Amateur (Ham) Radio BS and Callsign Thread!

Ram mounted to Un-Holey Tacoma Dash Mount

 

Hawaii on 14.270

 

How do I find a ham crash course in my area?

 

What do you mean?

 

Hawaii left the Freq, California has the Freq

 

A

A.K.A. California RUINED the frequency?

 

Hamsonly dot com

 

haha Na just Hawaii left frew and Cali took control. Everyone took off after 20 min of Cali taking calls

 

Haha

 

I don't know about crash courses but most clubs do classes. Try here.

 

Might want to look at some of his vids
https://www.youtube.com/user/hoshnasi

 

Haha listing to the stations on 7.240 repeating themselves for contacts. Looks to be Parks on the Air

 

Looking for a local class where I can learn the basics of what I need to know to get my Ham license.

A friend of mine has his and recommend me a study app but it's not working for me.

Like do I really need to memorize resistances, antenna lengths, and signal propagation?

I figured I would just need to know protocol, what channels I can and can't squawk etc.

Not looking to become an electrician just to yap at my friend's on the trail.

Just want to be able to use a UHF or VHF without being "rogue". Or whatever.

 

You do need to know those, they are on the test.

 

Just do what 90% of everyone else does. Memorize the questions and answers, then keep a print out of the band plan in the truck or on the desk.

www.hamstudy.org . Click "Technician" then click "Study Mode". Works best when you make a free account so it tracks your progress.

 

Just get the app and memorize the answers. I only studied about a week and only got 3 wrong. Its an easy multiple choice test. I was in the same boat, got it just to talk out in the sticks where there is no cell service. To be honest its way more useful than I expected. I used it in Moab to talk on a repeater and was able to reach pretty far with a small radio.

 

55 into Acton, CA on 20m 100w Poor conditions...other station was at 600w

 

Yes, cram for the test, don't actually learn anything. That's the best way to embody the intention of amateur radio.

Or you can use GMRS and not take a test at all!

 

When I took the test about a year and a half ago, everyone suggested all of the online study guides so that's what I did. I memorized answers and passed easily but now I feel like I don't actually know very much about HAM radio. Heck even the band plan that everyone says to get, I've got it, but it would be nice to know how to read it.

 

The ARRL publishes a Ham Radio License Manual. It has lots of good information including how to use the band plans. It's also good to remember that band plans change from state to state and sometimes from one end of the state to another. Utah's simplex frequencies are spaced 20khz apart but Colorado is spaced 15khz apart. If you are from Colorado and decide to operate two steps of from 146.520 with 15khz spacing, you will cause interference for the people who are at 146.540 and 146.560. There are lots and lots of things the test doesn't teach you (as you know) so it's important to keep learning.

Amateur radio is about experimentation, emergency communications, volunteering, and a community of nerds hanging out doing nerd things. It isn't just to talk to a guy on a trail. I don't want to steer people away from amateur radio if they are truly interested but if they are only getting licensed to talk truck to truck five miles away, that's not what it's for. And when that happens, other people who aren't licensed end up getting a radio to talk to them and you end up "rogue" like @Key-Rei mentioned. Rogue operators don't understand courteous operating and what their transmission is actually doing. I've heard a guy in a semi truck transmitting simplex with a tone into a repeater input, talking to his buddy a few miles away but his transmission was tying up a repeater system from northern Arizona to northern Utah.

Rant over.

You get the book on Amazon

$39 The ARRL Ham Radio License Manual Spiral - Easy Amateur Technician Operators Study Guide - With Sample Test Questions

https://www.amazon.com/ARRL-Radio-L...25950829/ref=mt_other?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=