1. General Licensing Class
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2. General Licensing Class
Skywave Excitement
Valid July 1, 2015
Through
June 30, 2019 2

3. Amateur Radio General Class Element 3 Course Presentation
ELEMENT 3 SUB-ELEMENTS (Groupings)
Your Passing CSCE
Your New General Bands
FCC Rules
Be a VE!
Voice Operation
CW Lives!
Digital Operating
In an Emergency
Skywave Excitement! 3

4. Amateur Radio General Class Element 3 Course Presentation
ELEMENT 3 SUB-ELEMENTS (Groupings)
Your HF Transmitter
Your Receiver
Oscillators & Components
Electrical Principles
Circuits
Good Grounds
HF Antennas
Coax Cable
RF & Electrical Safety 4

5. Skywave Excitement
G3C03 The higher the altitude of the ionospheric region refracting the high frequency radio waves the greater the radio range. The F2 region is the highest layer and gives the longest propagation.
G3B09 The F2 region is our highest reflective ionospheric region, approximately 250 miles up. This gives worldwide signals their longest bounce, generally about 2500 miles.

6. Skywave Excitement
G3C02 The ionosphere is influenced by ultraviolet radiation from the Sun. Maximum ultraviolet radiation occurs when the Sun is at its highest elevation overhead. Ionospheric layers reach their maximum height at the same time.

7. Skywave Excitement
G3C04 Have you ever skipped stones on a lake? If thrown at too great an angle to the surface of the water, the stone will not skip but rather penetrate into the water. Radio waves in the ionosphere act similarly; there is a point – the highest take-off angle – that cannot be exceeded or a radio wave will not reflect back to Earth. Just remember “highest take-off angle.” It is the makeup of the ionosphere that determines the highest takeoff angle that will refract a high frequency signal back to Earth. You can play with different antennas all day long, but that magic refractive ionosphere is the number one key to a signal that can be heard around the world!

8. Skywave Excitement
Ionosphere and Its Layers

9. Skywave Excitement
G3B08 The maximum usable frequency (MUF) peaks during the day in the morning hours to the east, for working Europe, and in the afternoon and evening hours, to the west, for working Asia. This is the fun of working ham radio skywaves – the ionosphere and the maximum usable frequency will constantly give us some excitement if we just keep tuned in.

10. Skywave Excitement
G3B05 Frequencies below the Maximum Usable Frequency (MUF) and above the Lowest Usable Frequency (LUF) are bent back to Earth by the ionosphere. For maximum range, operate as close to MUF as possible.

11. Skywave Excitement
G3B04 Is a particular band open to the rest of the world? A simple way to find out is spin the big VFO knob and listen to what you hear. If it is full of signals, the band is open to somewhere in the world. If you spin the knob and all you hear is a couple of local hams yakking back and forth, the absence of activity indicates the band is not propagating very far! I like to listen to the Northern California DX Foundation beacons, at MHz. If you know a little bit of CW, and keep track of precise time, you’ll know which part of the world is coming in on 20 meters and higher by listening to the beacons on the following frequencies.
MHz, MHz, MHz, MHz, MHz
Each beacon transmits its CW call sign on a rotational basis, followed by four 1-second dashes. The call sign and first dash are sent at 100 watts, the second dash at 10 watts, the third dash at 1 watt. You’re doing great if you can hear the last dash at 100 milliwatts!

12. Skywave Excitement
Your home computer can play an important part in chasing rare DX stations!

13. Skywave Excitement
G3B03 The term “lowest attenuation” means least amount of signal fading. The trick is to try to operate on the highest high frequency ham band that gives you skywave propagation to somewhere else in the country or the world. Operating just below the maximum usable frequency (MUF) will lead to some extraordinary crystal-clear communications.

14. Skywave Excitement
G3B12 Getting a signal halfway around the Earth is a ham radio tradition. But there are plenty of things to consider when attempting to make a contact – solar activity, day or night, fall or summer, and how far away the other station is located. All of the choices are correct.
Solar flares and sunspots affect radiowave propagation
Photo courtesy of N.A.S.A.

