TYB
I have been an Extra class ham for about 50 years. I have a FT-70 for C4FM and love it. I also have a TYT Chinese radio for DMR. People better be getting their ham licenses. They don't have to mess with the code or steely eyed FCC examiners like I did in the old days. Better get your license and radios before the SHTF. Seriously!
The Extra Class test is pretty serious involving satellite communications & understanding propagation to a high degree. You would also need to really understand the electronic components in radios. Beginners can get on the air with a Technician license which is basic rules & regulations with some technical questions. It should be all you need to start and have a great time.
I was a CBer and a HFer back in the 60's before I became a Ham. Yes I was messing with RTTY with a Model 15 teletype and using a PAL VFO back in the day in between CB channels. :-)
The three simple electric charge characteristics as it relates to an antenna specifically a dipole antenna are:
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Charged particles have an electric field at all times
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Charged particles create a magnetic field when moving at a constant speed.
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Charged particles create an electromagnetic field when accelerating or reversing
Half wavelength antennas at resonance have characteristics of a capacitor in that the current leads the voltage by 90 degrees within the antenna. Standing waves of voltage and current occur and each form their own distinct half sine wave over the antenna whereby the current is maximum whenever the voltage is minimum. The ends are voltage loops and the center is the current loop.
When a reversing current interacts with a resonant antenna it allows part of the antenna's collapsing electric field lines of force to be isolated from the antenna and loop on themselves and be propelled away from the antenna by the antenna electric field since the fields repel each other. The newly isolated moving looped electric field lines of force create magnetic lines of force that are in phase and have the same sign of magnitude. In the electromagnetic field the electric and magnetic fields are combined and in phase but 90 degrees apart or perpendicular to each other in space.
The local antenna electric and magnetic fields are called near field which along with properly timed new incoming charges allow for this creation of electromagnetic radiation which becomes the far field. The voltage versus current 90 degree phase relationship in the antenna and new charge timing allow this far field radiation to occur.
When I started as a CBer back in the 60's you had to have a license and you could only talk to other people that were not in your business on certain channels. We used our call signs and it was mostly for small business that couldn't afford the money for commercial radios. We had REACT emergency teams on Channel 9 and as an EMT I used CB to coordinate communications with my search & rescue team. CB has changed a lot since them. Now it is a free for all unlicensed mess from what I can tell by listening to it. I went to Ham radio to support my cave rescue team coordination to avoid interference with the crazies on CB. :-)
Rob before Trump suggest that he is a thief. :-)
HOW TO TIE THE SQUARE KNOT, FIGURE 8, BOWLINE, HALF HITCH, TIMBER HITCH, ROLLING HITCH, CLOVE HITCH, CATS PAW, SINGLE AND DOUBLE SHEET OR BECKET BEND, FISHERMAN'S BEND, AND DOUBLE CARRICK BEND.