Links below will take you to instructional resources developed by radio amateurs that are being shared with the amateur radio community for use by others engaged in instruction and mentoring.

Note: Resources are updated as we receive them. Before using make sure to check to determine whether the materials have been updated to reference the most recent question pools.

• Richmond Amateur Radio Club's Fall 2020 Remote Instruction Plan
• N8KBR’s Amateur Radio License Study Guides and Instruction Resources
  
• Licensing instruction for Public Safety Professionals from KC0BS and KC4WCG of Johnson County, KS ARES. Also a study guide for upgrading to General and a Guide for New Hams from K4OCD.
  
• AD7FO’s Study Guides, training materials for Technician, General and Extra license preparation and instruction. Tiley also offers PowerPoints for instruction of all three levels of license preparatoin.
  
• KB6NU’s " No Nonsense" Self Study Guides and Flash Cards are available for the Technician, General and Extra Class license examinations, including e-book, print, and audiobook versions. The PDF version of the Technicial Class study guide is free, The others are available for a modest cost. The Tech study guide is perfect for those teaching a one-day Tech class. Also available is a video on teaching a one-day class.
  
• Andy Vallenga, KE4GKP offers Technician and General audio courses online at The Ham Whisperer. He also offers a Morse code training course.
• Rick Crockett, W0PC and the instructor team of the St. Charles Amateur Radio Club have shared their Amateur Extra license course PowerPoints.  Their syllabus follows the presentation of topics in ARRL's Extra Class License Manual, 10th edition.  Download their materials in PDF format, or in PPT format.
• Dick Harmon, WA4USB shares materials used for license instruction with BSA Venture Crew members: Instructor guide, class powerpoint,
• Noji Ratzlaff, KNØJI shares a variety of Powerpoints for use with licensing instruction. To modify the slides for your own use: 1) request the password (email kn0ji at ARRL dot net) and 2) modify the PPTs to enter your name, call sign, and copyright

These resources may be helpful aides for your instruction of specific topcs addressed by the Amateur Radio license exams.

Gain and Decibels

Excerpt about "Decibels" from ARRL's Understanding Basic Electronics, by Walter Banzhaf, WB1ANE

A Tutorial on the Decibel complied by Ward Silver, N0AX.

Decibel by Dick Harmon, W4USB

Frequency and Wavelength

Animated tutorials on waves illustrates the relationship between frequency and wavelength.

The Wikipedia’s entry on Waves has many links to all aspects of waves: frequency, phase, wavelength, etc.  Links to tutorials and simulations are provided at the end (bottom) of the entry.  You will find a great deal of information about the electromagnetic and radio spectrum in the Wikipedia, as well.

Modulation

A comprehensive review of analog and digital modulation methods is offered on Wikipedia.

Math Review & Scientific Notation

You can direct your students to these tutorials for review of math concepts needed for amateur radio license exam preparation.

Digital Modes: Audio Files

Download these files to your laptop to play for students to introduce them to the many digital modes radio amateurs employ (all files presented below are in wav format except as noted).

• ALE
• AMTOR
• CW
• HFDigital Voice
• JT65 (mp3 format)
• MFSK16
• Olivia
• PACTOR 2
• PSK31
• RTTY

 If you have Internet access in your classroom you'll find a large collection of digital mode samples on this site: http://www.kb9ukd.com/digital/.

Resonance of Series and Parallel Circuits

Instructional tools developed by Steve Auyer, N2TKX to model how the values of the circuit components affect not only the resonant frequency but also the shape of the impedance-vs.-frequency curves and the Q of the circuit.

Also included, a resource to demonstrate far field patterns produced by two point sources affected by the separation, amplitude and phasing of the point sources. This resource allows students to investigate how the three variables affected the patterns by inputting values for separation, amplitudeand phase to immediately see the effect on the patterns. It also illustrates the difference between linear and logarithmic pattern plots.

Here are some demonstrations illustrating concepts in radio science that have proven helpful in license instruction.

How Radio Signals Travel

This is a simple but very effective Demonstration of Lenz’s Law and accompanying Power Point by Mark Spencer WA8SME that you can bring into the classroom to show the most basic principle of radio science--how radio waves travel and the role of electromagnetic fields.