15. Skywave Excitement
G3B10 The E layer is between 50 and 90 miles up. Because it’s closer to Earth, high-frequency waves don’t bounce as far as they do off of the F layer. E skip is usually about 1200 miles. During the summertime, “sporadic E” may sometimes “short skip” as little as 600 miles.

16. Skywave Excitement
G3B02 Now that you are upgrading from Technician to General, don’t abandon all the excitement on 6 meters. In fact, your new General Class privileges on 10 meters will help you forecast an upcoming 6-meter band opening. Making contacts via skywaves on 10 meters with stations less than 300 miles away indicates an extremely strong Sporadic E-skip “cloud” out there in the ionosphere. E-skip on 6 meters and maybe even 2 meters will more than likely be possible within the next half hour!

17. Skywave Excitement
G3C01 The D layer (D, then E then F then F1 then F2… there is an order there) is the layer closest to the surface of the Earth. During daylight hours the Darn D layer is usually responsible for absorbing ham radio medium-frequency skywave signals.

18. Skywave Excitement
G3C12 During the day, the Darn D Layer hinders distant signals. Here’s an example of what it can do to your signal. The 40-meter band is a great one for 500-mile, daylight, skywave contacts. Even though they may fade in and out a little bit, they are almost always there from Sun-up to around 4:00 p.m. local time. After 4:00 p.m., the D-layer associated with absorption begins to disappear, and the 40 meter band begins to “go long.” Your 500-mile buddies will disappear, and next thing you hear are stations a couple thousand miles away pouring in. Then, as the 40 meter band continues on well into the night, in come the dreaded megawatt, foreign, double-sideband, shortwave broadcast stations that share our frequencies, too. What you will hear at night and in the early morning hours on 40 meters are extremely loud whistles from foreign broadcast, double-sideband, full-carrier stations, and the key to operating 40 meters in the early morning hours is finding a spot to dodge the foreign broadcast signals.

19. Skywave Excitement
G3C05 The Darn D layer does more harm than good to medium- and high-frequency signals during daylight hours. During the day, SSB and CW operations on 160 and 80 meters are confined to ground wave coverage. On 40 meters, daytime skip distances are generally no greater than 600 miles when the D layer is absorbing MF and HF signals.

20. Skywave Excitement
Radio Wave Propagation

21. Skywave Excitement
G3B07 The term “lowest usable frequency” refers specifically to stations attempting skywave contact. If you and a buddy are separated by 500 miles and want to stay in touch on the 75/80 meter ham band using a specific frequency, you may find early morning and evening contacts loud and clear, while attempts at noon result in no contact on that frequency. This is because at noon the LUF has become many megahertz higher due to changes in the ionosphere from the effects of the Sun. Your chosen frequency is now lower than the LUF. But hang around – the LUF will begin to drop quickly around sundown and your contact will be restored!

22. Skywave Excitement
G3B06 During daylight hours, the lowest usable frequency for a skywave contact may be around 3 MHz. This means the 160 meter band, just under 2 MHz, will not be usable for daylight skywave contacts because they are completely absorbed by the ionosphere. But as soon as the Sun goes down, hang on for some great DX contacts!

23. Skywave Excitement
G3B11 When the lowest usable frequency (LUF) exceeds the maximum usable frequency (MUF), high frequency radio communications along a specific ionospheric signal path disappears. This sometimes occurs with increased geomagnetic activity from sunspots.

24. Skywave Excitement
G3C09 Scatter communications (sometimes called backscatter) is one way to reach a station that is in that zone of no-reception – the skip zone. When Gordo communicate from southern California to Seattle, San Francisco is in his skip zone and will not receive his signals. But if he aims his beam antenna west toward Hawaii, some of his signal is backscattered into the Bay Area, giving him communications to a station that is too far for ground wave, and too close for normal skywaves.

25. Skywave Excitement
Backscatter

26. Skywave Excitement
G3C08 During periods of scatter communications, only a fraction of the original signal is scattered back to those stations that are too far for ground wave reception, yet too close for the main part of your signal that is being reflected by the ionosphere. The station in your skip zone gets only a very weak incoming skywave signal.

