[time-nuts] Amatuer Radio Information

Robert Darlington rdarlington at gmail.com
Wed Nov 25 16:22:10 UTC 2009


Hi J, (and the rest.  I'm answering here because I figure others might be in
the same position)

There are several ways to prepare for the tests.  The way a lot of people
recommend is to get a study guide and basically study.  Read, learn, maybe
take a practice test, and get the license.  Once the license is in hand, get
a radio and get on the air.

That's all fine and well, but I don't think it's the best way to go.  I
recommend taking the "easy" approach which consists of simply memorizing the
correct answer to the questions on the test (all of them and their answers
are made available by the FCC and appear in all the study guides).  Granted,
you don't learn much this way, but that's not an issue as you'll learn
quickly as you "do".   You can find practice tests here:

http://www.eham.net/exams/

There used to be great practice tests at qrz.com but I can't seem to find
them today.  Odd.

If you'd rather go with a study guide to start off with, I recommend getting
a highlighter and highlight the letter (A, B, C, D, whatever) of the correct
answer.  Never look at the incorrect answers, only the correct ones.  Read
them, a few times along with the question and you'll easily pass the test
because when you see an answer on the test that you don't recognize, it's
obviously not the right answer!

While you are studying, be it from a book or just taking practice tests and
memorizing answers, it's a good time to research radios.  I think it's a
good idea to get the radio before the license because it not only gives you
encouragement to get the license (you can't transmit without a license),
you'll get experience with procedures on the airwaves that the study guides
simply don't cover.  Doing this will make you sound a lot better than if you
were to just jump on without having ever listened.  Hams generally don't
like it if you sound like you've been on Children's Band, however they are
generally forgiving.  Take the time to listen for a while but don't hesitate
to jump into a conversation if you feel you can contribute.

You can get a brand new 2 meter band "HT" or Handi Talkie for under $150
delivered.  I have one for various uses but it hardly gets used because 2
meter is completely dead here in New Mexico.  It's better if you find out
about this stuff by talking to other hams near you.  Before I moved to NM, I
was in Philadelphia and 2meter was very popular so the $150 was justified at
the time but I wouldn't do it again living here.

Out here I'm almost exclusively on HF bands using the modern digital
communications modes like PSK31.  The first license (Technician) will not
get you on the HF bands unless you count 6 meter (50MHz) as HF.  In 10 years
I haven't heard a soul on 6 so I don't really even bother with listening
anymore.  To get on HF, the General license will get you 95% of what Extra
will get you.  I went for Extra for two reasons.  The first was just for
fun.  The other was so that it's harder to make mistakes.  If I can hear
them on the airwaves, I know I can work them without breaking FCC regs
(there are "Extra Only" portions of the bands that I couldn't use with
General).

Find a local club (http://www.w0uk.net/ appears to be near you) and talk to
people and ask questions.  They will have the scoop on the local tests,
hamfests, and will have experience working the bands.  Beware though, ask 5
hams for recommendations on anything and you'll get 6 different answers -if
not more.  Feel free to contact me directly if you have any questions at
all.

Bob, N3XKB (Extra and ARRL VE)


On Wed, Nov 25, 2009 at 8:37 AM, J. Mike Needham <iain_nitro at att.net> wrote:

> Greetings:
>
>
>
> I have noticed that some of you have call signs for Amateur Radio and I
> decided that I would like to get into that again.  Several years ago I was
> looking into it and was given some modified military surplus radio
> equipment, one such item was a transceiver.  Unfortunately, when we moved
> from the location that I lived in at that time, we could not take the radio
> equipment with us because it was vacuum tube based and very heavy and the
> moving company of course was charging by the pound.
>
>
>
> I discovered where I can take my exam locally and would like to study up a
> little as it has been years.  I understand that I no longer have to do
> Morse
> code as part of it, but still would like to find resources on study
> materials and practice tests.
>
>
>
> As far as equipment is concerned, I am on a tight budget and so it will
> likely be eBay and Craigslist, but I am not sure what I need these days.  I
> have computers a- plenty and basically can use advice on what kind of
> transceiver to get, what are the best brands and what I need for an antenna
> - I live in an apartment and want to do this with a base-station radio
> setup
> as opposed to a mobile.  I need an antenna that would be the least
> obtrusive
> and not mounted in a permanent fashion to the building.  I also need
> information on what kind of lightning protection and etc would be good.
>
>
>
> Thanks - I know this is "off topic" but I do plan to keep perfect time with
> my station as well J
>
>
>
> My real email address appears below, so if someone wants to offer help "off
> list" I welcome someone to write me and of course if you live locally to
> Lawrence, I would love to meet in person and exchange ideas etc.
>
>
>
> J. Mike Needham
>
> iain_nitro at att.net
>
> Lawrence, Kansas USA
>
>
>
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