Amateur Radio FAQ

K31 · Nov 17, 2013

Armed Citizen said:
Ive been browsing this thread for a week or two and really want to get into Ham radio. I live in Harford county near Bel Air, are there any upcoming classes/tests in a close distance? Say within an hour drive of Bel Air?

You may want to contact these guys:

http://k3nem.org/node/88

http://w3ft.com/education.htm

Ask when the next class will be and ask to be put on the mailing/notification list.

K31 · Nov 17, 2013

awptickes,
just a heads up your PM inbox is full if you are going to do what you mentioned.

awptickes · Nov 18, 2013

Yeah, I figured that out. Now that I'm back in civilization, I'm going to hit him up via PM.

Armed Citizen, There's a couple hackerspaces (if you're familiar with the term) who host classes occasionally. I JUST went to one to help teach this past weekend, on Saturday. The Harford County Emergency Comms folks may still teach classes as well, check on it, their site is http://www.harfordemcomm.org/ and they have an email list.

I don't have any current test literature, but I recommend the ARRL books, they're probably the "best" for studying for the test. Be sure to take a couple practice tests beforehand, to make sure you're ready. Nearest testing center IIRC is the whitemarsh library.

If you're frugal, study for the general exam at the same time, and take both tests for one test fee.

garber38 · Nov 18, 2013

K31 said:
It's surprisingly hard to see a wire antenna especially if it's mounted high up and you use existing trees/structure for supports. It also helps if the insulation of the wire is black.

Also, there are quite a few disguised antenna designs.

Yeah, I've been thinking about that and looking up some ideas. Thanks!!

garber38 · Nov 18, 2013

Half-cocked said:
About a year ago, I bought some tubes from a ham in Olney for an old radio I was restoring. He showed me his setup, including a LF dipole antenna he had strung between the trees in his backyard. He said his HOA didn't allow antennas, but his were almost invisible, so he had never had any problems.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

So you are going to come over and install that puppy for me?? Do you think that my neighbors tree would be OK to use or would that be too far of a run? :innocent0

MDGolom · Nov 18, 2013

garber38 said:
Yeah, I've been thinking about that and looking up some ideas. Thanks!!

Since I live in a condo (3rd of 4 floors), I bought one of these:

http://www.earchi.org/proj_homebrew.html

You can either buy from them (which I did) or build one yourself). I replaced the black wire with white to match the trim on the balcony. Since my balcony railing is flush with the back of the building, I started the wire at the top of the left side, down to the decking, across the deck and up the other side. It's not the best, but with my KX3 I managed to contact Prince Edward Island in Canada for the ARRL contest last weekend. I also hit Alabama, North Carolina and Georgia.

garym · Nov 18, 2013

For those of you limited to balconies check out some of the QSO's that Chameleon Antennas have posted to see what you can work with relatively simple installs. One of his videos shows my mobile install when I was testing one of his antennas. I have since gone back to a Hi-Q antenna which is only 4' tall but works 3.5 to 50MHz and works well for DX while mobile. And they also work great on balconies.

http://www.youtube.com/user/ChameleonWalker?feature=watch

http://www.hiqantennas.com/

rpker · Nov 19, 2013

Armed Citizen said:
Ive been browsing this thread for a week or two and really want to get into Ham radio. I live in Harford county near Bel Air, are there any upcoming classes/tests in a close distance? Say within an hour drive of Bel Air?

check the arrl website
exam session http://www.arrl.org/find-an-amateur-radio-license-exam-session

Classes http://www.arrl.org/find-an-amateur-radio-license-class

for studying I used the hamstudy.org site
https://hamstudy.org/

Docster · Dec 1, 2013

rpker said:
check the arrl website
exam session http://www.arrl.org/find-an-amateur-radio-license-exam-session

Classes http://www.arrl.org/find-an-amateur-radio-license-class

for studying I used the hamstudy.org site
https://hamstudy.org/

Yes, go to the site above; there you will find a class scheduled for Sat Jan. 4 at the Rising Sun American Legion as well as a class at the White Marsh Public Library scheduled for Sat Jan 25; as well as many others in the area.

pilgrim · Dec 1, 2013

The Laurel VEC does not charge for exams. I did mine at AARC. They have a nice place out there.

MDGolom · Dec 1, 2013

Armed Citizen said:
Ive been browsing this thread for a week or two and really want to get into Ham radio. I live in Harford county near Bel Air, are there any upcoming classes/tests in a close distance? Say within an hour drive of Bel Air?

