Hello, I am currently a comp sci student who has become interested in
ham radio, mainly from taking physics classes and learning about
electromagentic theory. I find the subject fascinating and would like
to learn more theory and hands on applications. Currently my schedule
doesn't let me take any of the classes which sound interseting like EM
wave theory and antenna theory. I go to a small school and there isn't
a ham radio club here.

From my initial research into ham radio, the subjects which I have the
most interest is mainly satellite communications, but I am also
interested in DX communications, antenna theory and packet radio.

I have found three clubs on the ARRL website within 30 miles of me.
Only one of those lists DX communication and none of them list
satellite or packet radio as one of the groups interests. I feel a
little uneasy simply showing up to one of the meetings with my limited
(read non-existant) knowledge of the subject. I know enough about the
physics and theory behind everything, but pratically 0 about the actual
application. I envision going to one of these meetings (the one
closest to me is held at a diner) and sitting around a table with a
bunch of guys who are talking ham radio jargon and not being able to
follow anything being said. I realize they are probably helpful to
newcomers, but I think they would expect a newcomer to be able to hold
their own, which at the moment I would be unable to do

Is there any (cheap) equipiment or kits that I might be able to find on
ebay or some retail outlet that you could recommend to a beginner which
I could play around with to help me get started before being licensed?


Any books or websites geared towards beginners (possibly with my
interests in mind) that I might find useful? I've found a bunch, but it
would be better if I could get some recommendations from experienced
operators.

You are really over-thinking this. Just pick a club and go. They
will be very glad to have you show up, and won't expect you to know
anything about anything. It's not like a school classroom. Just a
bunch of people getting together with a common interest. Usually
there will be some kind of program for the meeting that will be of
interest to you and anyone else in attendance. My wife goes to our
radio meetings, and trust me, she doesn't know the first thing about
ham radio. I take that back. She does know my call letters. :-)

Dick

On 4 Aug 2005 10:56:26 -0700, "charlesW"
wrote:

Hello, I am currently a comp sci student who has become interested in
ham radio, mainly from taking physics classes and learning about
electromagentic theory. I find the subject fascinating and would like
to learn more theory and hands on applications. Currently my schedule
doesn't let me take any of the classes which sound interseting like EM
wave theory and antenna theory. I go to a small school and there isn't
a ham radio club here.

Charles,
Attend a meeting, introduce yourself and tell them your interests.
Get a feel for the members and what they are doing. Typically, there
are hams who are involved in various aspects of the hobby. You may be
presently surprised. Start at the top with the Club's President or if
he/she turns out to be non responsive find someone who is.

Just my opinion for a "first step". Of course read up as much as you
can. The jargon, by the way, will come as you get more involved.
Good luck.
73 Murray, K3BEQ

charlesW wrote:

Hello, I am currently a comp sci student who has become interested in
ham radio, mainly from taking physics classes and learning about
electromagentic theory. I find the subject fascinating and would like
to learn more theory and hands on applications. Currently my schedule
doesn't let me take any of the classes which sound interseting like EM
wave theory and antenna theory. I go to a small school and there isn't
a ham radio club here.

From my initial research into ham radio, the subjects which I have the
most interest is mainly satellite communications, but I am also
interested in DX communications, antenna theory and packet radio.

I have found three clubs on the ARRL website within 30 miles of me.
Only one of those lists DX communication and none of them list
satellite or packet radio as one of the groups interests. I feel a
little uneasy simply showing up to one of the meetings with my limited
(read non-existant) knowledge of the subject. I know enough about the
physics and theory behind everything, but pratically 0 about the actual
application. I envision going to one of these meetings (the one
closest to me is held at a diner) and sitting around a table with a
bunch of guys who are talking ham radio jargon and not being able to
follow anything being said. I realize they are probably helpful to
newcomers, but I think they would expect a newcomer to be able to hold
their own, which at the moment I would be unable to do

Is there any (cheap) equipiment or kits that I might be able to find on
ebay or some retail outlet that you could recommend to a beginner which
I could play around with to help me get started before being licensed?

Any books or websites geared towards beginners (possibly with my
interests in mind) that I might find useful? I've found a bunch, but it
would be better if I could get some recommendations from experienced
operators.

A bit expensive unless you buy a used one, but you might purchase the ARRL
Handbook, which contains hundreds of pages of useful information about most
aspects of ham radio. Both new and old copies of this book can be purchased
through Amazon.com.

"charlesW" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hello, I am currently a comp sci student who has become interested in
ham radio, mainly from taking physics classes and learning about
electromagentic theory. I find the subject fascinating and would like
to learn more theory and hands on applications. Currently my schedule
doesn't let me take any of the classes which sound interseting like EM
wave theory and antenna theory. I go to a small school and there isn't
a ham radio club here.

