Arduino Projects for Amateur Radio

CHAPTER 6

Dummy Load

Jack remembers the ham who introduced him to amateur radio. His name was Chuck Ziegler, W8RV, and he administered Jack’s Novice Class exam when Jack was 11 years old. Chuck not only introduced Jack to ham radio, he was also a mentor who stressed practices that make ham radio the enjoyable avocation it is. One of the things Chuck said was: “Never go swooshing across the band when you’re tuning up your transmitter. That’s just plain rude!” He’s right, but we hear it all the time on the air.

A dummy load allows you to pump your rig’s RF power into a dummy (i.e., nonradiating) load while you make any necessary tuning adjustments. Chuck sold Jack a 75-W dummy load that Jack used to tune up his old Heathkit DX-20. The dummy load ...