Module 7
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Theory Operating Safety
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Theory.

As stated in module 6 you have reached the end of the theory requirements for the experimenters licence however I suggest that you revise all of the theory covered in the modules 1 through 5 carefully.

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Operating

Here is a Page I have borrowed and rewritten to reflect the Irish Rules and band plans

Safety

Since amateur radio involves the use of electricity you should read the following article which is written for the New Zealand Licensing course, In particular read the section concerning mains wiring, the regulations and colour coding of wires is the same as is used in Ireland.
The BROWN or RED Phase wire is commonly called the 'Live' Wire.
Safety Page

As is mentioned on the Safety page a good RF earth is required, failure to provide a good RF earth can lead to stray RF energy being coupled into your house wiring, this can cause all sorts of problems with RF interference to other electronic devices in the house. In cases of interference the first thing to check is your RF earth connection which must be made using the shortest possible length of heavy copper wire.
A reasonable RF earth would consist of 2 or more 4 or 6 foot earth rods hammered into the ground just outside the shack, this earth can be improved by burying more rods or adding some lengths of wire just below the surface of the soil.

Lightning protection

Lightning strikes in the vicinity (within 1 km or so) of a HF antenna system will induce large and potentially damaging voltages in your antenna system, several steps can be taken to minimise the risk of damage to equipment and people.

1/ Make sure that your Shack is properly grounded, See RF grounding details above.

2/ Use a Grounding antenna Switch where your antenna enters the shack and make sure that the ground connection on this switch is connected to your RF safety earth. Use this Switch to ground your antenna when not in use.

3/ Various types of Surge arresters are available for use with antenna feed lines, consider using one.

4/ NEVER operate your equipment during a local Lightning storm.

5/ If you are planning to erect an antenna mast you should make special provision to properly ground the base of your mast, the manufacturers can advise on how best to do this.

6/ Much Lightning related equipment damage occurs due to high voltage transients being transmitted over the ESB power lines from Lightning strikes many Km away.
There are many types of relatively inexpensive surge arresters available to help prevent equipment damage due to mains borne transients and voltage spikes. Your local computer shop is a good place to find a suitable one for use in your Shack.