science

RadCom

RadCom is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand RadCom rather than just read about it. In short: RadCom is the monthly magazine published by the Radio Society of Great Britain and is provided to all corporate members of the society. Typically 100 pages, it includes a mixture of news, theory, construction and technical articles of interest to the amateur radio community.

Key takeaways

RadCom belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect RadCom to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of RadCom from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

RadCom is the monthly magazine published by the Radio Society of Great Britain and is provided to all corporate members of the society. Typically 100 pages, it includes a mixture of news, theory, construction and technical articles of interest to the amateur radio community.

History From its inception in 1913 until the end of 1924, the official journal of the Radio Society of Great Britain was the independent publication Wireless World and Radio Review. Due to a change in proprietorship of that magazine, the honour was withdrawn and bestowed instead on Experimental Wireless and the Wireless Engineer. In July 1925, it was decided by members of the Society's Transmitting and Receiving (T & R) Section to produce its own monthly publication "written by and for the radio amateur". This was entitled T & R Bulletin. The magazine changed its name to RSGB Bulletin in July 1942. In 1968, the name changed again to Radio Communication, which was abbreviated to RadCom in January 1995.

Content and coverage As the house journal of the Radio Society of Great Britain, RadCom covers all matters directly related to the society. The remaining pages are devoted to a number of regular columns covering topics such as low frequency, amateur television, VHF/UHF, electromagnetic compatibility, radio propagation, contesting, and many other subjects. There are two or three in-depth technical articles per month, plus reviews of new equipment and other features which relate to amateur radio as a whole. Most of the technical content is provided by RSGB members and invited authors. The society actively solicits technical articles for publication, which are then subject to independent scrutiny by the RSGB Technical Committee. On approval, articles are passed to the Editorial Department for editing prior to insertion into the magazine.

Further reading The early history of RadCom and the Radio Society of Great Britain is described in World At Their Fingertips by John Clarricoats, G6CL, ISBN 0-900612-09-6

External links RadCom website Radio Society of Great Britain (parent organization) Dick Sylvan, W9CBT, RadCom cartoonist contributor

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with RadCom

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what RadCom claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to RadCom before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about RadCom ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of RadCom

In research: RadCom appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses RadCom in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: RadCom is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1913 establishments in the United Kingdom, Amateur radio in the United Kingdom, Amateur radio magazines, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for RadCom outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study RadCom in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what RadCom means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain RadCom out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is RadCom in simple terms?

Why does RadCom matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study RadCom?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on RadCom.