27. Skywave Excitement
G3C07 The wavy sound of HF scatter signals, especially backscatter, is caused by the signal being reflected back through several radio wave paths, creating multi-path distortion.
Your modern HF transceiver
may also include the 6 meter, 2 meter, and 440 bands. Six meters is the “Magic Band” and can offer unusual and surprising propagation. And don’t forget the DX portion of 2 meters, far away from the “madding crowd,” where
the still small voice of weak
signal operation prevails.

28. Skywave Excitement
G3C10 If you chose a frequency slightly greater than the maximum usable frequency, you can sometimes take advantage of the ionosphere to scatter your communications to an area that normally would not hear radio wave reflection from the ionosphere.

29. Skywave Excitement
G3C06 High frequency scatter communications bounce a portion of your signal off of densely ionized patches in the ionosphere. Since the ionosphere is constantly in motion, the signals will fade in and out, much like ocean waves, resulting in a wavering sound.

30. Skywave Excitement
G2D04 Long-range communications do not necessarily go in straight lines. When we navigate our signals around the world, we need a chart that takes into account the curvature of the Earth and where we are located. An azimuthal map shows your ham shack at the center of the Earth and will help you determine the shortest path between your station and that rare DX station.

31. Skywave Excitement Ham operators with a beam
antenna will use an azimuthal
map like this one to determine
short path and long path
headings to reach DX stations.

32. Skywave Excitement
G3B01 Do you have Gordo’s audio course? If so, you can hear the distinctive sound of simultaneous short path and long path reception. Incoming signals will have a well-defined echo because the short path signal is coming to you from a much closer distance than the long path signal coming all the way around the globe. The echo you hear is caused by the difference in the time it takes the signal to reach you via long path and short path.

33. Skywave Excitement
G2D06 Some ionospheric conditions may let you to establish better communications with a distant station on General Class worldwide frequencies over a long path around the world rather than over the direct short path. If you hear the station with an echo, try turning your beam antenna 180 degrees in the opposite direction from the short path direction to see whether or not the station will come in better on the long path.

34. Skywave Excitement
G3A11 The sunspot cycle peaks every 11 years. We are on current solar cycle 24, and just beginning to slide down the back side of the peak that took place in For the next 5 years, expect long range F2 skip on 6 meters and 10 meters to subside, but every summer we will continue to get good 6 meter and 10 meter short skip E layer excitement. On the lower bands, like 40, 60, and 75/80 meters, nighttime band openings will continue to improve. And no matter where we are in the solar cycle, 20 meters will always provide long range band openings all over the country and regularly all around the world!

35. Skywave Excitement
G3A01 Sunspots are temporary “cold” regions on the surface of the Sun, somewhat like bubbles on the surface of a vat of boiling spaghetti sauce. They emit lots of ultraviolet radiation, which is primarily responsible for creating an active ionosphere. Generally speaking, hams are happy when there are a lot of sunspots! The frequency of sunspots varies with the solar cycle. When there are a lot of sunspots, the “high bands” (20, 17, 15, 12, 10, and 6 meters) come alive, while during the down times, the low bands (160, 80, 60, 40, and 30 meters) are the only bands suitable for long distance communications. But there are always exceptions, so don’t put too much stock in sunspot numbers alone. Get on the air and see what’s there! If you don’t hear anything, always call CQ!

36. Skywave Excitement
G3A10 We find recurring skywave conditions about every 28 days as the Sun makes a complete rotation. Ham operators carefully monitor solar activity and find that stronger sunspots may reappear 28 days later for more excitement on the air waves.

37. Skywave Excitement
G3A09 As we begin our downward slide on the 11 year solar cycle 24, we will see less skywave activities on VHF 6 meters, and HF 10 meters and 12 meters. Fifteen will be a good daytime skywave band, and 20 meters will stay “open” around the country and world until darkness begins. But get up early, and enjoy 20 meters to Europe on special mornings! High sunspot activity enhances long-distance communication in the upper HF and lower VHF range.

