HamSandwich

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E2C

OPERATING PROCEDURES

Contest and DX operating; remote operation techniques; log data format; contact confirmation; RF network systems

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E2C011 of 12

What indicator is required to be used by US-licensed operators when operating a station via remote control and the remote transmitter is located in the US?

Why FCC identification rules (97.119) require only that you transmit your assigned call sign at the required intervals; nothing in Part 97 ties the call sign to the physical location of the transmitter within the US. So a US licensee controlling a US transmitter remotely, whether from the next room or across the country, simply signs with the call sign as usual. Part 97 does permit optional self-assigned indicators, but they are never required in this situation.
Watch out The state-abbreviation, district-number and ARRL-Section suffixes all echo old or foreign practice, such as the pre-1978 US requirement to sign portable in another call district, but the FCC dropped that long ago and self-assigned indicators are now purely voluntary.
Inside the US, your call sign is your call sign: remote control needs no slash anything.
HamSandwich explanation, first draft. The question and answers are the NCVEC text.
E2C022 of 12

Which of the following file formats is used for exchanging amateur radio log data?

Why ADIF stands for Amateur Data Interchange Format, the standard text-based file format logging programs use to exchange QSO records. It lets you move contacts between logging software, upload to Logbook of the World or eQSL, and merge logs after a contest without retyping. Each record is a series of tagged fields such as <CALL>, <BAND>, <MODE> and <QSO_DATE>.
Watch out NEC is the Numerical Electromagnetics Code used for antenna modeling, ARLD is the prefix on ARRL DX news bulletins, and OCF refers to an off-center-fed dipole antenna, none of which have anything to do with log files.
ADIF = Amateur Data Interchange Format. The only choice with 'D' for Data in it.
HamSandwich explanation, first draft. The question and answers are the NCVEC text.
E2C033 of 12

From which of the following bands is amateur radio contesting generally excluded?

Why By long-standing voluntary agreement among contest sponsors and the IARU, the WARC bands added in 1979 (30, 17 and 12 meters) plus 60 meters are kept free of contest activity. The 30 meter band is especially protected because it is only 50 kHz wide, is limited to CW and data, and amateurs are secondary there to other services. Contest sponsors will not accept logs with 30 meter contacts, and the exclusion is a custom rather than an FCC rule.
Watch out 6 meters, 70 centimeters and 33 centimeters all see plenty of contest activity, including VHF/UHF contests where those bands are the whole point.
No contests on the WARC bands: 30, 17 and 12 meters. Only 30 m appears as a choice here.
HamSandwich explanation, first draft. The question and answers are the NCVEC text.
E2C044 of 12

Which of the following frequencies can be used for amateur radio mesh networks?

Why Amateur mesh networks such as AREDN are built from repurposed consumer Wi-Fi hardware, so they run on the amateur allocations that overlap the unlicensed Part 15 bands: 2.4 GHz (13 cm), 5 GHz (5 cm) and 900 MHz (33 cm). Operating as a licensed amateur on the portions of those bands allocated to the amateur service allows higher power and gain antennas than Part 15 permits, and the modified firmware keeps the channels inside the ham segments. Mesh needs wide bandwidth for routed IP data, which only the UHF and microwave bands can supply.
Watch out HF digital segments are far too narrow, just a few kilohertz, to carry the megabit-rate IP traffic a mesh node routes, and the 60-meter channels are single-signal USB or narrowband data channels shared with federal users.
Mesh = hacked Wi-Fi gear: 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, 900 MHz, the ham bands that share space with unlicensed services.
HamSandwich explanation, first draft. The question and answers are the NCVEC text.
E2C055 of 12

What is the function of a DX QSL Manager?

Why A QSL manager is a volunteer or paid helper, usually located in a country with reliable mail service, who handles the paperwork side of confirming contacts for a DX or DXpedition station. The DX operator sends the manager the log, and the manager receives incoming QSL requests and mails out the confirmation cards. This matters because many rare-entity operators have poor postal service, limited time, or thousands of contacts to confirm for awards like DXCC. Callbook and DX listings print the manager's call as 'QSL via ...' for this reason.
Watch out Running a net so many stations can work a rare DX station describes a DX net control operator, and relaying propagation and pileup information describes a pilot station, neither of which handles cards.
QSL manager = mail clerk. Think 'QSL via W1ABC' in the DX listing: cards, not frequencies or nets.
HamSandwich explanation, first draft. The question and answers are the NCVEC text.
E2C066 of 12

During a VHF/UHF contest, in which band segment would you expect to find the highest level of SSB or CW activity?

Why VHF and UHF band plans set aside the bottom of each band as the weak signal segment for CW and SSB, with FM, repeaters and digital modes higher up. Each weak signal segment has a national calling frequency, such as 50.125 MHz, 144.200 MHz and 432.100 MHz, and contest operators cluster around it, calling CQ nearby and then moving off a few kHz to complete contacts. So during a contest the densest SSB/CW activity is in that weak signal segment, spread out around the calling frequency.
Watch out The choices placing activity in the middle of the band confuse the SSB/CW calling frequencies with FM simplex use like 146.52 MHz; there is also no special contest-only segment at the top of a band.
Weak signal lives at the bottom: 50.125, 144.200, 432.100. Contesters swarm around the calling frequency.
HamSandwich explanation, first draft. The question and answers are the NCVEC text.
E2C077 of 12

What is the Cabrillo format?

