1) In the study guide i was reading, it said that a repeater must have a control operator and identify itself. How could it identify itself if it is being operated automatically? Or better--what is automatic operation?
Every amateur radio station must have a control operator or person who is responsible for the proper operation of the station. Furthermore, every amateur radio station must identify itself every 10 minutes. These things are true for individual operators as well as repeaters. Almost all repeaters fall into the category of automatic control meaning that the control operator is not physically sitting in front of the radios. All repeaters have some sort of controller that handles the system and one of the functions is to automatically transmit the callsign of the repeater, in Morse code or by a pre-recorded voice or computer generated voice.
2) It also that that you can call the repeater.... What would the point be of calling the call sign of the repeater?
Is this the part you are talking about?
"Because repeaters generally provide very reliable communications, it's not necessary to use
the procedural signal "CQ." Instead, you need to only say your call sign to indicate that you
are listening for calls on a repeater. When calling another station on a repeater--a station
whose call sign you know--first say the station's call sign then identify your own station."
What it means is that if you want to talk to a specific person who might be listening to the repeater, you would say that person's callsign, NOT the repeater's callsign, and then your own callsign. I can see where you might be confused by the way it is worded in the study guide.
3) How do you get licensed to you use satellite frequencies, is the equipment expensive, and have any of you ever came in contact with an astronaut???
This is a 2-part question. First of all, there are no special satellite frequencies. Any amateur frequency can be used for satellite communications. The equipment, however, can be expensive because you generally need a lot of power pointed in a specific direction. You also need to be able to move your antennas in two directions called the azimuth (left and right) and elevation (up and down).
As far as talking to astronauts, this is done all the time. The ISS or International Space Station has amateur radio gear on board and many astronauts are licensed. Most contacts are with schools, but it is not unheard of for individuals to contact the ISS using ordinary mobile rigs or even an HT!
4) I have learned about different digital modes. I do not understand what it means when they say "digital"... i understand it is non voice, so is it all in text? I know CW is morse code, but what about PSK31, etc.
Modes like PSK31 and RTTY are digital modes and are all text. Two other popular modes are ATV or amateur TV and SSTV or slow-scan TV. ATV is real-time video (and audio) using UHF frequencies. As a Technician, you can set up your station for ATV. SSTV is generally an HF mode where operators send a single picture to each other.
These are really short answers to your questions. A lot of this information can be found by Google'ing (and now I guess I should say BING'ing) some of these terms. There is a lot of information out there about all these different modes!
So are you more confused now or did this answer any of your questions???