38. Skywave Excitement
G3A04 As we begin to enter those few years of low solar activity, we won't hear much skywave activity on 6, 10, 12, and 15 meters. No problem – just switch down to 20 meters during the days, or 40 and 75 meters at night, and enjoy predictable good skywave DX without all the noise that sometimes elevated solar activity brings! This is why you are getting the General license, to enjoy all the ham bands for great worldwide signals, day and night!

39. Skywave Excitement
G3A05 The solar-flux index is measured daily on 10.7 cm in Ottawa, Canada. You may tune into the radio propagation solar activity reports transmitted by WWV at 18 minutes past the hour. Frequencies of 10 and 15 MHz will give you best reception during the day, and 5 MHz may give you best reception at night.

40. Skywave Excitement
G3A12 Earth is surrounded by the magnetosphere that acts as a barrier protecting us from some of the charged particles coming from eruptions on the Sun. The magnetosphere occasionally develops holes and cracks that may allow tremendous amounts of solar energy to disturb our natural geomagnetic stability. Some of the energy that penetrates the magnetosphere can be seen as auroras. A low K index means good, stable high-frequency propagation.

41. Skywave Excitement
G3A13 The A-Index is a 24 hour averaging of the planetary K-Index, and is a great indicator of long term stability of the Earth’s geomagnetic field.
G3A03 Ultraviolet radiation travels at the speed of light. It takes about 8 minutes for sunlight and ultraviolet rays to reach the Earth’s ionosphere. Heavy sunspot activity may affect worldwide propagation for up to 3 days.

42. Skywave Excitement
G3A06 We’re surrounded! Above our weather layer of the atmosphere, called the troposphere, is the ionosphere with its D layer, and above that the E layer, and on top of the E layer are the F-1 and F-2 layers. But did you know there is yet another layer up around 400 miles, called the magnetosphere? When the Sun sends out a coronal mass ejection, the charged particles may interact with our magnetosphere, and disrupt high frequency communications for several days.

43. Skywave Excitement
G3A02 The lower bands, such as 160, 80, 40, and even 20 meters, become so noisy that it is impossible to hear any distant signals coming in from skywaves during a sudden ionospheric disturbance.
G3A08 During periods of major geomagnetic disturbances, high-frequency propagation over high-latitude paths will be degraded. At the same time, activity on 6 meters VHF might be hopping!

44. Skywave Excitement
G3A16 During periods of high geomagnetic activity beautiful auroras may be viewed at night, away from city lights, as far south as latitude 37° north. The aurora itself is created when gases in our upper atmosphere are bombarded by coronal mass ejections, kind of like a neon light. Depending on which gas gets stirred up determines what color Northern Lights you may see. A trip to Alaska during equinox will usually lead to some awe-inspiring Northern Lights viewing. You will definitely be impressed by an aurora. The aurora can also reflect VHF signals, adding to the excitement.

45. Skywave Excitement
Geomagnetic disturbances caused by the Sun create the Northern Lights.

46. Skywave Excitement
G3A15 We can see a sunspot in the amount of time it takes light to travel from the Sun to the Earth – 8 minutes. But this question asks about the slower moving sunspot charged particles that lumber toward Earth as part of the solar wind. This wind can take as long as 20 to 40 hours to begin to disturb radio wave propagation on the ham bands. This means we have almost 2 days advanced alert that band conditions may be changing. Tune into WWV at 18 minutes past the hour and listen to the 30-second solar report.
WWV 5 MHz, Best at night WWV 15 MHz, Best days
WWV 10 MHz, Day and night WWV & WWVH 20 MHz, Some days
You can usually tune in WWV 10 MHz during the days, but only before a big sunspot event finally hits here on Earth 20 to 40 hours later. When disruption occurs, WWV sometimes will fade out completely!

