Amateur Radio FAQ

K31 · Feb 2, 2017

The number of amateur licenses is up again.

http://www.arrl.org/news/another-outstanding-year-for-amateur-radio-licensing

K31 · Feb 5, 2017

Free Technician class starting in March in Rockville:

The Montgomery Amateur Radio Club is offering a free amateur radio
Technician license class at the Rockville Memorial Library for six
Sundays on March 26, April 2, April 9, April 23, April 30, May 7, 2017
from 1:30 PM to 4:30 PM. More information about this class is at

http://www.marcclub.org/mweb/education/classes/index.html

We will be meeting at the

Studio i Makerspace
Rockville Memorial Library, second floor
21 Maryland Ave
Rockville, MD 20850
Maps & Directions
<http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=21+Maryland+Ave+Rockville+MD+20850+United+States>

This is a great opportunity for you to get your amateur radio license.
To learn more about amateur radio, also known as ham radio, go to

http://www.arrl.org/what-is-ham-radio

or watch the Discovering Amateur Radio video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcfJUjcSEz8

You can register for this free class by sending an email to
education@marcclub.org .

Thank you,
David Bern, W2LNX
MARC Education committee
education@marcclub.org

Worst nightmare · Feb 18, 2017

When will there be one around the Towson area?

K31 · Feb 19, 2017

Here's a couple more Technician classes and the Rockville one again:

Licensing Class for Technician
03/11/2017 | Laurel, MD 20707
Start/End Dates: 03/11/2017 - 03/12/2017
Times: 9:00am - 4:00pm, # of Sessions: 2
http://www.arrl.org/courses/laurel-md-20707-5

Licensing Class for Technician
03/26/2017 | Rockville, MD 20850
Start/End Dates: 03/26/2017 - 05/14/2017
Times: 1:30pm - 4:30pm, # of Sessions: 7
http://www.arrl.org/courses/rockville-md-20850-8

Licensing Class for Technician
3/4/2017 | Davidsonville, MD 21035
AARC Spring Tech Class
Start/End Dates: 03/4/2017 - 04/8/2017
Times: 8:30 - 12 Noon, # of Sessions: 6
http://learn.w3vpr.org/

K31 · Feb 19, 2017

Worst nightmare said:
When will there be one around the Towson area?

Sorry but the only one I could find north of Baltimore already took place. Even some more-or-less local clubs are directing people to the Davidsonville and Rockville classes.

Have you considered self study?

With the on-line tests it's pretty easy to gauge your readiness.

Worst nightmare · Feb 19, 2017

K31 said:
Sorry but the only one I could find north of Baltimore already took place. Even some more-or-less local clubs are directing people to the Davidsonville and Rockville classes.

Have you considered self study?

With the on-line tests it's pretty easy to gauge your readiness.

No, I haven't really. I'd be better off in the class setting.

K31 · Feb 19, 2017

Worst nightmare said:
No, I haven't really. I'd be better off in the class setting.

Well, then it's probably wait until next year or go south. There was a two-day (one weekend) course given last year so that's may save you some commuting time but I haven't seen it offered again yet.

E.Shell · Feb 19, 2017

Worst nightmare said:
No, I haven't really. I'd be better off in the class setting.

Probably true of all of us, but you can pre-game class by hitting some of the online study guides and may even find you'll get enough out of them to pass the tests.

Here is one such site: http://www.hamradiolicenseexam.com/

K31 · Mar 3, 2017

New Amateur Extra course beginning this month:

Extra Class Course - Spring 2017

Beginning Tuesday, March 21, 2017, the Extra Class course will be conducted at the National Electronics Museum. Classes begin at 6:30PM and run until apprx. 9:30PM each night for 10 weeks. The course is free. Students need only provide their own copy of the current Extra Class License Manual which is the text for the course.
The class instructor is Rol Anders, K3RA. roland.anders@comcast.net.

cms1528 · Mar 4, 2017

K31 said:
New Amateur Extra course beginning this month:

I can't recommend Mr Anders enough for his knowledge and teaching. The Tech classes should start up in the fall for anyone just starting out. Call Mr. Anders and ask for more information. He's a retired electrical engineer and will put what you study in the guide/textbook into perspective.

