contacts made.

While it may not be a regulatory requirement, many mobile stations will append a /M to end of their call sign (pronounced as "slash mobile" on phone) while operating to identify themselves to other stations as a mobile station. Rover station operating in a VHF contest will append a /R to the end of their call sign (pronounced "slash rover").

Maritime mobile stations are mobile stations installed in a watercraft, usually an ocean-going vessel. When in international waters, these stations are operated under the regulatory authority of the flag under which the vessel is registered. In addition to the regulatory requirements of amateur radio, operation of maritime mobile stations also requires the permission of the captain of the vessel. Maritime mobile stations append a /MM to end of their call sign (pronounced as "slash maritime mobile").

Aeronautical mobile stations are mobile stations installed in an aircraft. In addition to the regulatory requirements of amateur radio, operation of aeronautical mobile stations also requires the permission of the pilot of the aircraft. Aeronautical mobile stations append a /AM to end of their call sign (pronounced as "slash aeronautical mobile").

Portable stations

An amateur radio station set up in a temporary location is referred to as a portable station. A portable stations might be established to provide emergency communications in a disaster area, to provide public service communications during a large organized event such as a charity bicycle ride, to provide communications during an expedition, or for the recreational enjoyment of operating outdoors. Portable stations include the same basic equipment as fixed and mobile stations, although transportation of the transceiver, antennas, power supplies or batteries and necessary accessories often influences the particular selection. Equipment that does not weigh very much, or that can be broken down for shipment or transportation in luggage is especially popular with amateur radio operators travelling on DX-peditions.

Most portable stations rely upon generator or battery power. Because this form of power might be of limited supply, portable stations often operate at lower transmitter power output to conserve energy.

Some portable stations append a /P to end of their call sign (pronounced as "slash portable") to indicate their status as a portable operation. In some countries, this is a regulatory requirement, whereas in others it is done at the option of the operator.

Space stations

An amateur radio station that is located in a satellite, the Space Shuttle, or on the International Space Station is referred to as a space station. Some countries, including the United States, have additional or different regulations regarding the operation of space stations than other amateur radio stations. Most space stations are located on satellites that orbit the earth. These stations are frequently either transponders or repeaters that operate under automatic control and can be used by ground stations (any station that is not a space station) to relay their signal to other ground stations.

Handheld stations

Handheld radios contain all the necessary equipment for radiocommunications with another station. A typical radio used as a handheld station integrates a transceiver with an antenna and a battery in one handheld package. Most handheld transceivers used in amateur radio are designed for operation on the VHF or UHF amateur radio bands and most often are capable of only FM voice communications transmissions. To conserve battery power, they have limited transmitter power, often below 1W, to cover a local range of typically a few km or miles.

Repeater stations

An amateur radio repeater is a specialty amateur radio station that extends the range of communications for other stations. A repeater uses a receiver tuned to one radio frequency and a transmitter tuned to another radio frequency. Other stations using a repeater station transmit on one frequency but listen for signals on the other frequency. If a repeater station is in a favorable location, such as on a tall tower, the top of a tall building, or on a mountaintop, stations that otherwise would not be able to communicate with each other can each use the repeater and establish two-way communications.

Repeater stations generally operate under automatic control. The control equipment is responsible for transmitting the repeater station's call sign at regular intervals. This identification is often done in Morse code. Some US repeater stations append a /R to end of their call sign or not (used to be required in the 80s and early 90s but no longer). Some may still have a vanity "WR#xxx" repeater license where #=0 thru 9 and xxx is any 3 letter combo but these callsigns are going away when they expire.

External links

• K3LR, a large fixed station in the United States.
• JA3CZY, a fixed station in Japan.
• VP8THU, a portable station on Southern Thule.
• K2UA/R, a rover station in the United States.
• MM0WST, a fixed station in Scotland.
• IZ4HYZ, station radioamateur in Italy.
• K1KAA, multioperator fixed station in the United States
• IZ0KEM, site qrz station radioamateur

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