RIC-3 — Information on the Amateur Radio Service

2. Examinations

2.1 Basic Qualification Examination

An examination of 100 questions is made by drawing one question from a series of questions applicable to the following 100 topic areas. The pass mark is 70%. A score of 80% or above will grant the individual additional privileges commensurate with a Basic with Honours Qualification.

Regulations and Policies - 001

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 - Department's fees, delegated examinations, fees, 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

top of page

Operating and Procedures - 002

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 code (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

Station Assembly, Practice and Safety - 003

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

Circuit Components - 004

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

top of page

Basic Electronics and Theory - 005

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

Feedlines and Antenna Systems - 006

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

Radio Wave Propagation - 007

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

Interference and Suppression - 008

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

2.2 Morse Code Qualification Examination

The examination for this qualification consists of sending and receiving Morse code at a speed of not less than 5 w.p.m. for three consecutive minutes.

The Morse code examination is in plain language and may include the twenty-six letters, the ten numbers, comma, period, question mark, dash, fraction bar, Q-signals and emergency signals. In both the sending and receiving examinations, each character omitted or incorrectly sent or received is counted as one error. A mark of 100% is awarded for five errors or less, 99% for six errors, 98% for seven errors, 97% for eight errors, etc. The examiner will allow candidates two minutes to review and correct their copy before it is graded. The pass mark is 100%.

top of page

2.3 Advanced Qualification Examination

An examination of 50 questions is made by drawing one question from a series of questions applicable to the following 50 topic areas. The pass mark is 70%.

Advanced Theory - 001

1-1 time constant - capacitive and inductive

1-2 electrostatic and electromagnetic fields, skin effect

1-3 series-resonance

1-4 parallel resonance

1-5 quality factor (Q)

Advanced Components and Circuits - 002

2-1 germanium, silicon, gallium arsenide, doping, P-type, N-type

2-2 diodes - point-contact, junction, hot-carrier, Zener, etc.

2-3 transistors - NPN/PNP

2-4 field effect transistor (FET), JFET, MOSFET

2-5 silicon controlled rectifier (SCR)

2-6 amplifiers - classes A, AB, B and C

2-7 amplifier circuits - discrete and IC

2-8 operational amplifiers, properties and applications

2-9 mixers, frequency multipliers

2-10 digital logic elements

2-11 quartz crystal - properties and applications

2-12 advanced filter circuits - AF, RF

Measurements - 003

3-1 AC - peak, peak-to-peak, average, RMS

3-2 PEP, PEP relative to average power, PEP relative to voltage across load

3-3 dip meter, signal generator

3-4 crystal calibrator, marking generator, frequency counter

3-5 oscilloscope

3-6 meters, multimeter, power meter

Power Supplies - 004

4-1 transformer and rectifier circuits, voltage doubler circuit, PIP

4-2 filter circuits, bleeder resistor function

4-3 linear and switching voltage regulator circuits

4-4 regulated power supplies

Transmitters, Modulation and Processing - 005

5-1 oscillator circuits, phase locked loop (PLL)

5-2 RF power amplifiers

5-3 transmitters, neutralisation

5-4 AM, single sideband, linearity, two-tone test

5-5 FM deviation, modulation index, deviation ratio, deviation meter

5-6 FM transmitter, repeater circuits

5-7 signal processing - AF, IF, and RF

5-8 codes and protocols, Baudot, ASCII, parity, CRC, X.25, ISO layers

5-9 spread spectrum - frequency hopping, direct sequence

Receivers - 006

6-1 single, double conversion superheterodyne architecture

6-2 oscillators, mixers, tuning

6-3 RF, IF amplifiers, selectivity

6-4 detection, audio, automatic gain control

6-5 performance limitations - instability, image, spurious, etc.

Feedlines - Matching and Antenna Systems - 007

7-1 antenna tuner/transmatch, impedance matching circuits

7-2 velocity factor, effect of line terminated in non-characteristic impedance

7-3 antenna feed arrangements - tee, gamma, stub

7-4 current and voltage distribution on antenna

7-5 polarization, helical beam, parabolic antennas

7-6 losses in real antenna systems, effective radiated power

7-7 ground and elevation effects, vertical radiation (take off) angle

7-8 radiation resistance, antenna efficiency, beamwidth

7-9 waveguide, microstrip line

2.4 Examination Procedures

Examinations are closed book. Reference material must not be made available during the examination. Use of calculators with capability of storing information in memory or any other similar device is prohibited during the examination.

There is no time limit specified for examinations. Most examinations are completed within an hour and would normally not take more than two hours to complete. Examiners will use their discretion in ensuring reasonable time is made available for the examination.

2.5 Re-examination

A candidate who fails a written test may be retested as often as necessary, at the convenience of both the examiner and candidate. The examiner is required to provide a different examination for each re-examination.