47. Skywave Excitement
G3A14 A solar coronal hole can be seen as a dark spot on the face of the Sun emitting charged particles into the solar wind. If you took your thermometer up there, there would be an extreme temperature drop within the eruption. You can actually track sunspots as they rotate around the Sun on a 27.5-day cycle. There are usually a pair of sunspots – one with a positive magnetic north field, and the other with a negative south field. Just ask Galileo – he was the first to observe these sunspots in Sunspots with a solar coronal hole will normally disrupt high-frequency communications, but for the joy of 6 and 2 meter operators, they can create aberrations in the magnetosphere that will cause VHF long-range band openings.

48. Skywave Excitement
G3A07 We told you so – 20 meters will always be the fun band for daytime skywave activity, no matter where we are on our slide down solar cycle 24! And at night, when 20 meters fades out, turn the band switch to 40 meters, dodge the foreign broadcast carriers, and work the world into daybreak the next morning! With a General Class ham ticket, the world of skywave DX is yours to enjoy, on all ham bands!

49. Element 3 General Class Question Pool
Skywave Excitement
Valid July 1, 2015
Through
June 30, 2019

50. G3C03. Why is the F2 region mainly responsible
G3C03 Why is the F2 region mainly responsible for the longest distance radio wave propagation?
Because it is the densest ionospheric layer.
Because it does not absorb radio waves as much as other ionospheric regions.
Because it is the highest ionospheric region.
All of these choices are correct.

51. G3B09. What is the approximate maximum distance
G3B09 What is the approximate maximum distance along the Earth’s surface that is normally covered in one hop using the F2 region?
180 miles.
1,200 miles.
2,500 miles.
12,000 miles

52. G3C02. Where on the Earth do ionospheric
G3C02 Where on the Earth do ionospheric layers reach their maximum height?
Where the Sun is overhead.
Where the Sun is on the opposite side of the Earth.
Where the Sun is rising.
Where the Sun has just set.

53. G3C04. What does the term “critical angle”. mean as used in radio wave
G3C04 What does the term “critical angle” mean as used in radio wave propagation?
The long path azimuth of a distant station.
The short path azimuth of a distant station.
The lowest takeoff angle that will return a radio wave to the Earth under specific ionospheric conditions.
The highest takeoff angle that will return a radio wave to the Earth under specific ionospheric conditions.

54. G3B08 What does MUF stand for?
The Minimum Usable Frequency for communications between two points.
The Maximum Usable Frequency for communications between two points.
The Minimum Usable Frequency during a 24 hour period.
The Maximum Usable Frequency during a 24 hour period

55. G3B05. What usually happens to radio waves with
G3B05 What usually happens to radio waves with frequencies below the MUF and above the LUF when they are sent into the ionosphere?
They are bent back to the Earth.
They pass through the ionosphere.
They are amplified by interaction with the ionosphere.
They are bent and trapped in the ionosphere to circle the Earth.

56. G3B04. What is a reliable way to determine if the MUF is high
G3B04 What is a reliable way to determine if the MUF is high enough to support skip propagation between your station and a distant location on frequencies between 14 and 30 MHz?
Listen for signals from an international beacon in the frequency range you plan to use.
Send a series of dots on the band and listen for echoes from your signal.
Check the strength of TV signals from Western Europe.
Check the strength of signals in the MF AM broadcast band.

57. G3B03. Which of the following applies when
G3B03 Which of the following applies when selecting a frequency for lowest attenuation when transmitting on HF?
Select a frequency just below the MUF.
Select a frequency just above the LUF.
Select a frequency just below the critical frequency.
Select a frequency just above the critical frequency.

58. G3B12 What factor or factors affect the MUF?
Path distance and location.
Time of day and season.
Solar radiation and ionospheric disturbances.
All of these choices are correct.

59. G3B10. What is the approximate maximum distance
G3B10 What is the approximate maximum distance along the Earth’s surface that is normally covered in one hop using the E region?
180 miles.
1,200 miles.
2,500 miles.
12,000 miles.

60. G3B02. Which of the following is a good indicator
G3B02 Which of the following is a good indicator of the possibility of sky-wave propagation on the 6-meter band?
Short skip sky-wave propagation on the 10-meter band.
Long skip sky-wave propagation on the 10-meter band.
Severe attenuation of signals on the 10-meter band.
Long delayed echoes on the 10-meter band.

