10-09-2014, 13:08
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#1
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Area Commander
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Northern Neck Virginia
Posts: 1,138
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Amateur Radio
Used to be called HAM radio I think.
I'm trying to find some sort of retired hobby that may not get me in trouble and thought of learning more about amateur radio clubs. There's one locally.
Wondering if it requires a lot of money to get started, issues re: antenna configuration around the house (I'm fairly rural and don't think my neighbors would care), Morse Code vs voice protocols, etc.
Your comments would be greatly appreciated.
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v/r,
LarryW
"Do not go gentle into that good night..."
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LarryW is offline
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10-09-2014, 14:22
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#2
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Free Pineland
Posts: 24,799
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LarryW
Used to be called HAM radio I think.
I'm trying to find some sort of retired hobby that may not get me in trouble and thought of learning more about amateur radio clubs. There's one locally.
Wondering if it requires a lot of money to get started, issues re: antenna configuration around the house (I'm fairly rural and don't think my neighbors would care), Morse Code vs voice protocols, etc.
Your comments would be greatly appreciated.
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You can get started for $100 or so and there is no more Morse Code requirement for the license anymore. You start with the Technician exam, and then move up to General. Advanced licensing leads to more freqs to use. Of course, no license is required to listen, just to transmit.
It is on my list.
TR
__________________
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." - President Theodore Roosevelt, 1910
De Oppresso Liber 01/20/2025
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The Reaper is offline
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10-09-2014, 16:20
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#3
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Undisclosed Safehouse in South Texas
Posts: 573
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Quote:
Originally Posted by The Reaper
It is on my list.
TR
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I'm currently studying the ARRL Ham Radio License Manual http://www.amazon.com/Ham-Radio-Lice...3S71BGF6G1W9Y0
Don't forget to sign into Amazon with your smile account and choose the GBF as your charity and they'll get a cut.
Enjoy!
__________________
“Whether we come from poverty or wealth; whether we are Afro-American or Irish-American; Christian or Jewish, from big cities or small towns, we are all equal in the eyes of God. … May all of you as Americans never forget your heroic origins, never fail to seek divine guidance, and never lose your natural, God-given optimism. … My fellow Americans … God bless each and every one of you, and God bless this country we love.”
– Ronald Reagan, Aug. 17, 1992
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nousdefions is offline
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10-09-2014, 19:23
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#4
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Occupied Pineland
Posts: 4,701
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Still called Ham Radio. You need a General license if you want to talk long-range. Your local club can provide the VEs to administer the tests, mentor you through the initial steps, and assist you in assembling your "shack". They'll also give you somebody to compare notes with while you get your feet wet. The Technician and General tests are fairly easy with a little study. There are plenty of on-line resources for practice tests, etc. Local clubs usually teach courses which makes for an easy intro to the local Ham community or you can do like I did and buy the study guides from ARRL or Amazon. There are several routes to acquire your equipment, investment will depend on your license (Technician = short range, General = long range, and Amateur Extra = full spectrum), interests, and scrounging ability. I've seen equipment acquired through a combination of luck, Ebay, new equipment purchase, Ham-fest scrounging, and home construction (mostly antennas). HTH.
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A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their arguments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to fear.
~ Marcus Tullius Cicero (42B.C)
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Peregrino is offline
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10-09-2014, 19:51
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#5
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Asset
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Louisiana
Posts: 13
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Local clubs
You can find local clubs to assist you on www.arrl.org. Good luck and have fun.
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Koldsteel is offline
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11-20-2014, 14:56
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#6
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Area Commander
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Western WI
Posts: 6,917
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Peregrino
The Technician and General tests are fairly easy with a little study.
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Indeed; in fact you should study for both those at minimum since for the same modest testing fee you can keep taking exams till you can't pass one. Much of the same stuff in the Tech is regurgitated on the General, which is really the one that gets you almost all the bandwidth you'll need.
And testing requirement or not, your ham life will be so much the better served by learning the code. CW rules.
__________________
"Civil Wars don't start when a few guys hunt down a specific bastard. Civil Wars start when many guys hunt down the nearest bastards."
The coin paid to enforce words on parchment is blood; tyrants will not be stopped with anything less dear. - QP Peregrino
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Badger52 is offline
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11-21-2014, 08:55
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#7
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Asset
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Georgia
Posts: 35
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When I took the technicians exam, they offered the General for free. That came as a bit of a surprise. So just in case, study for both.
Like guns, HAM is only as expensive as you want it to be. I started out with a mobile 2m radio for the Jeep (Yaesu FT-1900R) and a couple cheap Beofeng UV-5R handhelds for local comms. In a nutshell, you pay more the further you want to reach out.
Local clubs are an excellent start and a vast majority of folks are more than happy to mentor.
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BoomerUSMC is offline
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