Amateur Radio FAQ

Traveler · Oct 13, 2020

The AARC club has been masking up and offering testing the last few months in Davidsonville MD.

The last I heard, a few places are offering online:

https://nescitech.org/amateur-radio-license-exams/

Other possibilities:

Anchorage, W5YI, GLAARG, and ARRL

Traveler · Oct 13, 2020

Sorry, duped

Arcamm · Oct 13, 2020

Thanks K31 and Traveler. Last time I looked everything was shut down.

Bigfoot21075 · Oct 13, 2020

Laurel VEC is now testing live in Catonsville BTW....

K31 · Oct 13, 2020

The Fort Washington club is another who has been testing.

There have been a lot of places doing testing in the last couple of months but be sure to contact someone well before hand because there are fewer doing it, they have to limit the number they test at a time, and there is a backlog of test takers.

jc1240 · Nov 29, 2020

I got my Baofeng radios and I watched this video to get things going with some of his suggestions like NOAA weather.

Once you get used the annoying number of times you have to click any given field, it's easy.

I just found some I want to add, but I'm confused. Would someone translate the info from radioreference.com to CHIRP? There are things in this table I just don't see in the CHIRP software. The two I am interested in are K3PZO and N3KZS.

For N3KZS, I see the TONE settings (107.2). Does the PL mean "plus" for the Duplex field? The other bits of info such as CSQ have me lost/no match in CHIRP.

Screen Shot 2020-11-29 at 7.36.25 PM.jpg

I will NOT be transmitting; I haven't tested yet and am in the hemming and hawing stage with what book I want (I have 3 on my list). For things like this (reference, back-and-forth page flipping) I want real books over Kindle.

Mark75H · Nov 29, 2020

PL is the tone, + is the offset shift between recieve and transmit. Some are + and others are -

CSQ means Carrier SQuelch, which means there is no tone required for access, only a carrier, which there always is when you are transmitting

jc1240 · Nov 29, 2020

Thanks. I got them added to the radio just in time to catch a "net" on K3PZO (Sundays at 9pm).

ToolAA · Nov 30, 2020

K31 said:
Amateur Radio FAQ

Seeing the interest here, I decided to create this. Keep in mind that as you read that the FCC is always considering rule changes.

K31 this thread has been an immense resource to the community it’s part of the reason I started down my path to getting my license. Thanks so much for putting the time in this. I for one can say I appreciate it.

Mark75H · Nov 30, 2020

There are free online listings for repeaters by area that include frequencies and access tones. It’s not difficult to figure out what you may be able to hear in any particular area. Some of the listings include links to the clubs and individuals that own each repeater with info about the repeater’s use and prioritization and times of nets.

Some repeaters have multiple receivers spread around the area where they can be heard to improve usability. The Ashton radio club repeater in Mo Co is a monster of coverage. Anne Arundel’s system has multiple towers and repeaters com linked to act as a comprehensive network covering all of central and northern AA Co and nearby.

jc1240 · Nov 30, 2020

ToolAA said:
K31 this thread has been an immense resource to the community it’s part of the reason I started down my path to getting my license. Thanks so much for putting the time in this. I for one can say I appreciate it.

I agree. I just dipped my toe in and am already eager as a kid on Christmas Eve to get a license.

I already ponied up the bucks for a GMRS license to cover my family. Thought I would stop there, but nope. Definitely going for Technician....maybe General at some point.

Thank you K31 (and everyone else who chimed in the various threads with info and clarifications).

ToolAA · Nov 30, 2020

jc1240 said:
I agree. I just dipped my toe in and am already eager as a kid on Christmas Eve to get a license.

I already ponied up the bucks for a GMRS license to cover my family. Thought I would stop there, but nope. Definitely going for Technician....maybe General at some point.

Thank you K31 (and everyone else who chimed in the various threads with info and clarifications).

Thats the exact same path I took. Got the GMRS license then Technicians license and eventually my Extra. I know it sounds silly but I was really excited when I past the final exam.

See you on Friday for the class. It looks like you are already ahead of the game so some of the stuff we will cover you might already know. I still think you’ll find the class useful.

E.Shell · Nov 30, 2020

ToolAA said:
K31 this thread has been an immense resource to the community it’s part of the reason I started down my path to getting my license. Thanks so much for putting the time in this. I for one can say I appreciate it.

I'd like to echo this remark. K-31 and this thread were instrumental in me finally getting my license after being into electronics for almost 40 years.

Thank you Sir!!

Qbeam · Nov 30, 2020

E.Shell said:
I'd like to echo this remark. K-31 and this thread were instrumental in me finally getting my license after being into electronics for almost 40 years.

