Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
UBC Radio Science Lab
2356 Main Mall, Room 4034,
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4
Tel: 604.822.3544
Fax: 604.822.5949
E-mail: david.michelson@ubc.ca
Prof. David Michelson, VA7DM, holds Amateur, Digital, and
Advanced Amateur radio certificates. He also holds a U.S. Extra
Class amateur radio license with callsign NC7V.
He is an ISED accedited examiner for amateur radio and works
with the IEEE Student Branch at UBC to support both the
university and general community by holding amateur examination
sessions throughout the year. Please contact him at
david.michelson@ubc.ca to arrange for an exam.
The next amateur radio exam sessions are scheduled for Sat, 8
Mar and Sat 15, Mar 2025 from 10:00 - 11:30 in the Irving K
Barber Learning Centre at UBC. If you wish to attend, please
contact Prof. Michelson to pre-register.
Note that ISED has revised the Basic amateur radio exam
questions and answers and will replace the existing exam
effective July 15, 2025. Starting on this date, all candidates
writing the amateur radio basic exam must use the new version.
The amateur radio service is a radiocommunication service
in which radio apparatus are used for the purpose of
self-training, intercommunication or technical investigation by
individuals who are interested in radio technique solely with a
personal aim and without pecuniary interest.
Many Student Design Teams in the Faculty of Applied Science at
UBC use Amateur Radio (or would benefit from using Amateur
Radio) in pursuit of their team objectives. Examples include the
UBC Orbit satellite design team, the Unmanned Aerial Systems
student design team, and the Solar powered vehicle student
design team. Other students use Amateur Radio to pursue projects
of personal interest.
1. Regulations and Policies
1.1 - radio licences, applicability, eligibility of licence holder
1.2 - licence fee, term, posting requirements, change of address
1.3 - licence suspension or revocation, powers of radio inspectors,
offences and punishments
1.4 - operator certificates, applicability, eligibility, equivalents,
reciprocal recognition
1.5 - operation, repair and maintenance of radio apparatus on behalf of other persons
1.6 - operation of radio apparatus, terms of licence, applicable standards, exempt apparatus
1.7 - content restrictions - non-superfluous, profanity, secret code, music, non-commercial
1.8 - installation and operating restrictions - number of stations,
repeaters, home-built, club stations
1.9 - participation in communications by visitors, use of station by others
1.10 - interference, determination, protection from interference
1.11 - emergency communications (real or simulated), communication with non-amateur stations
1.12 - non-remuneration, privacy of communications
1.13 - station identification, call signs, prefixes
1.14 - foreign amateur operation in Canada, banned countries, third-party messages
1.15 - frequency bands and qualification requirements
1.16 - maximum bandwidth by frequency bands
1.17 - restrictions on capacity and power output by qualifications
1.18 - unmodulated carriers, retransmission
1.19 - amplitude modulation, frequency stability, measurements
1.20 - International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Radio Regulations,
applicability
1.21 - operation outside Canada, ITU regions, reciprocal privileges,
international licences
1.22 - examinations - delegated examinations, disabled accommodation
1.23 - antenna structure approval, neighbour and land-use authority consultation
1.24 - radio frequency electromagnetic field limits
1.25 - criteria for resolution of radio frequency interference
complaints
2. Operating and Procedures
2.1 - voice operating procedures - channelized VHF/UHF repeater
2.2 - phonetic alphabet
2.3 - voice operating procedures - simplex VHF/UHF and HF
2.4 - tuneups and testing, use of dummy load, courteous operation
2.5 - Morse (CW) operating procedures, procedural signs
2.6 - RST system of signal reporting, use of S meter
2.7 - Q signals
2.8 - emergency operating procedures
2.9 - record keeping, confirmation practices, maps/charts, antenna