Here are some effective online video demonstrations of the same principle:

• MIT Physics Demo -Lenz's Law with a Copper Pipe 
• SparkFun Electronics - Shawn Hymel Explains Electromagnetism and Magnets

Directivity of a Yagi Antenna

Diana Eng, KC2UHB is a young radio amateur who is sharing her exploration of amateur radio through video demonstrations that she posts online. Here’s her demonstration of Directivity with a Yagi Antenna:

She also demonstrates the Radiation Pattern of a Dipole and a Yagi Antenna.

Look for her instructional videos on Setting Up an HF Radio Station While Hiking and Making a Satellite Contact.

Resources including instructional kits and lesson plans developed for ARRL’s Education & Technology Program, ARRL's outreach program to bring ham radio into the classroom, are also available to licensing instructors.

The following instructional kits are availabe in the ARRL store. The instructor discount applies to purchases of these kits.

A Basic Electronics Course and Kit developed by Mark Spencer, WA8SME, is available to use for individual study or group instruction. To purchase the kit click here.

A Wave Modulation Demonstration Board also developed by Mark Spencer used in combination with an projection capable oscilloscope is very useful for demonstrating some of the foundational concepts in radio.  For more information, click here.  To purchase, click here.

Review other ETP resources.

Taking a few moments at the end of a course to get feedback from your students is the best way to learn what is working and what is not in your instruction.  Doing regular evaluations helps set you on a course for continuous improvement.

We've provided a sample evaluation form that you might use to get feedback from your students about their experience in your course. Please feel free to modify it for your situation.

Sample Evaluation Form

• Fred Benson, NC4FB offers study aids for the visually impaired, incluyding mp3 audio files of the FCC AmateurRadio license question pools for all three levels of license exams.  He also offers tips for instructing visually impaired and dyslexic and ADHD candidates.
• Read the section in Peter Kemp's Teachers's Guide for helpful advice on  working with students with special needs fouund on www.arrl.org/instruction-getting-organized.
• Also, the audio explanations of the FCC question pools for the Technician and General exams  that accompany the videos offered by Andy Vallenga, KE4GKP, "the Ham Whisperer," may be helpful.
• Visually impaired students who have computer screen readers can take advantage of online study materials, including online exam practice applications.
• Visit the Courage Kenny Handiham Program website for training and networking information for disabled hams. Read this article, "The Handiham Program: Ham Radio Learning for Peoiple with Disabilities," by HandiHam Program Manager, Pat Tice, WA0TDA.
• "Enabling Ham Radio's Disabled", by Mike Runholt, KC0YFV tells how Handiham provides assistance to the community of disabled hams.
• These QST articles will provide information about techniques and adaptations to make ham radio accessible for the sight impaired and those with other disabilities.

Dimenisonal Analysis

from Jamie King, KJ4KJ

Pamlico Amateur Radio Society, Oriental, NC

You asked for some hints to use in classes. Here's one that we "stole" from the world of "hard" science (e.g. chemistry and physics and engineering).

We have had lots of problem over the past several years with the mathematical segment of the tech classes. Students are unprepared to even start to figure how many millithings there are in a megathing. We have developed a solution which seems to work in most cases, and we'll share it with you.
It is called "dimensional analysis" in the serious math books. You simply start with the given problem, for instance "which frequency is in the 2-meter band? (a) 52.0 MHz (b) 146430.0 KHz (c) 2.4 GHz (d) 28.430 Hz"

The students have memorized, of course, that the 2-meter band includes frequencies in the 144-147 MHz range. However, none of these appear in the answers. They panic.

 OK, start with what you know. Take answer (a) first. It is in MHz, so that's OK, but it isn't in the range 144-147, so it's out.  Take answer (b). 146430.0 KHz. Let's make that into MHz so it can be compared with our knowledge base. 

Expressed mathematically, the equation is 146430.0 KHz x 1 MHz/1000KHz. Always multiply. Arrange the terms so that the desired one is on top. Cancel the KHz units just as if they were numbers (that's the magical clue). Read the result. Works every time!

That's dimensional analysis, and it works for any conversion you can imagine; currency, electrical units, frequencies, even chemical measures such as "mols" that give high school student the willies. Our PARS (Pamlico ARS) instructors have used it for several years with great success.

BTW, our last three years of classes have had a 100% pass rate.