Thank you Sir!!

Ed,

After meeting you, and taking your posts to heart, I can say that you are one of the few MDS members that I have utmost respect for. K-31 is a character, and also one of the MDS members that I have respect for. There are a few others that I respect and others that I look at as "that's nice, hope it works for you." You can tell by the posts whether the poster is legit or someone who is trying to get points.

You will always be a source of information and I hope I can call you friend when times are questionable.

q

Mark75H · Nov 30, 2020

In deed, many thanks to K31 for starting this and keeping with it over the years. It is what nudged me into getting licensed as well despite lifelong interest. Now its part of my daily life most days and I thoroughly enjoy it.

K31 · Dec 1, 2020

You all are too kind. I got into Amateur radio myself because of MDS. MDS is like Amateur radio itself in many ways in that you meet a lot of good, selfless folks.

pbharvey · Dec 1, 2020

Mark75H said:
In deed, many thanks to K31 for starting this and keeping with it over the years. It is what nudged me into getting licensed as well despite lifelong interest. Now its part of my daily life most days and I thoroughly enjoy it.

I was ready to move forward and decided against it because I didn’t want another piece of junk in the house collecting dust.
What does a person do with these radios on a daily basis? I assume some people make friends across the country and chit chat a little but other than that what’s interesting to listen to?

Occam · Dec 1, 2020

pbharvey said:
I was ready to move forward and decided against it because I didn’t want another piece of junk in the house collecting dust.
What does a person do with these radios on a daily basis? I assume some people make friends across the country and chit chat a little but other than that what’s interesting to listen to?

For me it's a split between my nerd DNA and a layer of some emergency preparedness. Modestly priced radios like this (or even very fancy ones) aren't a magic bullet, but they can really help in some situations.

Having cracked the lid open on the APRS side of things, I'm still laughing like a little kid when I can sit on a ridge somewhere in West Virginia where there's no internet access, and manage to get off a short (short!) email over the airwaves and have it hop twenty miles at a time through an amateur network until it gets where it's going.

I like having a single device that can listen in on air traffic comms, local AM/FM, weather updates, and still hook into VHF/UHF repeaters anywhere I go, and get some local flavor (or in a pinch, news and help if it came to it). I don't tend to get involved in the daily jawboning, which is mostly people talking about the hardware they've got set up to do the daily jawboning. Not that there's anything wrong with that! It's like spending more time talking about shooting than, well, actually getting out and shooting - it's free!

My main justification for the modest time involved in getting the license and in getting to know the hardware: Just In Case. The other uses are more about keeping the skills and awareness up. There actually are a lot of parallels to shooting, that way.

pbharvey · Dec 1, 2020

Occam said:
For me it's a split between my nerd DNA and a layer of some emergency preparedness. Modestly priced radios like this (or even very fancy ones) aren't a magic bullet, but they can really help in some situations.

Having cracked the lid open on the APRS side of things, I'm still laughing like a little kid when I can sit on a ridge somewhere in West Virginia where there's no internet access, and manage to get off a short (short!) email over the airwaves and have it hop twenty miles at a time through an amateur network until it gets where it's going.

I like having a single device that can listen in on air traffic comms, local AM/FM, weather updates, and still hook into VHF/UHF repeaters anywhere I go, and get some local flavor (or in a pinch, news and help if it came to it). I don't tend to get involved in the daily jawboning, which is mostly people talking about the hardware they've got set up to do the daily jawboning. Not that there's anything wrong with that! It's like spending more time talking about shooting than, well, actually getting out and shooting - it's free!

My main justification for the modest time involved in getting the license and in getting to know the hardware: Just In Case. The other uses are more about keeping the skills and awareness up. There actually are a lot of parallels to shooting, that way.

I was primarily interested in the just-in-case part but I’m not sure it would be useful without a decent investment of time.
Once ToolAA put up the big antenna I knew I wasn’t going to be in this with both feet.

Occam · Dec 1, 2020

pbharvey said:
I was primarily interested in the just-in-case part but I’m not sure it would be useful without a decent investment of time.
Once ToolAA put up the big antenna I knew I wasn’t going to be in this with both feet.

Don't let ToolAA's earnest and entertaining descent into the rabbit hole of long-range madness impact your sense of this! Sticking to our familiar analogy here: it's like not getting a decent home defense shotgun because you're aware of people who shoot trap for fun, and have a different $20,000 Krieghoff for every change in the weather. A cheap little most-purposes radio is your Remington 870 with a couple extra barrels.

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