orientation
3 Station Assembly, Practice and Safety
3.1 - functional layout of HF stations
3.2 - functional layout of FM transmitters
3.3 - functional layout of FM receivers
3.4 - functional layout of CW transmitters
3.5 - functional layout of SSB/CW receivers
3.6 - functional layout of SSB transmitters
3.7 - functional layout of digital systems
3.8 - functional layout of regulated power supplies
3.9 -
functional layout of Yagi-Uda antennas
3.10 - receiver
fundamentals
3.11 - transmitter, carrier, keying, and amplitude
modulation fundamentals
3.12 - carrier suppression, SSB
fundamentals
3.13 - frequency and phase modulation fundamentals
3.14 - station accessories for telegraphy, radiotelephony,
digital modes
3.15 - digital mode fundamentals RTTY, ASCII,
AMTOR, packet
3.16 - cells and batteries, types, ratings,
charging
3.17 - power supply fundamentals
3.18 - electrical
hazards, electrical safety, security
3.19 - electrical safety
ground, capacitor discharge, fuse replacement
3.20 - antenna and
tower safety, lightning protection
3.21 - exposure of human body
to RF, safety precautions
4. Circuit Components
4.1 - amplifier fundamentals
4.2 - diode fundamentals
4.3 - bipolar transistor fundamentals
4.4 - field-effect transistor fundamentals
4.5 - triode vacuum tube fundamentals
4.6 - resistor colour codes, tolerances, temperature
coefficient
5. Basic Electronics and Theory
5.1 - metric prefixes - pico, micro, milli, centi, kilo, mega, giga
5.2 - concepts of current, voltage, conductor, insulator, resistance
5.3 - concepts of energy and power, open and short circuits
5.4 - Ohm’s law - single resistors
5.5 - series and parallel resistors
5.6 - power law, resistor power dissipation
5.7 - AC, sinewave, frequency, frequency units
5.8 - ratios, logarithms, decibels
5.9 - introduction to inductance, capacitance
5.10 - introduction to reactance, impedance
5.11 - introduction to magnetics, transformers
5.12 - introduction to resonance, tuned circuits
5.13 - introduction to meters and measurements
6. Feedlines and Antenna Systems
6.1 - feed line characteristics, characteristic impedance
6.2 - balanced and unbalanced feed lines, baluns
6.3 - popular antenna feed line and coaxial connector types
6.4 - line losses by line type, length and frequency
6.5 - standing waves, standing wave ratio (SWR) meter
6.6 - concept of impedance matching
6.7 - isotropic source, polarization via element orientation
6.8 - wavelength vs physical length
6.9 - gain, directivity, radiation pattern, antenna bandwidth
6.10 - vertical antennas - types, dimensions, characteristics
6.11 - Yagi antennas - types, dimensions, characteristics
6.12 - wire antennas - types, dimensions, characteristics
6.13 - quad/loop antennas - types, dimensions, characteristics
7. Radio Wave Propagation
7.1 - line of sight, ground wave, ionospheric wave (sky wave)
7.2 - ionosphere, ionospheric regions (layers)
7.3 - propagation hops, skip zone, skip distance
7.4 - ionospheric absorption, causes and variation, fading, phase
shift, Faraday rotation
7.5 - solar activity, sunspots, sunspot cycle
7.6 - MF and HF, critical and maximum useable frequencies, solar flux
7.7 - VHF and UHF, sporadic-E, aurora, ducting
7.8 - scatter - HF, VHF, UHF
8 Interference and Suppression
8.1 - front-end overload, cross-modulation
8.2 - audio rectification, bypass capacitors, ferrites
8.3 - intermodulation, spurious, key-clicks
8.4 - harmonics, splatter, transmitter adjustments
8.5 - use of filters: low-pass, high-pass, band-pass, band-reject
System block diagrams relevant to the Basic Quaification may be down
loaded here.
The following links provide helpful background information
for those preparing for a certification exam.
It's best to work with a partner or colleague as you prepare
to write the certification exam.
The materials presented here represent the bare minimum. Pointers to more detailed study guides and both in-person and online courses, can be found at Radio Amateurs of Canada - Amateur Radio Course Study Guides. In 2018, the University of Waterloo Amateur Radio Club produced a 65-page Basic Certificate Study Guide. It can be downloaded from here.
