4 ms·

> (Not a ham - but thinking of becoming one) Do it! I used "Ham Radio Prep"(google, it's the first result). It was really informative for me. They have a linea

> (Not a ham - but thinking of becoming one) Do it! I used "Ham Radio Prep"(google, it's the first result). It was really informative for me. They have a linear lesson plan with videos/tests to help you learn what you need, and then retain that information. After it was done, I felt very prepared for the exam, and the actual exam went very smoothly. As a side effect, I learned a lot about RF that I was ignorant of in the past, and thoroughly enjoyed the entire process. Can't recommend getting into amateur radio enough, it was one of those moments where I realized there was a giant gap in my general how-radio-works knowledge.

coldpie 5y ago
The nerd in me finds the idea of knowing how to operate a radio vaguely appealing, but once you can do so and are licensed, what do you actually do with it? Just like, talk to a couple other guys about... what they had for lunch today? Is it just a way to communicate with people? Once you've invested the hours and money, what do you have on the other side? I ask this question entirely out of ignorance, sincerely I mean no malice with this.
- dexterhaslem 5y ago
  there's a lot of variety out there. you can spend your entire ticket dorking out on digital modes (esp if you go for general+ and have access to lower bands) like FT8, FT4, Olivia, WSPR [0] to see how far out you can get on as little power as possible and so on. Or if you want to ease into it, you can get a ham radio w/o a license, or cheap SDR and try to receive and decode weather sats, etc [1] making tiny WSPR boards and things like APRS [2] interest me more than ragchewing or nets on 40 or 80 meters most of the time forgot my favorite, amateur SSTV (analog baby!) - can see some analog and hybrid (easylink over internet.. cheating) http://www.g0hwc.com/ http://www.g0hwc.com/ 0 - http://wsprd.vk7jj.com/ http://wsprd.vk7jj.com/ (click search then map to get an idea) 1 https://www.rtl-sdr.com/using-50-lines-of-python-code-to-decode-noaa-apt-weather-satellite-images/ https://www.rtl-sdr.com/using-50-lines-of-python-code-to-dec... 2 https://aprs.fi/ https://aprs.fi/
- clipradiowallet 5y ago
  > talk to a couple other guys about... what they had for lunch today? Sometimes we talk about the weather, haha. The most common time I use my radio is during bad weather, especially if there are tornado warnings nearby. There are [tornado] spotters using the same local repeater in our area, and sometimes it can be comforting to hear them report a tornado is moving away from you, or dissipating. Otherwise, I think we don't have much to talk about until there is an emergency of some kind. One thing I like isn't something you need a license to do, but a radio is a great way to listen to existing traffic outside the bands a normal "scanner" would supply. Everything from drive-thru speakers to casino security uses VHF/UHF frequencies, so with a decent dual band handheld you can listen to everything, which can be amusing sometimes. Another fun bit, is you can look up registered/reserved frequencies on the FCC website. You can't [legally] broadcast on these, but it can be interesting to see all these reserved frequencies and listen in. Sometimes you'll hear chatter among commercial farmers, other times electrical linemen...it's a mixed bag. I also tune into the local county/city emergency frequencies from time to time. I live in a very small rural area, so if you hear sirens, typically I can turn on my radio and alternate between the fire/police/ems frequencies and find out what the sirens were for.
- dpifke 5y ago
  I just finished running the Hood to Coast relay race (https://hoodtocoast.com https://hoodtocoast.com). One of my team's runners followed someone else down the wrong fork of the road, and ended up miles off course in an area with zero cell phone coverage. The volunteer hams helping with emergency communications for the race were critical for coordinating the search. We made sure they didn't have to pay for their own beer at the finish line party.
- sciurus 5y ago
  Let me think of some things I've done recently. 1) Helped someone launch, track and recover a high-altitude balloon. We used APRS on the 2M band as the primary mode of tracking. You can see balloons in the air right now at https://tracker.habhub.org/ https://tracker.habhub.org/ 2) Carry in and set up a low-power radio and antenna at a riverfront park, then make contacts with people at home and at other parks. You can read more about that at https://parksontheair.com/ https://parksontheair.com/ . I'm hoping to try a mountain instead of a park soon, see https://www.sota.org.uk/ https://www.sota.org.uk/ 3) Get up at odd hours of the night to try to make contact with amateurs in Hawaii on some bands and modes I haven't used to communicate with that state yet. I'm tracking this for my worked all states award from the ARRL, and did it recently because it was the https://www.hawaiiqsoparty.org/ https://www.hawaiiqsoparty.org/. that's an example of one of the many contests that exist in amateur radio. 4) Listen in on a regional HF net taking reports about conditions in areas affected by Hurricane Ida and relaying them to govt agencies as appropriate. 5) Listen in on a local 2M repeater where I heard other hams discussing their lives and hobbies related and unrelated to amateur radio.

