RadioBanter - View Single Post

Doug Smith W9WI · August 5th 06, 05:57 AM posted to rec.radio.shortwave

wrote:
Ya, I'm in the US. That's a whole lot of money and it is doubtful that
I can get it very soon so what do you recommend I do in the meantime?
Should I get a liscense now or does it eventually expire? Should I try
to find parts on ebay or something? And one last thing, my uncle says
he knows someone with some extra ham radios, should I look into that?

Licenses expire but are renewable for free without retaking the exam.
Besides, the license term is 10 years; if you haven't found gear by then
I'd imagine you'd have lost interestgrin. So nothing would be wasted
by getting the license before you're able to afford equipment.

The exams are generally given by local radio clubs (there's more info on
that on the arrl.org site as well) and getting involved with a local
club is also a good way to get to know what used gear is available.
Through judicious use of eBay or other second-hand sources, you could
get *something* on the air for considerably less than the numbers I
quoted. But that kind of thing is a lot safer if you have a local
mentor who knows what's worth what.

Yes, I'd look into your uncle's connections - but be sure they actually
*are* ham rigs. A lot of people tend to confuse ham and CB - and
occasionally pretty much every other two-way radio service. While you
*can* modify CB radios to work for ham purposes, it's not a trivial task.

--
Doug Smith W9WI
Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66
http://www.w9wi.com