61. G3C01 Which ionospheric layer is closest to the surface of the Earth?
The D layer.
The E layer.
The F1 layer.
The F2 layer.

62. G3C12. Which ionospheric layer is the most
G3C12 Which ionospheric layer is the most absorbent of long skip signals during daylight hours on frequencies below 10 MHz?
The F2 layer.
The F1 layer.
The E layer.
The D layer.

63. G3C05. Why is long distance communication on the
G3C05 Why is long distance communication on the meter, 60-meter, 80-meter and meter bands more difficult during the day?
The F layer absorbs signals at these frequencies during daylight hours.
The F layer is unstable during daylight hours.
The D layer absorbs signals at these frequencies during daylight hours.
The E layer is unstable during daylight hours.

64. G3B07 What does LUF stand for?
The Lowest Usable Frequency for communications between two points.
The Longest Universal Function for communications between two points.
The Lowest Usable Frequency during a 24 hour period.
The Longest Universal Function during a 24 hour period.

65. G3B06. What usually happens to radio waves
G3B06 What usually happens to radio waves with frequencies below the LUF?
They are bent back to the Earth.
They pass through the ionosphere.
They are completely absorbed by the ionosphere.
They are bent and trapped in the ionosphere to circle the Earth.

66. G3B11 What happens to HF propagation when the LUF exceeds the MUF?
No HF radio frequency will support ordinary skywave communications over the path.
HF communications over the path are enhanced.
Double hop propagation along the path is more common.
Propagation over the path on all HF frequencies is enhanced.

67. G3C09. What type of radio wave propagation allows a signal to
G3C09 What type of radio wave propagation allows a signal to be detected at a distance too far for ground wave propagation but too near for normal skywave propagation?
Faraday rotation.
Scatter.
Sporadic-E skip.
Short-path skip.

68. G3C08 Why are HF scatter signals in the skip zone usually weak?
Only a small part of the signal energy is scattered into the skip zone.
Signals are scattered from the magnetosphere which is not a good reflector.
Propagation is through ground waves which absorb most of the signal energy.
Propagations is through ducts in F region which absorb most of the energy.

69. G3C07 What makes HF scatter signals often sound distorted?
The ionospheric layer involved is unstable.
Ground waves are absorbing much of the signal.
The E-region is not present.
Energy is scattered into the skip zone through several different radio wave paths.

70. G3C10. Which of the following might be an indication
G3C10 Which of the following might be an indication that signals heard on the HF bands are being received via scatter propagation?
The communication is during a sunspot maximum.
The communication is during a sudden ionospheric disturbance.
The signal is heard on a frequency below the Maximum Usable Frequency.
The signal is heard on a frequency above the Maximum Usable Frequency.

71. G3C06 What is a characteristic of HF scatter signals?
They have high intelligibility.
They have a wavering sound.
They have very large swings in signal strength.
All of these choices are correct.

72. G2D04 Which of the following describes an azimuthal projection map?
A map that shows accurate land masses.
A map that shows true bearing and distances from a particular location.
A map that shows the angle at which an amateur satellite crosses the equator.
A map that shows the number of degrees longitude that an amateur satellite appears to move westward at the equator with each orbit.

73. G3B01. How might a sky-wave signal sound if it
G3B01 How might a sky-wave signal sound if it arrives at your receiver by both short path and long path propagation?
Periodic fading approximately every 10 seconds.
Signal strength increased by 3 dB.
The signal might be cancelled causing severe attenuation.
A well-defined echo might be heard.

74. G2D06. How is a directional antenna pointed
G2D06 How is a directional antenna pointed when making a “long-path” contact with another station?
Toward the rising Sun.
Along the gray line.
180 degrees from its short-path heading.
Toward the north.

75. G3A11 Approximately how long is the typical sunspot cycle?
8 minutes.
40 hours.
28 days.
11 years.

76. G3A01 What is the significance of the sunspot
G3A01 What is the significance of the sunspot number with regard to HF propagation?
Higher sunspot numbers generally indicate a greater probability of good propagation at higher frequencies.
Lower sunspot numbers generally indicate a greater probability of sporadic E propagation .
A zero sunspot number indicates radio propagation is not possible on any band.
All of these choices are correct.

