Getting your Amateur Radio License (HAM license)

[usmcveteran]

Here are the accessories I was talking about for car use...... The great thing about Baeofeng as well is everything is so cheap for it.

Hand Mic
Antenna
Battery eliminator

[Jimbo_79]

Many moons ago I was an on air personality at the college radio station I worked at and enjoyed it a lot! Broke a few FCC regs a few times though not intentionally This could be pretty fun in general and a good tool to have in case of emergencies!

Hell, we could start the NYSG radio network

[Jackalope]

You might need to go to a window to make your transmissions, depending upon where you are in relation to your local repeater. If that doesn't work, I suggest getting a mobile radio and a power supply and putting up an outside antenna.

[tdpark]

Orange county has a amateur radio club. I used to be a part of it but got too busy. Good group of folks and can be a good resource- they meet in Cornwall once a month. Just google them.

[usmcveteran]

Thanks for bringing that up, every area should have a club nearby to hell anyone new to the club.

[Jimbo_79]

Today I was talking with a gentleman I work with to see if he knew much about HAM radios and the like. He has a background in broadcasting and just got back from a small convention in the city. The number one topic (according to him) was frequency allocation. Apparently the FCC wants to reallocate the 600 Mhz spectrum for mobile bandwidth and is planning on auctioning it off next year. He also said the FCC is "encouraging" anyone that has a license to broadcast in that range to relinquish their current license and get a new one in the 500 Mhz range. He's trying to find some documentation about it and I'm doing a little looking as well.

What this means for broadcasters is any transmission equipment they have from wireless mics to towers that are on the 600 range will now have "illegal" equipment and **** ain't cheap, lol! I showed him the Baeofeng in the OP and he said to be a bit careful because if it was originally $129 and is now only $32 it might be because they will soon be "illegal" in the FCC's eyes. One last thing he told me was he would be very surprised if HAM operators came out of this upcoming ****storm unscathed.

Just passing along what he told me so please don't kill the messenger, lol!

Here is a chart I found from the FCC about bandwidth allocation as of July 2014. Thought you all might find this handy.

http://transition.fcc.gov/oet/spectr...e/fcctable.pdf

[usmcveteran]

They have been cheap for over a year now. They would not just become illegal either. The ARRL would be all over it if there was something coming the way towards amateur radio. The are like the NRA.

The only time I could imagine the FCC taking away frequencies from Ham's is if they don't use it anymore which is why its important to get new people into it.

I am not worried about it lol doesn't sound like he is too familiar with ham stuff either and just knows his frequencies might be affected.

And the radio is cheap enough to risk it IMO lol.

[Jimbo_79]

He said he doesn't do HAM but does do maritime radio. You are right about the radio being cheap enough to risk it, lol! Not that I meant the unit itself would be illegal but operating it would be, my bad. I didn't mean to sound like Chicken Little, haha! Just passing along the info and IMO if Sprint, AT&T etc throw enough money at it they will get what they want. I just don't trust them or the FCC to squash out amateur radio because money talks and bullPeshitta walks.

BTW, the reviews on that unit are pretty damn good! Forgot to mention that in my last post.

[usmcveteran]

FCC is pretty good and amateur radio is important to national security. Oh and amateur radio isn't in 600 MHz anyways lol. Here is link to frequency ranges http://www.arrl.org/frequency-allocations

[Jimbo_79]

Good point about the national security thing USMC! I wasn't sure if amateur operated in the 600 range or not. I just know the 600 from working with wireless mics over the years. In the chart I posted I found the AM and FM bands and the range of that Baeofeng but that's all I was looking for, lol!

Oh, one cool thing he mentioned to me as well. He once had a student who decided to get the technician license while still in college at the time wireless equipment was becoming more commonplace and because he had that license got hired right out of college working for a company that does audio for major venues because of having the license and knowledge about frequencies etc. So, the license(s) can be a double positive for anyone who has them

[usmcveteran]

Yea I have heard that as well. The baeofeng has wide operating range but legally can only operate on amautuer bands. I have used mine to monitor local delivery businesses though lol.

I still have a lot to learn. I spent like 8 hours of studying total to pass all three tests, I just memorized all the answers lol.

I do know how to operate my equipment though and make contacts. Next thing I want to learn are digital modes like psk31. Lots of abbreviations to learn to understand what people are saying lol. Digital modes use small amount of bandwidth so you get more range because power is more focused vs talking over radio.

[Jimbo_79]

Nice! I'm just now getting a chance to do some reading on the ARRL page. I should be doing some other things right now but oh well. You'll pick up the language pretty quick I bet!

[usmcveteran]

Yea just need to practice it, I have app on phone and tablet to hook up to my HF radio so I can type messages and have phone decode beeps lol, my radio decodes anyways but nice to have app that I can type into instead of keying Morse code.

Baeofeng is nice to get feet wet but I think HF is where its at lol really need general license at least though

[Jackalope]

Part of the justification of the Amateur Radio Service is the use of radios in emergencies, i.e., floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, etc. Amateur operators are often the only communications link in remote, third world countries, and sometimes even here in the U.S. . Interestingly enough, over the past few decades, amateur radio operators have actually picked up additional bands. And in the UHF and microwave bands, amateurs have an enormous amount of frequencies available compared to other services.

I can vouch that an amateur radio license can get you a job. Over 35 years ago I was hired by an electronics company, and just in the region, the company training instructor and the general manager were hams, which is why I got the job. It was pretty cool, because my first couple of weeks at the company were spent reading amateur radio magazines and repairing a couple of old Heathkit HF radios. Later I went to their national headquarters and they had an amateur radio club on their campus, complete with an extensive HF station, tribander, etc. The company is called Racal, and they manufacture a lot of military communications equipment, mostly for the British empire. At some larger hamfests, I occasionally come across some of their HF receivers, but they're usually priced way beyond what I can afford.

[Jimbo_79]

That's badass Jackalope!!