Anyone here into ham radio?

[PistolBob]

Amateur Extra Class question pools change as of June 1st. The changes are not too significant so keep studying, it'll all be good.

Free Technician Training can be found here: No-Nonsense Study Guides - KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog

His no nonsense study guides have helped thousands prepare for an amateur radio license. He also has General and Extra study guides for a very modest price. In my opinion an HT (Hand held transceiver) is not a good choice for a first radio. They are low power, they are very short distance, and to get much use from them you MUST have a decent repeater or repeater network established in your area. I would suggest a dual band mobile (70cm and 2m) capable of at least 50 watts. Use it as a base station or use it as a mobile in your vehicle. You can build your own antennas or you can buy well made commercial grade antennas. UHF/VHF frequency propagation is highly influenced by moisture in the air, leaves on trees, and anything solid between you and the repeater. Read about atmospheric ducting if you want to have some DXing fun with your UHF/VHF radios.

 

[PistolBob]

What most hams need for their first station:

A transceiver (a radio that transmits and receives), an antenna (home made or commercial) up as high as you can get it, coaxial cable suitable for the frequency range your antenna and radio will be operating in, a power supply (if you radio says it needs a 15A supply, buy a 20A... a little more is 100 times better than a little less) which can be a battery box filled with car batteries and a trickle charger or a commercially made sold state power supply. Switching power supplies can be very RF noisy...they are cheaper but at certain frequency they make tons of RF noise...regulated power supplies are your friend, although a bit more expensive. You can make a power supply from a old PC power supply but you will need to add a ton of capacitors to kill the noise....not really worth messing with in my experience.

 

[cobber]

I'm finding radio much more interesting than guns (and the politics thereof) for the time being.


For the grizzled vets here, would you go right to an all-band transceiver, or park in VHF/UHF or quad for a while?