I used the ARRL study guide to get my technicians license. It's not complicated, so you can probably just do it on your own. The key is all of the questions on the exam are available on line. Keep in mind that the technician question pool is scheduled to be update in July this year, so go for the exam before that.

Here's the guide I used:

http://www.amazon.com/Ham-Radio-License-Manual-Arrl/dp/0872590976/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1385947512&sr=8-1&keywords=arrl+tech

I used the ARRL for my general exam as well. It was ok, but I picked up another guide by Gordon West which helped some.

I'm going to start studying for the extra exam and I think I'm going to use this site:

http://www.hamradiolicenseexam.com

The reviews on eham.net are very good for the course and offer money back guarantee if you don't pass.

http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/3412

awptickes · Dec 1, 2013

I ran a long wire clipped to one side of the gutters on my old apartment complex (about 30 feet) with a test clip, and then loaded the other end of the gutters from my apt. Worked pretty well, and I got some DX from the southern states (due to antenna direction and trees.) I only ever ran a couple watts to minimize interference potential.

I used a pair of metal slinkeys on a 4:1 balun a couple times too. I suspended them from the rafters above my patio and got a couple contacts more easily than the gutters.

Armed Citizen · Dec 2, 2013

MDGolom said:
I used the ARRL study guide to get my technicians license. It's not complicated, so you can probably just do it on your own. The key is all of the questions on the exam are available on line. Keep in mind that the technician question pool is scheduled to be update in July this year, so go for the exam before that.

Here's the guide I used:

http://www.amazon.com/Ham-Radio-License-Manual-Arrl/dp/0872590976/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1385947512&sr=8-1&keywords=arrl+tech

I used the ARRL for my general exam as well. It was ok, but I picked up another guide by Gordon West which helped some.

I'm going to start studying for the extra exam and I think I'm going to use this site:

http://www.hamradiolicenseexam.com

The reviews on eham.net are very good for the course and offer money back guarantee if you don't pass.

http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/3412

Thanks everyone for the help. The first two guides by gordon west are on my christmas list so hopefully I can start studying December 26th

bikerbankr · Dec 2, 2013

Just passed my tech test at the White Marsh library on 11/23. Had I known I could take the general test for no-charge at the same time, I would have studied for that. Took a stab at it but missed it by 4 questions. Might try for it in January.

I found this study guide while researching radios: http://www.kb6nu.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/2010_Tech_Study_Guide.pdf

Also, if you register at qrz.com and take their practice exams, they track your scores for you as well as how many questions out of the pool you've seen or answered correctly. They say once you've seen them all and consistently score over 85%, you're ready for the real exam.

chale127 · Dec 2, 2013

bikerbankr said:
They say once you've seen them all and consistently score over 85%, you're ready for the real exam.

This is true BUT please please do not just "memorize" test answers, there are so many radio fundamentals covered in the General that truly should be UNDERSTOOD and not just memorized

K31 · Dec 3, 2013

bikerbankr said:
Just passed my tech test at the White Marsh library on 11/23.

Congratulations.

Had I known I could take the general test for no-charge at the same time, I would have studied for that.

It's too bad there's not a thread on here with some kind of post at the beginning that let people know this kind of stuff.

:innocent0

bikerbankr · Dec 3, 2013

K31 said:
Congratulations.

It's too bad there's not a thread on here with some kind of post at the beginning that let people know this kind of stuff.

Thanks! And yeah..yeah..I didn't think to look here first.

bikerbankr · Dec 3, 2013

chale127 said:
This is true BUT please please do not just "memorize" test answers, there are so many radio fundamentals covered in the General that truly should be UNDERSTOOD and not just memorized

I agree and that was meant for the tech crowd. My take on the tech exam was: mostly rules and regs with a sprinkling of general electrical knowledge.

The general test, on the other hand, was WAY more in-depth lol. Will certainly require some heavier studying.

Pinecone · Dec 4, 2013

If you look at the two licenses back in history, it makes sense.

At first, the Tech was the next step up from Novice that added access to VHF and higher.

Later came the Tech Plus, which was the VHF and up without an HF priviledges and no Morse code test requirement.

In the days of the Tech, many people built and tuned their own HF radios. HeathKit was around, along with others. A good bit of technical knowledge was required to do this without causing problems.

In the VHF and up world, most people buy a radio, hook up 12V and an antenna and go on the air. So little technical knowledge is required.

jpo183 · Dec 7, 2013

does anyone here know morse code? Ive been learning it and am through about 12 letters / numbers. There is a great tutorial on youtube by merryviking.

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