77. G3A10. What causes HF propagation conditions
G3A10 What causes HF propagation conditions to vary periodically in a 28 day cycle?
Long term oscillations in the upper atmosphere.
Cyclic variation in the Earth’s radiation belts.
The Sun’s rotation on its axis.
The position of the Moon in its orbit.

78. G3A09. What effect do high sunspot numbers
G3A09 What effect do high sunspot numbers have on radio communications?
High-frequency radio signals become weak and distorted.
Frequencies above 300 MHz become usable for long-distance communication.
Long-distance communication in the upper HF and lower VHF range is enhanced.
Microwave communications become unstable.

79. G3A04. Which of the following are least reliable
G3A04 Which of the following are least reliable for long distance communications during periods of low solar activity?
80 meters and 160 meters.
60 meters and 40 meters.
30 meters and 20 meters.
15 meters, 12 meters and 10 meters.

80. G3A05 What is the solar flux index?
A measure of the highest frequency that is useful for ionospheric propagation between two points on the Earth.
A count of sunspots which is adjusted for solar emissions.
Another name for the American sunspot number.
A measure of solar radiation at 10.7 cm.

81. G3A12 What does the K-index indicate?
The relative position of sunspots on the surface of the Sun.
The short term stability of the Earth’s magnetic field.
The stability of the Sun’s magnetic field.
The solar radio flux at Boulder, Colorado.

82. G3A13 What does the A-index indicate?
The relative position of sunspots on the surface of the Sun.
The amount of polarization of the Sun’s electric field.
The long term stability of the Earth’s geomagnetic field.
The solar radio flux at Boulder, Colorado.

83. G3A03. Approximately how long does it take the increased
G3A03 Approximately how long does it take the increased ultraviolet and X-ray radiation from solar flares to affect radio propagation on the Earth?
28 days.
1 to 2 hours.
8 minutes.
20 to 40 hours.

84. G3A06 What is a geomagnetic storm?
A sudden drop in the solar flux index.
A thunderstorm which affects radio propagation.
Ripples in the ionosphere.
A temporary disturbance in the Earth’s magnetosphere.

85. G3A02. What effect does a Sudden Ionospheric
G3A02 What effect does a Sudden Ionospheric Disturbance have on the daytime ionospheric propagation of HF radio waves?
It enhances propagation on all HF frequencies.
It disrupts signals on lower frequencies more than those on higher frequencies.
It disrupts communications via satellite more than direct communications.
None, because only areas on the night side of the Earth are affected.

86. G3A08 Which of the following effects can a
G3A08 Which of the following effects can a geomagnetic storm have on radio propagation?
Improved high-latitude HF propagation.
Degraded high-latitude HF propagation.
Improved ground-wave propagation.
Improved chances of UHF ducting.

87. G3A16. What is a possible benefit to radio
G3A16 What is a possible benefit to radio communications resulting from periods of high geomagnetic activity?
Aurora that can reflect VHF signals.
Higher signal strength for HF signals passing through the polar regions.
Improved HF long path propagation.
Reduced long delayed echoes.

88. G3A15. How long does it take charged particles
G3A15 How long does it take charged particles from coronal mass ejections to affect radio propagation on the Earth?
28 days.
14 days.
4 to 8 minutes.
20 to 40 hours.

89. G3A14. How are radio communications usually
G3A14 How are radio communications usually affected by the charged particles that reach the Earth from solar coronal holes?
HF communications are improved.
HF communications are disturbed.
VHF/UHF ducting is improved.
VHF/UHF ducting is disturbed.

90. G3A07. At what point in the solar cycle does the
G3A07 At what point in the solar cycle does the 20-meter band usually support worldwide propagation during daylight hours?
At the summer solstice.
Only at the maximum point of the solar cycle.
Only at the minimum point of the solar cycle.
At any point in the solar cycle.