Ham Radio

To find a place to take a test, go to the arrl site, http://www.arrl.org/find-an-amateur-...e-exam-session
enter your zipcode, and it will tell you when there will be tests. Sometimes they are at schools, sometimes churches(think LDS as they are big into emcomm), etc. I upgraded last saturday at the LDS in monument. $15 and an hour of my time, and I was done.

My background is in electronics/calibration, avionics and micro-miniature repair, specifically. I have been pondering the tech license for a number of reasons. I do not know if my limited budget could allow me another hobby...

I did find an online practice exam and passed it 3 out of 4 times with just a vague memory of what I did 18 years ago... Here is the practice exam for tech: hamtest

ETA: I don't really care so much about "talking" over the air as I am more wanting to get back into electronics portion. I held a 2M Blue card (Soldering to NASA Standards beneath a microscope) while on the .gov payroll. That and $5 will get me a Grande Frappaccino at Starbucks...

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Originally Posted by two shoes

My background is in electronics/calibration, avionics and micro-miniature repair, specifically. I have been pondering the tech license for a number of reasons. I do not know if my limited budget could allow me another hobby...

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Ham radio has definitely gotten cheaper with the chinese handhelds breaking into the market place in the past year.

You can be up and running for 60 bucks: 15 for the test and 45 for one of these https://www.hamcity.com/store/pc/UV-...MO-10p2789.htm.

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Originally Posted by ChadAmberg

Ham radio has definitely gotten cheaper with the chinese handhelds breaking into the market place in the past year.

You can be up and running for 60 bucks: 15 for the test and 45 for one of these https://www.hamcity.com/store/pc/UV-...MO-10p2789.htm.

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Thanks Chad! WOW have prices come down... I'll go ahead and knock out the test here shortly.

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Originally Posted by two shoes

Thanks Chad! WOW have prices come down... I'll go ahead and knock out the test here shortly.

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Oh yeah... the Japanese handhelds (Yaesu, Icom, Kenwood) are still a couple hundred bucks for handhelds, but the chinese ones are really getting good reviews. Apparently you want to spring for the programming cable so you can set up everything on your computer, but once it's running, you'll be in good shape.

Get a ham license, then join a local club doing emergency response. Do NOT transmit without a license (a crime) but feel free to buy and listen. Learn on-the-air protocol and talk from a handi-talkie through repeaters across ALL of CO and do much public good with the things beside having fun. No, it is out of favor compared to video games and twitter but ham radio is still at the core of emergency communications response service. I'm an Emergency Coordinator in 2 states.

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Originally Posted by Electromagic

Get a ham license, then join a local club doing emergency response. Do NOT transmit without a license (a crime) but feel free to buy and listen. Learn on-the-air protocol and talk from a handi-talkie through repeaters across ALL of CO and do much public good with the things beside having fun. No, it is out of favor compared to video games and twitter but ham radio is still at the core of emergency communications response service. I'm an Emergency Coordinator in 2 states.

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Welcome. [Flower]

Been needing to look into the local ARES group and skywarn, but havent put one foot forward yet.

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Originally Posted by ChadAmberg

I wish I still had my technician books because I'd send them your way. Let me ask though: Are you interested in simply getting a license to talk on the air, or really get into it?

If you have a decent memory, you can just study the list of questions and answers. http://www.ncvec.org/page.php?id=349 has everything you need to simply pass the test.

If you want to learn more using a book, then pretty much any of the books on Amazon for "Ham Technician" search that come up are good, just make sure that the one you get was published since 2010 when the latest round of questions came out. I think I used an older version of this book: http://www.amazon.com/Ham-Radio-Lice.../dp/0872590976



If you think it's something you'll really find interesting, there's local folks who teach technician classes for free all the time. Down here in COS there's always one running, and in Aurora there's this club: http://www.n0ara.org/index.html
they have pics of their classes, just contact them and ask. I've found hams to be a great friendly bunch of folks.

Hope this helps, let me know if you need any more info to get rolling...

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I think that I want to start small. Get the license, get a small hand held and go from there. Listen to some radio traffic. Have a buddy of mine that has had his license for a long time talk on it with me. Use it camping and four wheeling and so on. It appears that it could be a very expensive hobby. I already have a gun and camping hobby, just started four wheeling, so I would need to start inexpensive. Electronics communication and radio signal have always intrigued me although I don't know much about it.

The hobby is what you make of it, so if you don't want to sink a ton into it, then you can do that. We got our tech licenses last fall and got our feet with with just some 2m radios. Theres not a lot of money needed to get into that part. Whenever or if ever you decide to go HF, thats where it can become bottomless, but not always. Once you get the hang of things, and get over any jitters, you'll be more then happy to get involved.