Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc,rec.radio.info Path: news.cs.tut.fi!news.funet.fi!sunic!news.luth.se!eru.mt.luth.se!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!gatech!howland.reston.ans.net!agate!nntp-ucb.barrnet.net!nntp-hub.barrnet.net!nntp-sc.barrnet.net!news.fujitsu.com!amdahl.com!amdahl.uts.amdahl.com!netnews From: ikluft@oes.amdahl.com (Ian Kluft) Subject: How to find the answers to frequently-asked questions about Ham Radio Message-ID: Followup-To: rec.radio.amateur.misc X-Disclaimer: Any opinions expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of Amdahl Corporation. Keywords: FAQ RADIO AMATEUR HAM Sender: netnews@uts.amdahl.com (Usenet Administration) Supersedes: X-Posting-Frequency: posted every 14th and 28th of the month Each FAQ posting automatically obsoletes and expires the previous one The FAQ itself is posted every 7th and 21st of the month Reply-To: hamradio-faq@oes.amdahl.com (Ham Radio FAQ Coordinators) Organization: Amdahl Corporation - Open Enterprise Systems Division Date: Tue, 14 Feb 1995 10:48:17 GMT Approved: rec-radio-info@ve6mgs.ampr.ab.ca Expires: Mon, 6 Mar 1995 07:48:14 GMT Lines: 287 Xref: news.cs.tut.fi rec.radio.amateur.misc:67855 rec.radio.info:7732 Posted-By: auto-faq 3.1.1.4 Archive-name: ham-faq-ptr How to find the Rec.radio.amateur.misc Frequently Asked Questions list ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This article will tell you how to find the answers to frequently-asked Questions (FAQ) from rec.radio.amateur.misc. The FAQ articles are posted on the 7th and 21st of each month. This article is posted on the 14th and 28th of every month as a reminder of where to find the FAQ. The FAQ articles are intended to summarize some common questions on the rec.radio.amateur.misc newsgroup and Info-Hams mail list as well as to help beginners get started. Besides the monthly posting, the FAQ is always available via anonymous FTP and from e-mail servers. This article contains instructions for obtaining a copy of the FAQ. It also contains the table of contents from the FAQ so that you know which questions are covered by it. Please provide a copy of the FAQ to any new or soon-to-be Hams you know. Regular FAQ postings can help save network bandwidth and maintain a good signal-to-noise ratio in the newsgroup. However, they can't do it alone - you, the reader, have to use them. If you are a new user, please print and review the FAQ articles and look at the instructions in the news.newusers newsgroup before posting any articles. If you are an experienced user, please help by refraining from answering frequently-asked questions on the newsgroup if they are already answered by the FAQ articles. Instead, send e-mail to the user who asked the question. (It will be helpful if you include the part of the FAQ that answers their question, but not the whole thing.) --How to obtain a current copy of the FAQ------------------------------------- There are 7 ways to obtain a copy of the FAQ. 1) World-Wide Web (WWW) and Mosaic 2) NetNews 3) Anonymous FTP 4) An Electronic Mail Server 5) Mail List Subscription 6) Gopher 7) Wide Area Information Server (WAIS) Option #1: World-Wide Web (WWW) and Mosaic ------------------------------------------ The World-Wide Web (WWW) has experienced explosive growth in usage in 1993 and 1994. WWW clients like Lynx (in ASCII text) or Mosaic (X/Mac/Windows) can display the FAQ from many different sources. Each source is named by a URL (uniform resource locator.) If you are one of the growing numbers of people with Internet access, Option #1 is your choice. The following URL can be used to find the FAQ: http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/radio/ham-radio/faq/top.html Other services listed later in this article are also accessible with WWW at the following URLs: news:rec.radio.info file://ftp.amdahl.com/pub/radio/amateur file://ftp.cs.buffalo.edu/pub/ham-radio file://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/radio/ham-radio/faq file://grivel.une.edu.au/pub/ham-radio/buffalo/ham-radio file://nic.funet.fi/pub/ham/info gopher://cc1.kuleuven.ac.be/ gopher://jupiter.sun.csd.unb.ca/ gopher://gopher.univ-lyon1.fr/ gopher://ftp.win.tue.nl/ gopher://gopher.win.tue.nl/ wais://rtfm.mit.edu/usenet For more information on WWW, see the comp.infosystems.www newsgroup. Also, the help options on your WWW client should be able to point you to lots of information all over the world. Option #2: NetNews ------------------ If you are familiar enough with NetNews to look through previous articles on your system, Option #2 above may be the easiest for you. The FAQ is posted so that it should not expire