coldpie 5y ago

The nerd in me finds the idea of knowing how to operate a radio vaguely appealing, but once you can do so and are licensed, what do you actually do with it? Just like, talk to a couple other guys about... what they had for lunch today? Is it just a way to communicate with people? Once you've invested the hours and money, what do you have on the other side? I ask this question entirely out of ignorance, sincerely I mean no malice with this.

dexterhaslem 5y ago
there's a lot of variety out there. you can spend your entire ticket dorking out on digital modes (esp if you go for general+ and have access to lower bands) like FT8, FT4, Olivia, WSPR [0] to see how far out you can get on as little power as possible and so on. Or if you want to ease into it, you can get a ham radio w/o a license, or cheap SDR and try to receive and decode weather sats, etc [1] making tiny WSPR boards and things like APRS [2] interest me more than ragchewing or nets on 40 or 80 meters most of the time forgot my favorite, amateur SSTV (analog baby!) - can see some analog and hybrid (easylink over internet.. cheating) http://www.g0hwc.com/ http://www.g0hwc.com/ 0 - http://wsprd.vk7jj.com/ http://wsprd.vk7jj.com/ (click search then map to get an idea) 1 https://www.rtl-sdr.com/using-50-lines-of-python-code-to-decode-noaa-apt-weather-satellite-images/ https://www.rtl-sdr.com/using-50-lines-of-python-code-to-dec... 2 https://aprs.fi/ https://aprs.fi/
clipradiowallet 5y ago
> talk to a couple other guys about... what they had for lunch today? Sometimes we talk about the weather, haha. The most common time I use my radio is during bad weather, especially if there are tornado warnings nearby. There are [tornado] spotters using the same local repeater in our area, and sometimes it can be comforting to hear them report a tornado is moving away from you, or dissipating. Otherwise, I think we don't have much to talk about until there is an emergency of some kind. One thing I like isn't something you need a license to do, but a radio is a great way to listen to existing traffic outside the bands a normal "scanner" would supply. Everything from drive-thru speakers to casino security uses VHF/UHF frequencies, so with a decent dual band handheld you can listen to everything, which can be amusing sometimes. Another fun bit, is you can look up registered/reserved frequencies on the FCC website. You can't [legally] broadcast on these, but it can be interesting to see all these reserved frequencies and listen in. Sometimes you'll hear chatter among commercial farmers, other times electrical linemen...it's a mixed bag. I also tune into the local county/city emergency frequencies from time to time. I live in a very small rural area, so if you hear sirens, typically I can turn on my radio and alternate between the fire/police/ems frequencies and find out what the sirens were for.
dpifke 5y ago
I just finished running the Hood to Coast relay race (https://hoodtocoast.com https://hoodtocoast.com). One of my team's runners followed someone else down the wrong fork of the road, and ended up miles off course in an area with zero cell phone coverage. The volunteer hams helping with emergency communications for the race were critical for coordinating the search. We made sure they didn't have to pay for their own beer at the finish line party.
sciurus 5y ago
Let me think of some things I've done recently. 1) Helped someone launch, track and recover a high-altitude balloon. We used APRS on the 2M band as the primary mode of tracking. You can see balloons in the air right now at https://tracker.habhub.org/ https://tracker.habhub.org/ 2) Carry in and set up a low-power radio and antenna at a riverfront park, then make contacts with people at home and at other parks. You can read more about that at https://parksontheair.com/ https://parksontheair.com/ . I'm hoping to try a mountain instead of a park soon, see https://www.sota.org.uk/ https://www.sota.org.uk/ 3) Get up at odd hours of the night to try to make contact with amateurs in Hawaii on some bands and modes I haven't used to communicate with that state yet. I'm tracking this for my worked all states award from the ARRL, and did it recently because it was the https://www.hawaiiqsoparty.org/ https://www.hawaiiqsoparty.org/. that's an example of one of the many contests that exist in amateur radio. 4) Listen in on a regional HF net taking reports about conditions in areas affected by Hurricane Ida and relaying them to govt agencies as appropriate. 5) Listen in on a local 2M repeater where I heard other hams discussing their lives and hobbies related and unrelated to amateur radio.