Thanks for the advice, I will attend a meeting. After further
searching the ARRL website, I found that my school is actually
conducting a test on Sept. 24th to get a technician's license! I will
have time to attend one or two meetings before then and I also found
the ARRL book Now You're Talking and the hadnbook at my schools
library. Hopefully this should prepare me enough for the test.

On another note, I am working part-time while at college so money is a
little tight. So I can get an idea of what I need to save, how much
should I expect to spend on a beginner's rig? Any advice on a model or
make that would be a good starter set? What if I want to do some
sattelite communications?

Thanks again for the advice,
Charles


John N9JG wrote:
A bit expensive unless you buy a used one, but you might purchase the ARRL
Handbook, which contains hundreds of pages of useful information about most
aspects of ham radio. Both new and old copies of this book can be purchased
through Amazon.com.

"charlesW" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hello, I am currently a comp sci student who has become interested in
ham radio, mainly from taking physics classes and learning about
electromagentic theory. I find the subject fascinating and would like
to learn more theory and hands on applications. Currently my schedule
doesn't let me take any of the classes which sound interseting like EM
wave theory and antenna theory. I go to a small school and there isn't
a ham radio club here.

Charles,

Clubs vary - from my experience, the majority are very open, friendly, and
helpful to newcomers and would-be hams.
Unfortunately, to be totally honest, some are cliquish and not like the
majority.

I would suggest you vist all three and see which one "feels best" in terms
of openness, interests of the membership, etc. and decide from there.

Ham radio is supposed to be about "Elmering" (experienced hams welcoming and
helping newcomers), so don't feel like you need to go it on your own until
you've "earned your stripes" ... if you visit a club and don't get an
appropriately warm welcome, move on and try another one.

73 and good luck,
Carl - wk3c

"charlesW" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hello, I am currently a comp sci student who has become interested in
ham radio, mainly from taking physics classes and learning about
electromagentic theory. I find the subject fascinating and would like
to learn more theory and hands on applications. Currently my schedule
doesn't let me take any of the classes which sound interseting like EM
wave theory and antenna theory. I go to a small school and there isn't
a ham radio club here.

From my initial research into ham radio, the subjects which I have the
most interest is mainly satellite communications, but I am also
interested in DX communications, antenna theory and packet radio.

I have found three clubs on the ARRL website within 30 miles of me.
Only one of those lists DX communication and none of them list
satellite or packet radio as one of the groups interests. I feel a
little uneasy simply showing up to one of the meetings with my limited
(read non-existant) knowledge of the subject. I know enough about the
physics and theory behind everything, but pratically 0 about the actual
application. I envision going to one of these meetings (the one
closest to me is held at a diner) and sitting around a table with a
bunch of guys who are talking ham radio jargon and not being able to
follow anything being said. I realize they are probably helpful to
newcomers, but I think they would expect a newcomer to be able to hold
their own, which at the moment I would be unable to do

Is there any (cheap) equipiment or kits that I might be able to find on
ebay or some retail outlet that you could recommend to a beginner which
I could play around with to help me get started before being licensed?


Any books or websites geared towards beginners (possibly with my
interests in mind) that I might find useful? I've found a bunch, but it
would be better if I could get some recommendations from experienced
operators.

"charlesW" wrote in message
oups.com...
Thanks for the advice, I will attend a meeting. After further
searching the ARRL website, I found that my school is actually
conducting a test on Sept. 24th to get a technician's license! I will
have time to attend one or two meetings before then and I also found
the ARRL book Now You're Talking and the hadnbook at my schools
library. Hopefully this should prepare me enough for the test.

On another note, I am working part-time while at college so money is a
little tight. So I can get an idea of what I need to save, how much
should I expect to spend on a beginner's rig? Any advice on a model or
make that would be a good starter set? What if I want to do some
sattelite communications?

Thanks again for the advice,
Charles

Glad you found the book - read it and you should be able to make inroads
into a licence. I'll say, just to reinforce it - go to the club! There's
bound to be one or more who'll point you in the right direction when you
need some help.

Take a look at Ebay for prices of rigs - search on 'amateur radio' (duh!
wasn't my first pick but it's pretty durn obvious :-) or the makes, like
Yaesu, Icom, etc. Take you pick, depending on band(s) you want to work. Or
just drool for a while before you splurge - if you wait a while you'll find
you'll have a better idea of what you want to do. You guys are spoilt for
choice in North America. :-)

For satellite, and I'm talking from a position of not having done it for a
few years (I have to do it at work so I tend not to at home now) so someone
correct me if I'm wrong; look at a 70cm and a 2m rig or a 70cm/2m
dual-bander. But if the cost is beyond you at the moment, get one rig and
play with it and figure out procedures, antennas and the like. Plenty to
play at before moving on!