from your site's news spool until the next one is posted. Unfortunately, some news administrators do not honor the expiration dates meant to preserve the FAQ. Look in rec.radio.amateur.misc, rec.radio.info, rec.answers, or news.answers. If the FAQ has expired at your site, try Option #3 (and ask your news administrator to honor expiration dates for articles cross-posted to news.answers if he/she can.) Option #3: Anonymous FTP ------------------------ Anonymous FTP uses the File Transfer Protocol. It is only available to sites which are directly connected to the Internet. If you don't know how to use FTP and can't find a friend to help you, continue to Option #4. If your site is not connected to the Internet, you should also continue to Option #4. The following sites have copies of the FAQ: site name & address path to FAQ articles ------------------- -------------------- ftp.amdahl.com pub/radio/amateur/faq.[1-3].Z located in western USA, FAQ updated daily ftp.cs.buffalo.edu pub/ham-radio/faq_ham_[1-3] located in eastern USA, FAQ updated monthly rtfm.mit.edu pub/usenet/news.answers/radio/ham-radio/faq/part* located in eastern USA, FAQ updated monthly contains news.answers archive - most UseNet FAQs are here grivel.une.edu.au pub/ham-radio/buffalo/ham-radio/faq_ham_[1-3] located in Australia, FAQ updated monthly (Ham files mirrored from buffalo/funet/ucsd daily) nic.funet.fi pub/ham/info/faq_ham_[1-3] located in Finland, FAQ updated monthly Remember, when connecting to the remote system, use the login name of "anonymous" and, as a courtesy to the site administrators, your e-mail address for the password. Option #4: Electronic Mail Server --------------------------------- If you can't use Options 1 or 2, your only remaining option is electronic mail. You can retreive a copy of the FAQ by sending a message to mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu The body of your mail will contain a command for the mail server software. To get all of the FAQ (consisting of 70K of e-mail in 3 parts), place the following in the first line of your message: send usenet/news.answers/radio/ham-radio/faq/* Leave out the subject of your message because the mail server will ignore it. --- begin sample mail message --- To: mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu From: me@here.org Date: Mon Aug 14 22:27:33 PDT 1995 send usenet/news.answers/radio/ham-radio/faq/* --- end sample mail message --- Option #5: Mail List Subscription --------------------------------- If you prefer, you may get the FAQ and other periodic Ham Radio information as it gets posted. All the information posted to rec.radio.info can be obtained through the UCSD list server via the "radio-info" mail list. To subscribe, send an e-mail to listserv@ucsd.edu Similar to the e-mail server listed above, just send a single-line message subscribe radio-info If you need more information, the listserv program also accepts a "help" command. Just keep it on a separate line in the message. Option #6: Gopher ----------------- You can access gopher servers on TCP port 70 (gopher protocol) at the following locations which carry the Ham Radio FAQ: cc1.kuleuven.ac.be jupiter.sun.csd.unb.ca gopher.univ-lyon1.fr ftp.win.tue.nl gopher.win.tue.nl For more information on gopher, see the comp.infosystems.gopher newsgroup. Option #7: Wide Area Information Server (WAIS) ---------------------------------------------- In addition to the other services mentioned above, rtfm.mit.edu offers a WAIS server on TCP port 210. Use the "usenet" database to access the FAQ. For more information on WAIS, see the comp.infosystems.wais newsgroup. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Table of Contents ----------------- Dates indicate last modification. Part 1 - Introduction to the FAQ and Amateur Radio ** Table of Contents (10/94) ** Introduction to the FAQ (11/92) * How to Contribute to the FAQ Articles (6/93) * Please Send Questions to the Newsgroups, Not the Editors (9/94) * Call for FAQ Editors (8/94) * Acknowledgements (6/93) * Notes on "Netiquette" (1/93) ** What is Amateur Radio? (11/92) ** Who can become a ham? (6/93) ** Where can I locate information and books on Amateur Radio? (9/93) ** How much does it cost? (9/92) ** Where can I take the tests? (9/93) ** What are the tests like? (6/93) ** What can I do with a ham radio license? (5/92) ** What can't I do with an Amateur Radio license? (pre-4/92) ** I'm interested, who will help me? (11/92) ** Should I build my own equipment or antenna? (11/92) Part 2 - Amateur Radio Organizations, Services, and Information Sources ** Where can I find Ham Radio information with a computer? (8/94) * Mosaic, World-Wide Web, Gopher, and WAIS (8/94) * The rec.radio.