W1ET Dartmouth Amateur Radio Association
Last Modified: July 24, 2007 by Edward Feustel N5EI
Who Are We?
The Dartmouth Amateur Radio Association provides the Dartmouth College
community with the opportunity to interact in amateur radio activities.
Our club station
is located on the third floor of the Thayer School of Engineering.
Dartmouth College is located in
Hanover, NH, USA. The club was founded in 1922 and has a rich history.
When Do We Meet?
W1ET meetings have historically been held weekly, on Fridays,
at 4:00PM in the Great Hall of the Thayer School of
Engineering, when classes are in session. However, due to low
membership, meetings have been rather scarce. We maintain a mailing list of Dartmouth area ham radio
operators and
club members through which we conduct most of our club communications.
What Do We Do?
- Fellowship among hams within the Dartmouth community - students,
faculty, staff, alumni
- Help anyone interested in earning or upgrading an amateur radio
license
- Worldwide HF (SSB, CW, AM, FM) amateur communications along with
6-meters usage
- Local VHF/UHF amateur communications through local FM repeaters
(145.33 MHz, 146.76 MHz, 146.88 MHz, 147.15 MHz, 443.50 MHz, 443.55
MHz, 444.90 MHz)
- VHF DXing
on 6m (50 MHz) and 2m (144 MHz) using a 7el and 17el M2 (SSB and
CW).
- IRLP Node #493 on 145.130 MHz (-600 kHz,
88.5 Hz PL)
- VHF FM Repeater on campus with autopatch (146.565 MHz, +1 MHz In,
447.00 MHz Link Out)
- VHF Packet Radio AX.25 network node (144.990 MHz FM 1200 Baud
Simplex)
- Maintain an internet mailing list for club information
- Participate as a club station in amateur radio contests
- Help out with communications in local events (parades, runs,
etc.)
How to Contact Us...
Send a message to the club's e-mail list: W1ET@LISTSERV.DARTMOUTH.EDU.
Amateur Radio Licenses
In order to participate in 2-way amateur radio communications, you must
take certain tests to qualify for one of five licenses (
Technician, General, and Extra; several other license classes
have been "granfathered": Novice, Technician Plus, and Advanced, but
are not available to new applicants), each of which offer
progressively larger areas of radio spectrum and operating capabilities
to the amateur. All license classes require successfully
passing certain written exams.
Technician
The privileges of a Technician Class operator license include operating
stations while transmitting on channels in any of 17 frequency bands
above 50 MHz with up to 1,500 watts of power. To pass the Technician
Class examination, at least 26 questions from a 35 question written
examination must be answered correctly. A Technician Class licensee who
also has passed a 5 words-per-minute (wpm) telegraphy examination
receives privileges in four long distance shortwave bands in the HF
range (3-30 MHz) .
General
The General Class operator license carries privileges in all 27 bands.
Upon accreditation by a Volunteer-Examiner Coordinator (VEC), an
individual can help administer certain examinations. In addition to the
above written examination, the requirement includes a 35 question
written examination for which 26 correctly answered questions is the
minimum passing score. A telegraphy examination at 5 wpm must also be
passed.
Amateur Extra
The privileges of an Amateur Extra Class operator license include
additional spectrum in the HF bands. In addition to all of the above
written examinations and telegraphy examination, the requirements
include a 50 question written examination for which 37 correctly
answered questions is the minimum passing score.
Several books and code practice cassette tapes are available to
help
prepare for the licensing exams. The two most popular are Now
You're Talking published by the
Amateur Radio Relay League, and the various preparation books sold by
Radio Shacks nationwide. In addition, there are many software packages
designed to help prepare for both the written and code tests.
Testing is currently done by Volunteer Examiners, organizations
authorized by the Federal Communications Commission to hold exams and
report the results to the FCC.
Other Amateur Radio Resources
There are numerous other resources available to the radio amateur on theWorld
Wide
Web. These are just a few of them.