Ham Radio
How Do You Obtain a Ham Radio License, And Start Transeiving?
After much thought, you have made the decision to obtain your Ham Radio license. What steps do you need to follow now to verify that you have what you need in order to start broadcasting and transeiving on your new ten meter radio?
There are three different types of licenses that you can obtain and two of them have specific requirements in order to obtain them. The first license is the Technician’s License. This license has few requirements one of which is passing a short test in order to confirm that you understand how to broadcast properly. The other license is the General license, and the third is the Extra Class license.
In order to start your journey into the world of Ham radios, it is suggested that one start with the first license while learning how to properly broadcast over the FCC regulated airwaves. The Technician’s license was designed to cover this situation. You don’t need to qualify beyond one 35 question multiple choice test that evaluates your basic understanding of how to operate a radio. Almost anyone can now qualify for this test and it is free because it is sponsored by the government.
The second license is the General license. This license is a little harder to obtain, because you need to learn to transmit Morse code at a rate of 5 words a minute. The general license allows you to broadcast on a wider band than the Technician class license. You are allowed to broadcast over 27 bands and you will be allowed to use two meter and 10 meter radios. Two meter radios allow you to be mobile while ten meter radios are meant to be stationary.
Our third license is the Extra class category. A license like this allows you to broadcast over the available service bands and facilitates the use of the radios that are available to amateur radio operators. Again, this license is free to the public with minimal testing and a Morse code rate of 5 wpm.
Choosing the proper radio is also very important for your new hobby. A two meter hand held radio is an inexpensive way to stay in contact with your other ham radio buddies while you are on the go. You can transmit from your boat, your car, or from your favorite lakeside fishing spot. 10 meter radios are made by a variety of manufacturers and are offered at a wide range of prices, depending on the features that you choose. The prices range form 150 dollars for the two meter hand held to 800 dollars for the top of the line home base 10 meter radios.
Choosing to become a radio operator is a very simple decision. It is a fun and exciting way to stay in touch with the world and can actually prove to be a life saver in emergencies. Another option is to start small with a handheld or portable device. These radios do not cost much and you can get a lot of bang for your buck.
Ham radio?
Why does my neighbours radio interfere with my tv reception?It may not even be my neighbour this time but last time I had interference it was and it is annoying me.Any advice would be great.
Hopefully you are on good terms with you neighbor. Usually, a friendly call and cooperation with both parties (your neighbor *and* you) can result in locating the problem.
If you are on cable, their may be a cable leak – which can cause problems in both directions. The leak might interfere with an amateur and, likewise, the amateur could cause problems with your reception. There are cable channels that are located on the *same* frequencies as some of the higher ham bands. If this turns up to be the case, the problem lies with the cable company and they will have to fix it.
If the ham is on lower bands, a problem might be caused by (you aren’t likely to believe this, but it’s true) such things as corroded contacts between conductive gutter lines, old wires, and any number of similar problems. This is why it is essential to have mutual cooperation. A letter to the FCC will result in a letter to you explaining this (and more).
Commercially manufactured amateur radios have very, very low emissions other than where they should have them. By the time you add an resonant antenna (or antenna brought into resonance with the aid of a tuner), there will be virtually no out-of-band transmissions. Trust me on this.
Again, this doesn’t mean the problem has to be in the televison – nor does it mean the transmitter is necessarily at fault. It could be rectification and resultant frequency multiplying at some bad junction between wires near your house.
If it is only the audio that is being interfered with, their is the possibility of overload of the audio circuit by rf feeding in through external speaker wires. A friend of mine had this back around 1965. I went to the house to see how bad the interference was (it was *terrible*) and found speaker leads running around 30 feet to each speaker. This was about the exact length for a resonant antenna at the transmitted frequency (yep, it only was a problem on one band). A simple ferrite bead could clean this stuff up.
That said, it is imperative that you not get all steamed up before you approach the neighbor. You will need technical expertise to try and resolve the problem.
Good luck!
Best regards,
Jim
How do i get a ham radio licence, and then start tranceiving.?
I’ve been exetremely interested in Ham radios, and want to get into it. Ive been looking at some things, and from what I can tell I have to pass some kind of exam for a licence. If you know what I need please tell me. Also, and tips for a radio and all that good stuff would be greatly appreciated.
Yes , when you are a ham radio operator you are certified by the federal government.
Operation and license should be viewed as a privilege and not just a game.
You will have to do some study and pass some tests.
These tests can be easy or hard depending upon the class of license that you are after.
The class of license will determine and limit what sort of equipment and bands that you can use.
The test phase isn’t usually expensive, but you will need to buy a few books.
At any time you can upgrade to a more advanced license but of course you must pass those tests as well.
Most people enter the hobby with the lowest class , ‘technician’.
With this you are limited to VHF and UHF bands.
This is fine for local contacts , but if you want direct worldwide communications then you will have to get at least the ‘General’ class license.
With the General class you can access most of the bands allocated to ham operations but at a lower power.
