Ok, please don't flame me for spamming or anything, but I have been
quite interested in ham radio lately and even memorized morse code, can
any of you give me pointers on how much it takes to get a liscense, how
much money on a bare bones radio that still does alot, and how much fun
it is :-D. I hope that you can answer these questions and again, please
don't flame me for being a noob.

wrote:
Ok, please don't flame me for spamming or anything, but I have been
quite interested in ham radio lately and even memorized morse code, can
any of you give me pointers on how much it takes to get a liscense, how
much money on a bare bones radio that still does alot, and how much fun
it is :-D. I hope that you can answer these questions and again, please
don't flame me for being a noob.
well if you have code in usable form tthe best thing is wander over to
arrl.org and look lecensing info you basicaly need (today unless the
FCC has released the expect changes to a 35 question test and pass 24
or 25 I don't recall the question pool is publish in various book (now
you are tlaking by the ARRL or gordeon west ( at w5yi.org) and some
radio shack and I think the RS webwite carries gordon pass it for a
license for 50 hz and up .....As I type type to get access to shortwave
or HF ham spectrum you need to pass a code test and aanother 35
question geting 24 or 25 right the General test

if you are smart abious and masochistic you can take all at one sitting
but I would rremend the tech and code test toogther (and the n on
another day the general test (and retrying the code test in case you
did not make uit with the tech license

good luck and welcome aboard

) writes:
Ok, please don't flame me for spamming or anything, but I have been
quite interested in ham radio lately and even memorized morse code, can
any of you give me pointers on how much it takes to get a liscense, how
much money on a bare bones radio that still does alot, and how much fun
it is :-D. I hope that you can answer these questions and again, please
don't flame me for being a noob.

The proper place for this would be rec.radio.amateur.misc but sadly
the same people who've made that newsgroup pretty inhospitable lately
have also done damage to this newsgroup. It's a common misconception
that since amateur radio takes place on shortwave, this is the place
for it, while realistically this is just for a limited subset of
things related to amateur radio, primarily as it intersects with
shortwave listeners who listen to the ham bands.

That said, a lot of countries have reduced the morse code requirement,
or outright eliminated it in recent years. Chances are pretty good
that in most countries, there is now an entry level license that does
not require knowing the morse code, though limitations will come
with that license (such as where you can operate).

I should warn you that "memorizing" the morse code likely won't help
you one bit. It is too common for the beginner, I did it myself
decades ago, to think they know the morse code if they can send it.
But it's a different mind process, and being able to send doesn't
mean an ability to receive it. Decades ago, it was somewhat
understandable, given that there weren't the same resources available,
and it was easy to get a code practice oscillator and code key, so
off you went. Many times, the morse code was right there on the code
practice oscillator (or the walkie talkie that had a code button), and
if not it was easy to find in the encyclopedia or some other book. But
starting that way didn't leave us prepared for receiving code, when
we finally got to that point. You have to listen, and get used to
hearing the sounds, and hear the morse characters as a complex sound
rather than individual dots and dashes. The way to do this is
to listen to code sent at a higher speed, but with big spaces between
characters, and this will help later when you want to receive
at actual higher speeds.

The good news is that nowadays it's real easy, unlike 1972 when the
best choice I had was to get a vinyl record and play it endlessly.
You probably can download various prerecorded material, and listen
on your computer or burn a CD. Or get a program to run on your computer
that sends you code.

SOmeone suggested the ARRL, of course if you're not in the US then
you need to find your own country's national amateur radio organization.
And then find a local club. Many will still have a class for a nominal
fee that will teach you what you need to pass the test, and at the
very least a local club will give you a chance to interact with real
hams, and learn about the local stores (if any) that sell ham equipment
and learn of upcoming fleamarkets put on by the local clubs, that can
be a place to buy used ham equipment and peripheral things like books.

I see no indication that it's difficult at all to pass the test to
get a ham license. I got mine when I was twelve, with only a few months
of deliberate study (though a year and a half of reading the ham magazines
and books), and if anything, licensing tests have become simpler in
the years since then.

Michael

If you are in the US, there is no better place for your questions than
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HamRadioHelpGroup/

73 es GL, Tom

wrote:
Ok, please don't flame me for spamming or anything, but I have been
quite interested in ham radio lately and even memorized morse code, can
any of you give me pointers on how much it takes to get a liscense, how
much money on a bare bones radio that still does alot, and how much fun
it is :-D. I hope that you can answer these questions and again, please
don't flame me for being a noob.

First of all, please understand that the ham radio bands are a lot
friendlier than the Internet newsgroups!

The licensing process depends on what country you're in. In the U.S.
there is no fee for the license itself but there is a modest examination
fee for the test you must pass to qualify for a license. "The ARRL VEC
Test Fee for 2006 is $14.00"; other examination coordinators might
charge a slightly different fee. See
http://www.arrl.org/arrlvec/license-requirements.html for more
information in the U.S..

(if you're in another country, let us know which one & I think we can
come up with the name/location/URL of an appropriate local organization)

A decent new VHF radio will run you around $200; a decent new one for
shortwave will start around $700. Used gear is widely available and
less expensive - I would suggest $125 would get you a decent used VHF
set and $400 for used shortwave.

You will need some perihiperal gear - a power supply and antenna.
Probably around $50-100 for the power supply. (maybe a bit more for a
new supply for a shortwave rig) You can make your own antenna for a
few tens of dollars or less in Home Depot/Lowes/etc. parts. You'll
probably need to buy a bit of feedline, same ballpark.

You can, of course, spend a LOT more if you're so inclined!

As with any hobby, it's as much fun as you want to make itgrin!

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

Check around and see if there is a Amateur Ham Radio Club in your area.
cuhulin

Doug Smith W9WI wrote:
wrote:
Ok, please don't flame me for spamming or anything, but I have been
quite interested in ham radio lately and even memorized morse code, can
any of you give me pointers on how much it takes to get a liscense, how
much money on a bare bones radio that still does alot, and how much fun
it is :-D. I hope that you can answer these questions and again, please
don't flame me for being a noob.

First of all, please understand that the ham radio bands are a lot
friendlier than the Internet newsgroups!

The licensing process depends on what country you're in. In the U.S.
there is no fee for the license itself but there is a modest examination
fee for the test you must pass to qualify for a license. "The ARRL VEC
Test Fee for 2006 is $14.00"; other examination coordinators might
charge a slightly different fee. See
http://www.arrl.org/arrlvec/license-requirements.html for more
information in the U.S..

(if you're in another country, let us know which one & I think we can
come up with the name/location/URL of an appropriate local organization)

A decent new VHF radio will run you around $200; a decent new one for
shortwave will start around $700. Used gear is widely available and
less expensive - I would suggest $125 would get you a decent used VHF
set and $400 for used shortwave.

You will need some perihiperal gear - a power supply and antenna.
Probably around $50-100 for the power supply. (maybe a bit more for a
new supply for a shortwave rig) You can make your own antenna for a
few tens of dollars or less in Home Depot/Lowes/etc. parts. You'll
probably need to buy a bit of feedline, same ballpark.

You can, of course, spend a LOT more if you're so inclined!

As with any hobby, it's as much fun as you want to make itgrin!

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

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?

Definetly look into the extra Ham Radios you uncle was talking
about.List them on a piece of paper and ask the Ham experts (I am not an
expert) in this news group about them.
cuhulin

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