Instructor's Guide
I’m a firm believer in having materials that people can take home and study. Unfortunately Industry Canada did not lay out their Basic Question Bank (RIC-7) in a sequence that is fully appropriate for steps in learning. For instance parts of section 3 are relatively advanced and should follow section 4 which should follow section 5. In other words, these three sections are in inverse order. The way they should probably be taught is section: 1, 2, 5, 4, 3, 6, 7, 8 or something close to that.
Provide good training material in class and be ready to take questions
If you have access to a large screen TV or a digital multimedia projector then there is an additional very powerful tool provided by the Ontario EMO ARES amateur radio group. They have created a sequence of Power Point presentations for each of the Basic Question Bank modules. If you have a lap top computer and the display systems I mentioned you can put on a really good presentation without doing a lot of work. It’s hard to beat. Just bring up the web site at: Basic Amateur Radio Course on Line
You’ll find a lot of information there and can download whatever modules you need. You will need MS Power Point to make it work. I don’t know if it would work with the free software found in Open Office – Presenter. Generally the Open Office software accepts MS files but no guarantees.
If you don't have Power Point then you can go to the LDSRADIO.CA "TRAINING" page and down load almost the same files from this web site in PDF format. The difference being that PDF files can be viewed with the Adobe Acrobat Reader available from the Adobe WEB site at:
Provide self testing software so students can determine readiness for exam day
Both Industry Canada and RAC provide self testing software. If the student wants to have HF priviledges then he/she must attain an 80% or better mark. A 70 – 79% will get the student on the air only on frequencies above 30 MHz.Less than 70% earns a fail. That is just fine if all they need is to work on 2m, 70 cm, and 6m, frequencies which are most often used by Municipal EOC's and other volunteer aid organizations making use of ham radio operators. Rarely are they equipped with HF gear.
- http://www.rac.ca/en/amateur-radio/beginner-info/exhaminer/
- http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/smt-gst.nsf/eng/h_sf05378.html
The Final Test
The students must be tested by an Industry Canada accredited examiner. See the "Training" section for information on a list of people who are examiners. There is no charge by Industry Canada for the "initial licensing and first call sign." If you are a member of a club with a member who is a qualified examiner then there should be no examination fee. Often clubs charge a small fee to people who are not club members.
Fees:
A fee is not required for the issuance of an Amateur Radio Operator Certificate
A fee of $60.00 is required for the issuance of an Amateur Radio Operator Certificate in accordance with the following:
- to change an existing call sign (including changing to a two letter call sign);
- to issue a call sign to the station of a club or other organization;
- to issue an amateur radio operator an additional station call sign; and
- to issue a special event or special prefix station call sign.
Morse
If you also want to teach Morse Code there are resource links in the training section of this web site. NuMorse Pro is my favorite. It’s a commercial project produced in the UK and costs around $40 which is a bargain for software: NuMorse Pro
My second most favorite piece of Morse Code training software is for free and it’s very well written: G4FON
Morse code testing is done at a 5 word per minute rate which is e-x-t-r-e-m-e-l-y slow. If you nod off in the middle of the test no one could blame you. Many recommend studying at a much higher rate of as much as 20 word per minute and most examiners are happy to test at that rate. The reason for considering studying at a higher rate is simple – if you study at a very low rate it’s almost like you need to learn all over again when coming up to speed to actually communicate with others and not be embarrassed. The Morse Code software will allow you to train yourself at higher rates.
An accredited examiner is required to test you.
Candidates for the Morse code (5 wpm) qualifications of the Amateur Radio Operator Certificate are required to:
- correctly send, by hand, a plain-language text, in international Morse code, for a minimum of three (3) consecutive minutes, at a speed of not less than 5 wpm, using an ordinary radiotelegraph key, a semi-automatic key or an electronic hand key. In addition to the 26 letters, the text may include figures, punctuation marks and Q-signals; and
- correctly receive, by ear, a plain-language text, in international Morse code, for a minimum of three (3) consecutive minutes, at a speed of not less than 5 wpm, copying legibly by hand, typewriter or word processor. In addition to the 26 letters, the text may include figures, punctuation marks and Q-signals.
Additional details on the Morse exam can be found at the Industry Canada web site at:
Advanced Question Bank Study
There is an Advanced Study Guide in CD format available from Radio Amateurs Canada book store
- http://www.rac.ca/store/advanced-guide.htm
There iare both Advanced and Basic level self examination programs available from RAC,free, downloadable at
- http://www.rac.ca/en/amateur-radio/beginner-info/exhaminer/
The Advanced test is half the length of the Basic one or about 50 multiple choice questions.
You can go to the Industry Canada Web Site and download the Advanced Question Bank at
Study it and defer to the ARRL Amateur Radio Handbook for items which you do not understand. You will soon get the hang of it. Once you are feeling confident you can go to the Industry Canada web site and download the Advanced test on the exam generator:
When your exam marks are regularly in the 90 percentile range find yourself an accredited examiner to test you and bring you to the next level.
Please advise me if there are any failed links. Thanks!
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