Welcome to Zulu Time!

Hello everyone,

Welcome to Zulu Time, a blog I've created to detail my experiences and travels in the wonderful world of amateur radio.

I've been a licensed amateur radio operator since April 2007. The Radio Amateurs of Canada study course was quite effective in teaching me what I needed to pass the Industry Canada amateur radio operator licencing exam. Many people do the study course on their own and then write the exam - either under the supervision of a volunteer examiner approved by Industry Canada, or at an Industry Canada office.

In my case, I spent approximately ten weekends taking the course through a local amateur radio club. The instructors were all very knowledgeable and helpful.

Industry Canada is the federal government agency responsible for managing and allocating radio frequency spectrum and telecommunications in general. Its closest counterpart is the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States.

The minimum mark needed to pass the Basic exam is 70% - and gets you VHF/UHF operating privileges. Get 80% (Basic with Honours) or better, and you get HF (High Frequency) privileges as well. If you want to build, repair or modify commercially or non-commercially made ham radio equipment, you need to take the Advanced course.

The requirement for Morse Code to get a Basic licence was dropped several years ago, in an effort to entice more people to become amateur radio operators.

The study course may have prepared me to get into amateur radio at the entry level. What it didn't prepare me for was the almost millions of things you can do in amateur radio.