* newsgroups (2/94) * The ARRL e-mail server (1/93) * The KA6ETB e-mail "HAM-server" (10/94) * The Internet File Transfer Protocol (FTP) (2/94) * Access to FTP archives via electronic mail (1/93) * The Ham-Radio mail list: rec.radio.amateur.misc by mail (9/93) * Telephone BBS's with Ham-related information (9/93) * Callsign servers and geographical name servers (1/94) * FTP access to FCC Part 97 and FCC Amateur Radio question pools (1/94) * Lists of radio modifications and extensions (2/94) ** Can I send ARRL or W5YI electronic mail? (11/92) ** "Why doesn't the ARRL do...?" (11/92) ** What magazines are available for Ham Radio? (pre-4/92) ** How do I use the incoming and outgoing QSL bureau? (11/92) ** Are there any news groups for CAP? (11/92) ** What's the name of the QRP club that issues QRP numbers? (9/93) ** How do I become a 10-10 member? (9/93) ** How do I join MARS? (9/93) ** How do I join RACES? (pre-4/92) ** What organizations are available to help handicapped hams? (pre-4/92) ** I am looking for a specific ham, can anyone help me find him? (6/93) ** Can I post my neat new ham related program on rec.radio.amateur.misc? (pre-4/92) ** Where can I get ham radio software for my computer? (9/93) ** Are there Dialup News services or BBSs for Amateur Radio? (4/92) ** Where can I find VE sessions in my local area? (9/93) ** Why isn't XXX available electronically? (1/94) ** I'd like to volunteer to help ham radio through electronic information services like those mentioned in this FAQ list. Where should I start? (2/94) Part 3 - Amateur Radio Advanced and Technical Questions ** What are the different US amateur classes and what can each of them do? (pre-4/92) ** What is the best way to learn Morse Code? (10/92) ** What is the standard for measuring Morse code speed? (pre-4/92) ** What is the standard phonetic alphabet? (10/94) ** I'm confused. What do all those abbreviations mean??? (6/93) ** What do all those "tones" mean? (pre-4/92) ** Where can I learn more about Amateur Radio if I live outside the US? (9/93) ** How can I get a "reciprocal license" if I am a licensed ham from another country or if I am a FCC licensed ham who wants to operate in another country (on vacation)? (9/93) ** My apartment or housing complex does not allow outdoor antennas, now what do I do? (9/93) ** I got TVI...HELP!!! (9/93) ** On what frequencies do JPL and GSFC retransmit the shuttle audio? (10/92) ** Can I take my HT on an airplane and operate it if I get the permission of the captain? (4/92) ** How do I modify my current Amateur license? (9/93) ** I'm confused about XXX, should I ask the FCC? (9/93) ** Is there any information on antique radios? (pre-4/92) ** Where can I buy vacuum tubes? (9/93) ** What do I need to get started in packet radio? (9/93) ** What do I need to get started in satellite communications? (9/93) ** What is available to get started in ATV, SSTV and WEFAX? (9/93) ** What are these contests I sometimes hear, and how do I participate? (9/93) --Asking Questions------------------------------------------------------------ If you have questions about Amateur Radio (a.k.a. Ham Radio), please read the FAQ. If your question is not answered there, check if you have any other sources (i.e. Mosaic/WWW) before proceeding. If you still don't have an answer, post your question to the most appropriate rec.radio.amateur.* newsgroup. And be sure to mention where you have already looked for the answer so people won't mistakenly tell you to try them again. Thank you for doing your part to conserve network bandwidth! --Submitting changes for the FAQ---------------------------------------------- If you have comments or updates for the FAQ, send e-mail to hamradio-faq@amdahl.com This will send mail to all the people on the FAQ editorial review group. --Call for FAQ Editors-------------------------------------------------------- As with any volunteer effort, new volunteers are often needed. We need a new editor to post the Ham Radio FAQ. Preferably this should be someone who has enthusiasm for Ham Radio, experience with UseNet, and the ability to work with the other editors. No single person can know all the various aspects of this diverse hobby so the editorial review group is intended to make a greater combination of experience. The FAQ is currently posted with the AUTO-FAQ software, which is written in PERL. So it would be a plus for volunteers to post the FAQ to have PERL installed on their system and be able to use "cron" or "at" so that postings can go unattended. Anyone who wants to make their contribution to the Net as a volunteer should contact hamradio-faq@amdahl.com.