KARE Foundation Academy
Study for the Kenya amateur radio Foundation exam, one small page at a time.
This is a private study guide for the Kenya amateur radio Foundation exam. Each unit has a few short lessons written for a beginner, a quick check after every lesson, and a quiz for the whole unit. The site remembers what you get right, brings back what you miss, and tells you when you are ready to sit the exam.
Read a lesson, answer a few questions, and watch each unit fill up. You can go straight through, jump to any page, or come back to practice what you missed. Your progress stays in this browser; back it up under Settings.
Your progress
Loading…
All topics
1. Who and where
Not started- The words the licence usesThe eight defined terms in your licence conditions, from the Authority to Maritime Mobile.
- Where you may set upYour main address, temporary spots and mobile operation, and what to do when you move.
- Ships, aircraft and aerodromesThe special rules for operating at sea, the ban on aircraft, and the height limit near an aerodrome.
- Unit quiz
2. What you may say
Not started- Why the licence exists, and the money ruleWhat the amateur licence is for, who may use your station, and why you can never be paid for it.
- Who you may talk toAmateur messages go only to other licensed amateurs, and the few cases where a call can reach everyone.
- Messages you may and may not sendWhat you may transmit, what counts as a message, and the things that are banned.
- Unit quiz
3. Power and codes
Not started- Power limits and Annex AWhere your allowed emissions, bands and power are written, and how DC input power relates to peak envelope power.
- The first symbol of an emissionWhat an emission designator is, and what each first-symbol letter says about how the carrier is modulated.
- The second and third symbolsWhat the digit and the final letter of an emission designator mean, and how to decode J3E.
- Unit quiz
4. Rules and privileges
Not started- Why amateur radio existsThe definition of amateur radio and its five purposes, plus the four things that look like purposes but are not.
- What is banned on the airNo messages for hire, no broadcasting, no music, no secret codes, and the careful rules on messages for other people.
- Foundation bands, power and IDWhat a Foundation operator may use: the power limit, the call sign interval, the four HF band segments and 2 m FM.
- Getting and keeping your licenceWho licenses and examines amateurs in Kenya, the three licence classes, and your responsibility as a licence holder.
- Unit quiz
5. On the air
Not started- Good operating habitsFalse signals, unidentified transmissions and interference, then how to find a frequency, call a station and send CW at the right speed.
- Q signals, RST and phoneticsThe short codes for CW, how to give a signal report, and how to say call signs clearly.
- Repeaters and emergenciesHow a repeater extends your range, what its offset and timer mean, when to use simplex, and what to do in an emergency.
- Nets, time and logsWhy operators join nets, the UTC clock amateurs use, converting to Kenya time, and keeping a station log.
- Unit quiz
6. How signals travel
Not started- Sky waves and ground wavesHow HF signals bounce off the ionosphere to travel far, and how ground waves stay near the surface.
- Sunspots and choosing a bandHow sunspots change the ionosphere, which bands they affect, and how to pick a Foundation band for a distance and time of day.
- Line of sight and VHFHow VHF signals travel in straight lines, why height matters, and why reflections can fool you.
- Unit quiz
7. Electricity
Not started- Current, voltage and resistanceThe three basic ideas of electricity, what they are measured in, and which materials let electrons through.
- Ohm's law and powerHow voltage, current and resistance are tied together, and how to work out power.
- AC, DC, frequency and wavelengthTwo kinds of current, and how a radio wave's frequency and wavelength pull against each other.
- Unit quiz
8. Symbols
Not started- Reading a schematicWhat a schematic diagram is, and the symbols for cells, batteries, resistors and antennas.
- Grounds and special resistorsTell chassis ground from earth ground, and recognise adjustable, tapped, thermistor and photoresistor symbols.
- Unit quiz
9. Block diagrams
Not started- Block diagrams and station blocksWhat a practical (block) diagram is, and what each block in an amateur station does.
- Spot the missing blockWorked examples of a Morse, a phone and a data station, and how to name the block marked with a question mark.
- The antenna chain: SWR and tunerThe order from radio to antenna, and what the SWR meter and antenna tuner do.
- Unit quiz
10. Signals and problems
Not started- CW and keying problemsHow Morse code is sent by on-off keying, and the causes and cures of key clicks and chirp.
- Voice and data emissionsFM phone, SSB and RTTY: what they are and why SSB is more efficient than AM.
- Harmonics and unwanted signalsHow to calculate harmonics, and the causes of spurious emissions, splatter and FM over-deviation.
- Hum, power supplies and RF safetyWhat a poor power supply does to your signal, and how to stay safe near UHF and microwave antennas.
- Unit quiz
11. Antennas
Not started- Resonance and antenna lengthWhat it means for an antenna to be resonant, and how its length sets the frequency.
- Calculating antenna lengthsThe half-wave dipole and quarter-wave vertical formulas, worked for each Foundation band.
- Feedlines and beam antennasCoax and twin lead, their impedances and trade-offs, and what a beam antenna does.
- Grounding and lightning safetyHow to protect your station and yourself from lightning and electric shock.
- Unit quiz