The two day courses will not teach you the principles behind ham radio just how to memorize answers for a test. Maybe that's what some people want but they really loose out in my opinion.

cms1528 · Mar 4, 2017

ARRL Field Day Event in June

For those who might like to see ham radio up close you should check this out. Not uncommon to see 50 towers up and operating, it's held on the school grounds so they have a lot of room.

June 24-25, 2017
13400 Triadelphia Rd
Ellicott City, MD

Contact: David Prestel
443 812-4403
dave.prestel@gmail.com

http://www.arrl.org/field-day

K31 · Mar 21, 2017

Technician class starting March 29, in Prince Frederick, Md.

Wednesdays, 7:30PM - 9:30PM, ends May 31.

Registration required and you need to buy the text book (doesn't say which one).

Details: http://k3cal.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Hamclass17.pdf

K31 · Apr 13, 2017

Number of new licensees exceeds 30,000 for the third year in a row.

http://www.govtech.com/em/disaster/...ving-Increase-in-Amateur-Radio-Operators.html

K31 · Apr 13, 2017

"Glancing blow" from a CME that should mostly miss the earth predicted this weekend.

Here's a timely article on the 1989 power outage caused by one:

http://hackaday.com/2017/04/10/lights-out-in-quebec-the-1989-geomagnetic-storm/

Kagetsu · Apr 25, 2017

Sometime, probably June-ish, Field Day will be re-sparking my interest in a mobile radio setup. Last time the guy trying to score satellite qsl had some kind of power booster to keep the battery power up during transmit. I think they may have been a DC-DC boost converter but I'm not sure. These are something I haven't heard of before.

K31 · Apr 26, 2017

Sounds like it may have been a voltage regulator to supply a constant voltage?

Like this:

http://stores.tgelectronics.org/the-new-n8xjk-boost-regulator/

Were these FM satellites he was trying to work?

Kagetsu said:
Sometime, probably June-ish, Field Day will be re-sparking my interest in a mobile radio setup. Last time the guy trying to score satellite qsl had some kind of power booster to keep the battery power up during transmit. I think they may have been a DC-DC boost converter but I'm not sure. These are something I haven't heard of before.

Elgan · Apr 26, 2017

HarCo resident here, just got my Tech ticket this past weekend, license issued Monday. Installing a Kenwood mobile setup in my truck this weekend or next (depending on when I get the rest of my parts in), and then it's time to put an antenna in my attic and set up a little ham shack at the house (just using a HT with some adapters at first). Haven't hit the net up yet since it's been nasty outside and that's the only place I get good reception (and presumably transmit) right now. Studying to take my General (and maybe Extra) in June. Excited to join the hobby, and it's a good skill to have as well.

gamer_jim · Apr 26, 2017

Elgan said:
HarCo resident here, just got my Tech ticket this past weekend, license issued Monday. Installing a Kenwood mobile setup in my truck this weekend or next (depending on when I get the rest of my parts in), and then it's time to put an antenna in my attic and set up a little ham shack at the house (just using a HT with some adapters at first). Haven't hit the net up yet since it's been nasty outside and that's the only place I get good reception (and presumably transmit) right now. Studying to take my General (and maybe Extra) in June. Excited to join the hobby, and it's a good skill to have as well.

Congrats!

Care to share your callsign? PM if privacy is a concern.

Anything in particular in the hobby that you like?

Kagetsu · Apr 26, 2017

K31 said:
Were these FM satellites he was trying to work?

Probably. The uplink was in the 70cm range, down was 2m. A really cool program would show the targets as they came into range.

K31 · Apr 27, 2017

Kagetsu said:
Probably. The uplink was in the 70cm range, down was 2m. A really cool program would show the targets as they came into range.

It seems kind of strange that he would need to worry about power that much if that were the case.

There are a lot of free satellite prediction programs around that will show the satellite relative position in real-time, websites as well. I like Gpredict (Linux/Windoze) but I don't think it's being maintained or at least I haven't seen an update since the last time I checked. I've used an Andriod app as well but it doesn't show more than one satellite at a time. HRD also has a really good one that will even adjust for the doppler shift for you if your radio is one that it can control the tuning of via CAT.

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