Why Cabrillo is a plain-text file layout, developed by Trey Garlough (N5KO) for the ARRL, that contest sponsors use to receive electronic logs. The file starts with a header of tagged lines (callsign, contest name, category, claimed score, operator info) followed by one QSO: line per contact showing frequency, mode, date, time and the exchange sent and received. Most logging programs export it directly, and nearly every major contest sponsor requires logs in this format so their scoring software can read them.
Watch out It is easy to confuse the log file with the on-air activity: Cabrillo is not the exchange you pass during the QSO and it is not a digital transmission mode, it is just how you turn in your log after the contest is over.
Cabrillo = the log you mail in, not the words you say on air.
HamSandwich explanation, first draft. The question and answers are the NCVEC text.
E2C088 of 12

Which of the following contacts may be confirmed through the Logbook of The World (LoTW)?

Why Logbook of The World is ARRL's electronic confirmation system: both operators upload digitally signed logs, and when the QSO details match, LoTW records a confirmation. It is not restricted by the type or location of the contact, so domestic special event QSOs, US-to-DX QSOs, and QSOs needed for Worked All States all count. LoTW credits feed ARRL awards including DXCC, WAS, VUCC and the Triple Play, plus CQ awards such as WPX and WAZ.
Watch out Each individual choice is a real LoTW use, so picking just one (thinking LoTW is only for DXCC/DX contacts) misses that the system confirms any matched QSO.
LoTW confirms any matched QSO, domestic or DX, so the all-inclusive answer wins.
HamSandwich explanation, first draft. The question and answers are the NCVEC text.
E2C099 of 12

What type of equipment is commonly used to implement an amateur radio mesh network?

Why Amateur mesh networking (AREDN, formerly BBHN/HSMM-Mesh) is built by taking inexpensive commercial Wi-Fi routers and reflashing them with custom firmware. That firmware moves the radio onto channels that overlap the amateur 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands and adds self-discovering mesh routing, so nodes automatically link to each other. Because the node is then operating under Part 97 rather than Part 15, licensed operators may use higher power and high-gain directional antennas for long links, provided the station is identified.
Watch out The packet-radio style answers, a 1200-baud VHF TNC or a 9600-baud 440 MHz setup, describe classic AX.25 packet, far too slow for the high-speed data a mesh carries. EchoLink is voice-over-internet linking of stations, not a self-forming data network.
Mesh = flashed Wi-Fi router. Think AREDN: cheap router, new firmware, ham channels.
HamSandwich explanation, first draft. The question and answers are the NCVEC text.
E2C1010 of 12

Why do DX stations often transmit and receive on different frequencies?

Why Split operation solves several problems at once. Band allocations differ by country, so a DX station may be transmitting in a segment where the stations calling it are not permitted to transmit (for example a US phone segment versus the wider allocations in other countries). Splitting also moves the pileup off the DX station's transmit frequency so callers do not bury the station they are trying to hear, which keeps interference down and lets the DX operator work more stations per hour. Because each of those reasons is valid, the all-inclusive choice is correct.
Watch out Each individual statement is true on its own, so picking just one, such as reducing interference, misses the other equally correct reasons the pool lists.
Split = legal segments + clear pileup + faster rate. Three good reasons, so pick 'all of these'.
HamSandwich explanation, first draft. The question and answers are the NCVEC text.
E2C1111 of 12

How should you generally identify your station when attempting to contact a DX station during a contest or in a pileup?

Why In a pileup the DX station is working many stations quickly, so the goal is to give him everything he needs in the shortest possible transmission: your complete call sign, sent once or twice. Sending the full call lets the DX log you correctly on the first try instead of having to come back for a repeat, and it satisfies FCC identification requirements at the same time. Extra words like the DX station's call, grid square, or signal report just waste the pileup's time and slow everyone down.
Watch out Sending only the last two letters is a habit some operators picked up, but partial calls force the DX station to ask for a repeat and are not valid identification under Part 97. The long "his call three times, this is, my call three times" format is old ragchew or net practice and is far too slow for contest or DX work.
In a pileup: your full call, once or twice, nothing else. Short and complete beats long or partial.
HamSandwich explanation, first draft. The question and answers are the NCVEC text.
E2C1212 of 12

What indicates the delay between a control operator action and the corresponding change in the transmitted signal?

Why In remote station operation, commands and audio travel over a network, and the round-trip time between the control operator pressing a key or turning a knob and the transmitted signal actually changing is called latency. It comes from network transport delay plus buffering and digital audio encoding/decoding in the remote control link. High latency makes fast-paced work like contest pileups or full break-in CW awkward because your action lags behind what you hear.
Watch out Jitter is the variation in that delay from packet to packet, not the delay itself; hang time is how long a VOX or repeater circuit stays keyed after audio stops, and anti-VOX keeps received audio from tripping the VOX.
Latency = lag, the average delay. Jitter = how much that lag wobbles.
HamSandwich explanation, first draft. The question and answers are the NCVEC text.
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