Amateur (Ham) Radio BS and Callsign Thread!

Also if you are looking for commercial radio gear I have tons of motorola vhf and some uhf. But you probably want something with a vfo and fpp.

 

1. Hamstudy.org is free on desktop, or you can pay for their app.

2. I'd go for your General.

3. The Baofeng will work for now. If you're looking to get into HF (seeing that you want to go for your General) an all mode radio would be a good choice. Yaesu 991a or Icom 7100 etc.

 

Holy cow, there's a lot on here. Looking to get my HAM tecnician, for use use on the trail and because I volunteer roving medical at trail running races and want/need comms when cell reception is spotty. Other than hamstudy.org, what all else should I do to get started?

 

If you need hardcopy material i suggest the W5YI books.

 

Question for you HAM guys… I’m in BC Canada and drive truck locally. The CB channels here are dead unless you work in the gravel pits. The more common radio is what they’re calling “commercial radios” or just “VHF radios.” Normally we are on a channel they call LADD 1 which I think is 154.100.
So to the question… Is an Amateur radio capable of communicating on this channel?
There are quite a few more channels as well as Resource Road channels the logging trucks use on the FSRs.
I was considering a basic radio for my Tacoma but if an Amateur radio will cover this, and the other frequencies commonly used I’ll probably go the HAM route.

Here is a link to the list of channels used here if you are interested. https://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?aid=6435

 

Many are capable but it's not legal to do so. They must be type acceptable it goes both ways. There is a lot of Chinese junk out there that will TX out of band meaning they can cause a lot of grief on commercial bands and the same goes on the commercial side on the armature band. You can listen all you want that's fine most ham radios will receive commercial radio bands but not TX.

 

Now is the time to start.

As someone posted Get the hamstudy app check out hamstudy.org testing side.

take some practice tests online or in the app. It is free but I recommend paying the few dollars for the app.
repeat and review the explanations to the ones you get wrong.

Go to ARRL.org and look for local ham groups. Some have zoom meetings and may have local meetings.

http://www.arrl.org/find-a-club

Good luck

 

Thanks for the explanation. It doesn’t sound like the ham radio would be of much benefit to me then. I was hoping it would be capable of handling both so I wouldn’t need two different radios.

 

Thanks for all the great advice and suggestions guys, much appreciated.

Thanks for the recommendations, I checked out HamStudy earlier this evening and it looks like exactly what I need. I also didn't realize you can take the test online now, that's very convenient.

Thanks Bill, I'll go for general and start out with the Baofeng.

Thanks for the advice, looking over the material you all suggested I'm getting a sense of what I'll need to memorize vs what I vaguely remember learning about way back when.

 

I have a yaesu ft7900, its capable of transmitting out of band. I believe it will go up to 170mhz.

Some Motorola commercial radios will transmit all of the 2m band up to 174mhz if you wanted something pre programmed, however they aren't easily programmed like amateur radio gear.

 

Ham study is great, I'd buy a radio now and learn how to work all the menus. Program in everything you will use in the future.

There are VHF frequencies that don't require a ham license, but they have low power restrictions.

I take a bunch of cp200 radios with me and I give them out to whatever 4x4 group I'm with, they do much better then the disposable bubble pack radios from box stores. Plus they are tough as nails.

 

You can take an on line test it is a little involved though, cameras, 3 VE's zoom, things like that. Check some of the local repeater sites and see if they have a club page it's easier in person. Years ago you used to only need a single ham but the FCC caught on to a $20 bill slipped under the table so it's now in person with 3 VE's.

 

Thanks for the advice. I like the idea of getting a radio and learning about it. I was looking at GMRS for personal use, but with the races I go to, I figure jumping into HAM would be better, since that's what everyone is using already, so I can get on the net.

 

Someone in High Point NC is broadcasting on GMRS16 hot or very wide off freq or something. Buddies kids in Troutman NC are hearing chatter on their Xbox headsets. He turned on his baofeng and sent me a clip.

 

I just paid the $70.00 FCC fee and received my GMRS license. I found a couple of websites that walked through the signup process and have to say, they were not lying when they said navigating the FCC website is one of the most difficult things that they have ever done! Thankfully I already had the FRN and just needed to apply for the license and next day it was approved.

WRPF265 is the callsign and I have a question...

• When I go through the ranks of HAM certification will I keep the same callsign or do I have one for GMRS and one for the HAM bands?

 

Your HAM callsign will be different. And you’ll love the journey through HAM!

 

Tested for my Tech License earlier this month. Crammed my butt off, and passed my General Exam tonight! Time to learn all about HF!
- KI5TIK -

 

Congratulations! HF is a kicker. We are on the up"tik" in the solar cycle so it will only get better the next few years. I enjoy VHF down to HF (80m). Be prepared to forfeit your wallet.

KJ7LVZ

 

Anyone run a VHF/UHF through a switch pro or equivalent?

I know CB "clean" power was a big deal, but going to VHF UHF built in - not sure if "clean power" is still a big thing, or if I can kind of pull it from anywhere, including a switch pro/auxbeam/etc.

Not sure if this is what I'll get but I googled "Amazon VHF UHF radio" and this popped up so, this is at least the idea of what I'm looking to put in. Antenna TBD, either a stick off my bed stiffener or off my roof rack with one of them pimple antennas.

$80 QYT KT-8900D Upgrade Version of KT-8900 Dual Band Mini Car Radio Mobile Transceiver VHF UHF Two Way Radio+USB Programming Cable

https://www.amazon.com/KT-8900D-Upg...=&hvlocphy=9002250&hvtargid=pla-1229983061742