HAM radios

ManicMechanicJoe · **Posted:** Thu Jan 26, 2006 1:07 am

Hey guys. I am curious about HAM radios. What is involved with getting a license. How much will a good setup cost me? Any help is greatly appreciated.

0311_DoC · **Posted:** Thu Jan 26, 2006 1:29 am

ManicMechanicJoe wrote:

Hey guys. I am curious about HAM radios. What is involved with getting a license. How much will a good setup cost me? Any help is greatly appreciated.

Well IMO there are alot more options with a HAM rig. You just need to go by an amatuer radio store or surf the net get the book. I cant recall the name at the moment. but it is basically a study guide. take the test, get your license. But you dont need to be a Ham to get a radio. Im sure there a few people who have them but are not licensed. they use them to listen and scan etc... and your looking at between $250 all the way up to a grand just depends on the brand and features, most people starting out I have heard get a 2M/440 dual bander. Hope this helps

Alerion · **Posted:** Thu Jan 26, 2006 4:44 pm

The book is "Now You're Talking." It'll pretty much give you all the information to get an amateur tech license. Radio Shack carries it.

Good Luck!

Tom

Kugellager · **Posted:** Fri Jan 27, 2006 1:57 am

I believe if you want to get a HAM license w/o learning the Morse code you want to go for the Technicians-Class license which only involves a written test and give you quite a few frequency bands to work with.

John
];')

corwyyn · **Posted:** Fri Jan 27, 2006 11:25 am

Kugellager wrote:

I believe if you want to get a HAM license w/o learning the Morse code you want to go for the Technicians-Class license which only involves a written test and give you quite a few frequency bands to work with.

John
];')

True, Technician class gives you all bands above 50MHz. Later on if you feel the need you can study for the General Class license and take the code test. I know it's daunting to a lot of people, but at five words per minute Morse Code is slow enough to count dits and dahs in the letters (thats how I passed it). There are several freeware downloads to help with learning Morse Code and lots of sites to do practice written exams on.

bh120 · **Posted:** Tue Feb 21, 2006 8:05 pm

Don't waste your time with "Now You're Talking" That book is filled with a lot of useless fluff....I mean, I could care less about some story about so-and-so from Utah.
The best book, IMHO is the Gordon West Element 2 book. Its straight and to the point. All you need to do is pass a 35 question written test...26 out of 35 correct. The Qs&As are public information.
I used the ARRL's "Now You're Talking" for my technician test, and the Gordon West book for my General class written.
As for code, you don't count dots and dashes! Use "Code Quick" by Jerry Wheeler. You can learn code in about 2 weeks if you follow his schedule...I did it at my own pace and took about 4 weeks.
Check out:
www.arrl.com www.qrz.com and www.eham.net

corwyyn · **Posted:** Wed Feb 22, 2006 2:10 am

Once you start studying for your exams you can also find practice tests on the internet. Take the tests as often as you want until you feel confident that you know the material. Here are a few links to practice test websites: AA9PW practice tests, QRZ.com test engine, or eHam.net tests. There are more out there if you want to search. I used the AA9PW tests for both my General and Extra class exams and passed the first time on both.

vxla · **Posted:** Wed Feb 22, 2006 5:08 pm

go to qrz.com and take 10 tests per day until you learn it all by rote.

then go and pay $14 and take the test. if you fail, try again.

HAM radios

Who is online