Radio in comics

Welcome to the Club — The World and Its Characters

Volume 01 · 48 pages

An illustrated prologue introducing the club, its characters, their friendships and their passion for radio.

The 10 Commandments of Amateur Radio

Volume 02 · 48 pages

Good amateur radio practices presented as ten easy-to-remember rules.

My First QSO

Volume 03 · 48 pages

A first QSO told step by step, from the CQ call to the QSL souvenir.

The Discovery of Ohm's Law

Volume 04 · 48 pages

A historical and technical page connecting electricity, measurement and radio.

Calculating Filters

Volume 05 · 48 pages

A comic explaining a Butterworth LC low-pass filter, with a 10 MHz, 50 Ω example.

Types of Antenna

Volume 06 · 64 pages

Dipole, vertical, Yagi, loop and dish: understand their radiation patterns to choose an antenna.

Resistors

Volume 07 · 48 pages

Resistance in ohms, colour bands, series, parallel and power: choose and check a resistor.

Transistors

Base, collector, emitter, switching and amplification: discover NPN bipolar transistors.

Logic gates

Logic gates. Illustrated explanations, diagrams and examples to understand and check circuits.

Capacitors and inductors

Capacitors and inductors. Illustrated explanations, diagrams and examples to understand and check circuits.

Diodes and LEDs

Diodes and LEDs. Illustrated explanations, diagrams and examples to understand and check circuits.

Power supplies and rectification

Power supplies and rectification. Illustrated explanations, diagrams and examples to understand and check circuits.

SWR and impedance matching

SWR and impedance matching. Illustrated explanations, diagrams and examples to understand and check circuits.

AM, FM and SSB modulation

AM, FM and SSB modulation. Illustrated explanations, diagrams and examples to understand and check circuits.

Reading an electronic schematic

Reading an electronic schematic. Illustrated explanations, diagrams and examples to understand and check circuits.

Troubleshooting with a multimeter

Troubleshooting with a multimeter. Illustrated explanations, diagrams and examples to understand and check circuits.

Radio propagation

Understand signal paths and variations.

Decibels

Compare radio powers and signal levels.

Coaxial cables and connectors

Connect the radio to the antenna with care

Understanding MOSFETs

Control a load and understand transistor limits.

Crystals and oscillators

Resonance sustained by an active circuit.

SDR reception

From radio signals to digital samples

Baluns and common-mode currents

Understand currents on the feed line

Interference and ferrites

Identify the noise before treating it

Spectrum and bandwidth

Read frequency, width and settings.

Transformers and coupling

Turns ratios, voltage and impedance matching.

The superheterodyne receiver

Change frequency to improve selectivity.

Measuring with a VNA

Reflection, transmission and network-analyzer calibration.

Decoupling and ground

Understand local capacitors and current return paths.

Discover the oscilloscope

Observe voltage changing over time.

Digital modes

Exchange data over the radio

Morse code

Recognize sounds and keep the rhythm.

Logbooks and QSL cards

Record and confirm contacts

VHF and UHF repeaters

Understand the repeater and prepare your call.

Antenna polarization

Orient antennas and understand the electric field.

The link budget

Add gains and losses to estimate a radio link’s margin.

Dummy load and wattmeter

Test a transmitter into a suitable load and measure its power.

Balanced feed lines

Two conductors, one controlled path

Solder a circuit

Clean connections in low-voltage electronics

Fuses and protection

Choose and place protection against overcurrent.

Batteries and operating time

Estimate available energy and a portable station’s operating time.

The portable radio station

Plan an outing and set up your station.

Radio via satellite

Predict the pass and track the signal.

Noise and sensitivity

Understand what a receiver can hear

Automatic gain control

Keep listening comfortable

Sampling and aliasing

Distinguish sample rate, aliasing, anti-alias filtering and amplitude resolution.

Operational amplifiers

Discover op-amp inputs, feedback, gain and practical limits.

Skin effect in radio

Understand why high-frequency current concentrates near a conductor’s surface.

The phase-locked loop

Understand the reference, detector, filter, VCO and divider in a PLL.

Directional couplers

Sample an RF signal and distinguish forward and reflected waves.

RF attenuators

Reduce RF levels while respecting impedance, frequency and power limits.

Resonance and quality factor

Understand LC resonance, bandwidth and loaded quality factor.

Reactance and impedance

Distinguish resistance, reactance, phase and impedance matching in AC circuits.

Mixers and image frequencies

Discover frequency conversion, mixing products and image-frequency rejection.

Harmonics and intermodulation

Understand the products created by a nonlinear circuit.

Preamplifiers and dynamic range

Choose useful gain without sacrificing strong-signal reception.

Duplexers and cavities

Share one antenna between transmission and reception using selective filters.

The Yagi antenna and directivity

Recognize a Yagi’s elements, beam direction and polarization.

Small receiving loops

Tune and orient a small loop for reception and reduction of some interference.

The Doppler effect in radio

Understand received frequency shifts and corrections on satellite links.

Voltage regulators

Stabilize a supply while accounting for headroom, heat and capacitors.

Radio fox hunting

Find a beacon with an antenna and a map.

RIT and split operation

Tell receive frequency apart from transmit frequency.

UTC time on the air

UTC gives stations worldwide a common time reference.

Giving an RS or RST report

A report describes how you receive the signal at your station.

The antenna tuner

A tuner matches the impedance presented to the transmitter.

CTCSS and DCS tones

Selective squelch opens audio when the expected tone or code is received.

Discovering APRS

APRS exchanges positions, short messages and other data in packets.

Images over SSTV

Analogue SSTV turns a still image into audio tones.

The NE555 and its amateur radio applications

Volume 70 · 64 pages

Explore the NE555 timer, build a Morse practice oscillator and time station accessories.