By H. Ward Silver, N0AX
June 9, 2006
Maybe you're a new ham and you'd like to sound like a pro before Field Day rolls around? This puzzle about ham jargon will test your understanding of those obscure terms every hobby seems to collect. You may need to open a "cold 807" before you're through, but don't pull the "big switch!"
Across
2. 100 percent reception
7. CW prosign for "Stand By"
8. Prefix meaning "again"
10. A voltage drop from current flow
12. Prefix of country where lots of US military are serving
13. Above VHF
15. Hidden transmitter
16. Maximum transmitter output
18. Control tones
20. Without tension or pressure
21. Popular ham store (abbr)
23. Typewriters
25. Noise seen at the bottom of a spectrogram
27. Prefix for World Cup host
28. External tooth lockwasher
30. Common Novice prefix
32. Set of equipment
33. Prefix of a southern neighbor
35. Goes with "Roger"
37. Shares the A prefixes
39. An up and down path
41. Didn't get logged
42. Nickname for radio operator
45. Signal reflected from meteor trail
47. Permanent or invisible
49. Prefix for Damascus
50. Prefix for Beijing
51. After the signature
52. What an unstable CW oscillator does
54. Unmarried woman
55. Oscillator used for tuning
56. CW prosign for interruption
57. Battery energy rating
58. Commotion about nothing
60. Opposite of NE
62. Symbol for conductivity
63. Male ham
64. When a program stops working
66. Capital of OA
67. Big mistake
69. Small adjustment
72. Message handling organization (abbr)
73. Used with a keyer
74. Battery power
Down
1. Tune for a minimum
3. Prefix for the Orkney Islands
4. Poor operator
5. Simulated or test load
6. CW for thanks
7. Means the same as volume
8. Permanent memory
9. A lapsed license
11. In the back
14. Best place for a ham station
15. Style of sending CW
17. Tune for a maximum
19. Goes with Wi
22. November contest abbreviation
24. Signals that come back later
25. Abbreviation for a vertical antenna
26. Syncopated CW does this
28. Unwanted output
29. Puzzle author's favorite suffix
31. Smallest Hudson Division section
32. Start
34. Receive a signal
36. What you get from too-sharp CW signals
38. Where you look for satellites
40. How many radians in a semicircle
42. Ionospheric propagation
43. Increases signal power
44. An antenna
46. Capacitor whose value is stable with temperature
48. The Granite State (postal code)
50. Station used to gauge propagation
53. An overheated component
55. An antenna that readily accepts power
56. Bandwidth (abbr)
59. Medical professional (abbr)
60. Search for something to buy
61. Satellite
62. Speed at which contacts are made
65. One operator (abbr)
66. Colorful semiconductor
68. Tirana is the capital of this country (prefix)
70. Wall socket power
71. Prosign sent to end a contact