Have fun!

Cheers.

Ken

charlesW wrote:
Thanks for the advice, I will attend a meeting. After further
searching the ARRL website, I found that my school is actually
conducting a test on Sept. 24th to get a technician's license! I will
have time to attend one or two meetings before then and I also found
the ARRL book Now You're Talking and the hadnbook at my schools
library. Hopefully this should prepare me enough for the test.

Make sure that the Now You're Talking book is the latest issue so that
you're studying the right stuff. Although I'm not sure how much it's
changed. An older issue may be close enough. Anyone know?

Charles,

OMG, please don't count on any of these groups if you want to get an
idea of what amateur radio is like. Go to the club like these guys
suggested. Do some research online (arrl.org, etc.) and go to the
library if you can, and go to HRO on a Saturday morning if it is close
by. Hams are, by nature, good people, and they will be glad to help you!

But r.r.a.m and other such groups are not good indicators of what ham
radio is like. These newsgroups are the "short bus" full of ham radio
wannabees. There are many, many good resources here as well, but the
dozens of idiots screaming from the short bus drown out the few
intelligent ones.

You will get insulted here (as will my posting... watch). That is not
what ham radio is about. Don't let it bother you (and in fact, don't
even read the rest of the sentence when they spray paint you with their
grafitti.)

Just go ahead and get on the air and you will have more fun than you can
imagine. Trust me - I have been on the air since 8th grade. I turned
50 years old in Feb 2005.

And go ahead and post here, but remember that amidst the 90% jerk factor
here, you may find people who actually are licensed, and among them,
you may find some who get on the air sometimes, and among them, you
might find someone who can do you good.

All the best, and 73,
Dave
KZ1O


Carl R. Stevenson wrote:
Charles,

Clubs vary - from my experience, the majority are very open, friendly,
and helpful to newcomers and would-be hams.
Unfortunately, to be totally honest, some are cliquish and not like the
majority.

I would suggest you vist all three and see which one "feels best" in
terms of openness, interests of the membership, etc. and decide from there.

Ham radio is supposed to be about "Elmering" (experienced hams welcoming
and helping newcomers), so don't feel like you need to go it on your own
until you've "earned your stripes" ... if you visit a club and don't get
an appropriately warm welcome, move on and try another one.

73 and good luck,
Carl - wk3c

"charlesW" wrote in message
oups.com...

Hello, I am currently a comp sci student who has become interested in
ham radio, mainly from taking physics classes and learning about
electromagentic theory. I find the subject fascinating and would like
to learn more theory and hands on applications. Currently my schedule
doesn't let me take any of the classes which sound interseting like EM
wave theory and antenna theory. I go to a small school and there isn't
a ham radio club here.

From my initial research into ham radio, the subjects which I have the

most interest is mainly satellite communications, but I am also
interested in DX communications, antenna theory and packet radio.

I have found three clubs on the ARRL website within 30 miles of me.
Only one of those lists DX communication and none of them list
satellite or packet radio as one of the groups interests. I feel a
little uneasy simply showing up to one of the meetings with my limited
(read non-existant) knowledge of the subject. I know enough about the
physics and theory behind everything, but pratically 0 about the actual
application. I envision going to one of these meetings (the one
closest to me is held at a diner) and sitting around a table with a
bunch of guys who are talking ham radio jargon and not being able to
follow anything being said. I realize they are probably helpful to
newcomers, but I think they would expect a newcomer to be able to hold
their own, which at the moment I would be unable to do

Is there any (cheap) equipiment or kits that I might be able to find on
ebay or some retail outlet that you could recommend to a beginner which
I could play around with to help me get started before being licensed?


Any books or websites geared towards beginners (possibly with my
interests in mind) that I might find useful? I've found a bunch, but it
would be better if I could get some recommendations from experienced
operators.

"charlesW" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hello, I am currently a comp sci student who has become interested in
ham radio, mainly from taking physics classes and learning about
electromagentic theory. I find the subject fascinating and would like
to learn more theory and hands on applications. Currently my schedule
doesn't let me take any of the classes which sound interseting like EM
wave theory and antenna theory. I go to a small school and there isn't
a ham radio club here.

Did anyone mention the www.arrl.org page and AMSAT for the sats ?

Look around and see if there is a hamfest near you. That is a flea market
for ham gear. You may find a used rig there. As always you may find a few
that will sell a rig that is not working like it should and so on.

While studying for the license test don't try to learn anything from the
qustion and answers, Just study the correct answers. Get a ARRL Handbook ,
even a used one a few years old will go a long way in getting you started on
teh correct path. Packet is just about dead except maybe a few that are
looking at the DX clusters.