4 Responses to “Get started in Amateur Radio, the hobby”

1. C K says:

   August 18, 2009 at 18:05

   From my experience as a ham I have categorized two types of operators. 1) Hams that are interested mostly in UHF/VHF; 2) Hams that are interested mostly in HF

   V/UHF are the bands above 10 meters (28 MHz), i.e., 6m (50MHz), 2m (144MHz), 70cm(440MHz), 900 and 1240MHz. These bands are typically used for more local communications, though when the "conditions" are right you can talk across the country! (Especially 6m recently) Also these bands lack the "white noise" of the HF bands and they are where you will find most repeaters.

   HF consists of the bands 10m, 12m (24MHz), 15, 17, 20, 30, 40, 60, 80 and 160 meters. (10m also had repeaters from 28.3 to 29.7MHz) HF, as I said earlier is noisy meaning you’re listening to white noise all the while and depending on conditions, your contact’s equipment and the distance between you two, your contact’s transmission will vary in "strength."
   Both V/UHF and HF have frequencies designated for satellite communications, but HF has designated frequencies for Slow Scan TV as well as other "digital modes."

   As I’m sure you already know, there are 3 levels of amateur operators: Technician–All V/UHF privileges, some phone on 10m and Morse code on a few others.
   General–Same as the Tech. but with 83% more of the HF band to use.
   Extra–May use the entire amateur radio spectrum.

   I said all of this as to help you get a general idea about where you want to go in amateur radio, your "niche" if you will. There is no shortage of equipment you can buy (or barter for) out there and your transceiver will have certain capabilities. Some walkie-talkies (called "HT"s for "handy talkie") will work up to three of the V/UHF bands such as 6m, 2, and 70cm and can be picked up new for $160-300. If you want more capability than that there are "mobile" radios which can also function as a base station that will do most of the V/UHF bands and they range from $160-650. Some mobile/base radios (like my base, the IC-7000) will do some of the V/UHF and all of the HF. And of course there are single band radios that can only be used within a certain frequency range. And as you probably guessed, the more capability your desired radio has, the higher the price goes.

   When I bought my first radio I seriously researched many radios to determine which one I wanted. My logic was this, I know I’ll use U/VHF (particularly 2m and 7cm), but if I decided later on I wanted to most of the HF bands I would need an HF radio…so I bought one that will do exactly what I wanted. These radios range from ~$600 to 14,000!!

   As you may know or will soon learn, each band uses a different sized antenna. The higher the band, the larger the antenna, and some hams buy an antenna for say 80m and use an "antenna tuner" to tune that antenna so that it will work efficiently on other bands.

   So, if you’re not interested in talking to stations in other countries via your radio I’d say go with a V/UHF radio. The type and brand are up to you (though an HT would be cheaper but they lack the power of mobile/base radios.) If a HT is not of interest to you you’re looking at a mobile/base radio, most likely a power supply, coax (NOT COAX FROM A CABLE BOX OR TV) and an antenna for the band(s) you’re interested in. Some manufacturers make multi-band antennas which would eliminate your need for a) more than one antenna or b) an antenna tuner. I’m not going to get into the different modes of transmission…I think you may have enough to digest.

   Your interests in ham radio will determine what you will need. I know I took the long route in answering your question but I wanted to explain the various combinations you can go. Ham radio is NOT in ANY WAY like CB (except for the use of a radio). Ham operators in my experience often times do go out of their way to help however they can. If I can be of any additional assistance send me an email from here.

   Geez…I hope this helps!
2. overnightdeejay says:

   August 18, 2009 at 18:05

   first thing, I would be contacting local ham radio clubs in your area.

   They welcome new operators, and those looking to get licensed…

   then I would be looking up the ARRL. http://www.arrl.org

   and http://www.wedothat-radio.org/ for step by step help on exactly what you need to do to get llicensed..

   The entry level llicense is the technician class llicense and is awarded once you pass a simple multiple choice 35 question test.

   This allows you privileges on all ham bands above 30 Mhz, and you can even talk long distance, on some 28 Mhz frequencies.

   If you want to talk around the world, you’ll need to upgrade your license to a General class llicense by taking a second multiple choice 35 question test. with that you have limited access to all HF ham radio bands.
3. Just David says:

   August 18, 2009 at 18:05

   Find a local club using this link: http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/club/clubsearch.phtml

   Get study material using this link: http://www.wc5c.org/HamRadio/Training/tabid/352/Default.aspx

   Find a class using this link: http://www.arrl.org/FandES/courses/

   Do practice exams using these links: http://www.qrz.com/p/testing.pl and http://aa9pw.com/radio/technician/

   Find an exam using this link: http://www.arrl.org/arrlvec/examsearch.phtml
   or this one:
   http://www.w5yi.org/exam_locations_ama.php
4. william_byrnes2000 says:

   August 18, 2009 at 18:05

   Welcome and we’d love to have you join us.

   You’ve gotten some good answers already. I would also suggest that you look into the Ham Radio Help Group here on Yahoo!, we have a bunch of guys who are at varying levels of experience, and we are practically tripping over each other to help out a new comer.

   That’s for when its the middle of the night and you have a question one of your fellow club members might not want to answer over the phone. Just post it there and one of us will pick it up, instead of calling your "Elmer" over the phone.

   An Elmer is a nickname we have given to an experienced ham who helps bring a newcomer along into the hobby by answering questions.

   You start with a Technician license, at least here in the States, and then you can move up to a General license and finally to an Extra Class license, like I have.

   technician will give you all modes, at all Ham frequencies above 50 MHz. If you are interested in the more distant contacts, you have voice privileges on 10 meters, and you can use morse code on 80, 40, 15 and the lower part of 10 meters.

   Since February 27, 2007, Morse code has been an "option" for hams.There used to be a requirement to pass a 10 question multiple choice test, for the General and Extra Class licenses but that requirement was dropped at that time.

   I have personally used the ARRL license materials almost exclusively, but the Gordon West materials are also popular.

   For distance, you will probably want 10 meters phone, or 10 or 15 meters in code. 50 MHz also acts like a High Frequency band sometimes, and allows long distance communication. When you move up to the higher license classes, you can add 12 meters, 20 meters and 17 meters to your repertoire.

   Check out that We do that radio site, its pretty cool

   AB9BD
   Licensed since 1968