Survey (using SQ3R) the overview material at:
ISED -> Broadcasting and Telecommunications Regulations -> Spectrum Management and Telecommunications -> Spectrum Allocation -> Amateur Radio Service During the first pass, separate the material into
three categories:
1. things you know well
2. things of which you are aware but need to learn more
3. things that are completely unfamiliar
During successive passes , your goal is to transform items
from Category 3 into Category 2 and from Category 2 into
Category 1.
Use the ISED documents (Steps 1 and 2), the EMO Lessons (Step 3), Wikipedia or Google to look up unfamiliar terms.
Read and Review (using SQ3R) the following documents from ISED:
RIC-1 - Guide for
Examiners Accredited to Conduct Examinations for Amateur Radio
Operator Certificates
Issue 7, March 2022
RIC-3 - Information
on the Amateur Radio Service
Issue 5, March 2022
Basic
Qualification Question Bank for Amateur Radio Operator
Certificate Examinations
Issue 3,
December 11, 2021
Advanced
Qualification Question Bank for Amateur Radio Operator
Certificate Examinations
December 17, 2019
RIC-9 - Call Sign
Policy and Special Event Prefixes
Issue 2 (Provisional),
October 2005
RBR-3 - Technical
Requirements Respecting Identification of Radio Stations
September 2007
RBR-4 - Standards for the
Operation of Radio Stations in the Amateur Radio Service
Issue 2, January 2014
These documents contain facts and figures. You need to
commit them to memory, and, if possible, appreciate the intent
and context.
The basic certificate exam consists of 100 multiple-choice questions drawn from ISED's RIC-7. The questions focus on eight subject areas: 1) Regulations and Policies, 2) Operating and Procedures, 3) Station, Assembly, practice and Safety, 4) Circuit Components, 5) Basic Electronics and Theory, 6) Feedlines and Antenna Systems, 7) Radio Wave Propagation, 8) Interference and Suppression.
Review (using SQ3R ) the following materials produced by the Ontario EMO (Emergency Measures Organization). Although they are a little dated, they are still mostly relevant and quite useful.
Lesson # 1 - Regulations and Policies (based largely on the ISED documents)
Lesson # 2 - Operating and Procedures
(based largely on the ISED documents)
Lesson # 3 - Block Diagrams Definitions & Safety
Lesson # 4 - Circuit Components
Lesson # 5 - Basic Electronics & Theory
Lesson # 6a - Antennas
Lesson # 6b - Feed Lines
Lesson # 7 - Radio Wave Propagation
Lesson # 8 - Interference
During the first pass, separate the material into
three categories:
1. things you know well
2. things of which you are aware but need to learn more
3. things that are completely unfamiliar
During successive passes, your goal is to transform items
from Category 3 into Category 2 and from Category 2 into
Category 1.
Use the ISED documents (Steps 1 and 2), the EMO Lessons (Step 3), Wikipedia or Google to look up unfamiliar terms.
Study the following external document in detail:
Annotated RIC-7
by
Donn Hilton and François Daigneault. Although it is a little
dated, it is still mostly relevant and quite useful.
Use the EMO Lessons (Step 2), the Industry
Canada documents (Steps 1 and 3), Wikipedia or Google to
look up unfamiliar terms, or ask others for
help.
When you believe that you have a solid grasp of the material,
obtain the exam generator software from:
ExHAMiner V2.5
(2014 04)
Be certain to download at least one Question Bank from the above
page and deposit in the same folder as the program. If you are
preparing for the advanced qualification, be sure to download
the essential schematics (2014 09) from the same page.
HAMpuzzle is a related application that provides practice in
assembling block diagrams relevant to the Basic Qualification
exam.
HAMpuzzle V1.2
(2014 04)
Be certain to download at least one set of diagrams from the above
page and deposit in the same folder as the program.
Once you are doing well with ExHAMiner and HAMpuzzle, take a practice exam generated by the:
ISED Amateur Radio Exam GeneratorFor more information, please contact Prof. Dave Michelson, VA7DM, david.michelson@ubc.ca.
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
UBC Radio Science Lab
2356 Main Mall, Room 4034,
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4
Tel: 604.822.3544
Fax: 604.822.5949
E-mail: david.michelson@ubc.ca