Even with this lower power substantial distances can be crossed.
Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that ‘performance = buying’.
I see often hams that have bought every sort of expensive gadget and gizmo available , but they still cant get good contacts.
The fact is , that a simple low cost radio and antenna set up well will do the job better than an expensive radio and antenna set up poorly.
I run a very simple setup from my car and its fantastic.
You can see some examples on my Youtube page.
http://www.youtube.com/user/OH2FFY
Here is a map I started off recently showing some of the places that I have talked with.
http://oh2ffy.50webs.com/contactmap.html
Two last points –
1.The hobby is what you make it.
2.There are more important things in life than a hobby.
What is the difference between a HAM Radio and a CB Radio?
What is the difference between an Amateur Radio (HAM Radio) and a CB Radio?
How do I use my aviation headset with ham radio?
I have an aviation headset (the one with the 1/4″ plug and the other odd microphone one) which I want to connect to my handheld ham radio (It has a standard 35mm jack for the headphones and a mini mic jack). Please help!
Hiya
There is HUUUUUGEEE difference between Ham radio and CB radio.
They are not to be confused.
In fact , there are so many differences it would be hard to list them all on a simple answer., but the basics are this….
In most places , CB radio operation is allowed at no license cost.
That however doesn’t mean license free.
By transmitting on the CB bands , operators thereby agree to the terms and conditions set out for the use of the band by the spectrum management authorities of the country that they are in.
This means that there is rules and conditions , and penalties for illegal operation on the CB band.
On the other side of the equation Ham radio operators must pass quite involved tests to prove their technical proficiency and knowledge of radio and electronics theory and practice.
Then they must pay yearly fee’s to the government for the privilege of using the Ham bands.
Even with the license , Hams don’t own the bands or specific channels.
It is a shared resource that Ham operators know must be managed correctly so all can have a fair use of the spectrum.
If all Hams were going nuts doing what they wanted to , whenever they wanted to , the bands would be a mess , and completely useless.
This is in effect what has happened to the CB bands.
Due to lack of willingness by CBrs to follow the rules and do what is right , they have rendered their band either inactive , or just a mess of distorted signals.
In an attempt to limit interference to other services such as TV and radio , CB radios are limited in power output.
Ham radios have much higher transmitted power output.
Because of the education Hams have in radio/electronics , they can use this power and not cause interference to others.
So by far it is CB radio operators that cause interference complaints to be registered with the communications authorities.,,in fact , many 10s of thousands of complaints get filled against CB operators every year in the USA alone.
Another area where CB and Ham differs is in the types of transmissions that can be made.
CBrs are limited to voice only modes , where Hams can use Morse code , voice , and a variety of digital data modes.
hams can even transmits TV type of pictures around the world to other Hams , and even relay their transmissions through satellites.
This here is just a small example of some of the many ways Ham radio and CB radio differs.
If I had to pick 1 thing that is the biggest difference between the two , I would say it must be the education and mindset of the people involved.
CBrs are nothing like Hams., and they never will be.
For more information please feel free to email me.
gW:-) OH2FFY
Ham radio operator!? How do I obtain a license in the state of Kentucky?
I have always been interested in Ham radio, but I do not know anyone in the hobby. What materials do I need to study? Please help!!
You can buy adapters from the aircraft plugs to 3.5mm. BUT, and this is a large one, the impedance of the two will not be compatible with a direct connection. You will need to build an impedance matching circuit to use aviation mics (and even headphones in most cases) with any ham gear.
I have made simple connection cables several times using headset jacks and plugs and then small “pig tails” to other connection sizes. You can order the jacks online from any avionics supplier. I have yet to get any aviation headset to simply plug and work with Icom, Yaesu, Kenwood, or any rig that I had on hand. Adding the matching circuit allowed them to work but the exact match was different nearly every time. Without looking up the specs, I believe the aviation headphones will be 600ohms and the mics will be high as well(?) nearly all the “ham” units are looking for 4-8ohm headsets and low-impedance mics or amplified systems.
There is even a difference in military and GA as well as Helicopter headsets! Military units come closer to “ham” matching.
All that being said, there are “pre-made” cables from several sources Pilot USA has some on a quick search http://www.pilot-usa.com/adaptercables.htm
There are some schematics on line for matching “boxes” and values of R/C needed. I think I found some last time at http://eham.net ??
Good Luck
Edit – here is a good discussion on the issue http://forums.qrz.com/showthread.php?203093-David-Clark-Headsets-for-Ham-Shack-Use
and http://www.eham.net/ehamforum/smf/index.php?topic=44376.0
A good site to start is: http://www.arrl.org That is the national association for Amateur Radio.
Getting a license requires a written test, given by volenteer examiners. The test has 35 multiple-choice questions that are selected from a pool of a few hundered questions. There are three license classes, each requiring a test element. Study materials can be obtained from the Arrl website, or a local amateur radio store (if one is in your area). There are some materials you could get online for free, just look around. You’d want materals to study for the “technician” class of license, as that is the entry-level.