Posted: 11/16/2009 3:56:35 PM EDT
| I ordered my study book and it should be here any day. I took a practice test today online and missed passing by one question. I am sure after looking at the study book, I am confident I can pass the test. Here is my question, can I buy a radio and start listening with it until I pass and get in the database? I would like to start listening and becoming familiar with a radio so that when the big day comes, I will be a little better prepared. I would also like to do some short wave listening with it. I don't want to break any rules but I am anxious to get going also. Of course I don't have a clue of equipment yet but anyways. |
| About 4 hours away. I am in upper east TN. Small town of Greeneville. I wish I was closer because I could use the help. Nobody around here is very helpful. I went to a local field day and I couldn't get anybody to answer questions for me at all. I would love to sit down and talk with somebody. It is all very confusing trying to research this stuff on the internet and you don't have a clue. It doesn't help that I am not even sure why I want to get into amateur radio at all. Just seems interesting. Don't want to break the bank but don't want to regret not getting enough radio either. So many questions. |
FWIW, my total cost outlay to get started in HAM radio was less than $140-and that included my first radio and testing fee. You don't have to spend a ton of money to have a ton of fun 
$99 Icom IC-V8 radio (good SHTF 2m handheld) $24 Comet HT antenna $14 Testing fee For a few dollars more you could buy a really nice Yaesu handheld, or a fancier Icom. Basic 2m 50+ watt mobile units start around $130. |
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I sometimes fantasize about what the gun community would be like if the ATFE ran things like the FCC does. I.E., yeah, you'd hsve to have a licensel, but it would be cheap, and recognized anywhere. You could buy anything, licensed or not, but, if you didn't have the required license, you could only use it in an emergency... One thing's for sure, folks would still whine about the NRA––they do about the ARRL––and the .gov...
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There are no stupid questions, only stupid mistakes.
One thing that many newcomers learn is that the best way to study is this: Get a book that has all the questions in it, plus the answers. (The FCC publishes the q&a pools so this shouldn't be a problem.) Study the question (which will be the EXACT question on the FCC exam) and then study ONLY the CORRECT answer. That way, when you take the test, the distractor answers will be unfamiliar, and the CORRECT answer will practically leap out at you! Good luck! AK5P |
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Quoted:
There are no stupid questions, only stupid mistakes. One thing that many newcomers learn is that the best way to study is this: Get a book that has all the questions in it, plus the answers. (The FCC publishes the q&a pools so this shouldn't be a problem.) Study the question (which will be the EXACT question on the FCC exam) and then study ONLY the CORRECT answer. That way, when you take the test, the distractor answers will be unfamiliar, and the CORRECT answer will practically leap out at you! Good luck! AK5P here are two GREAT study guides that use the actual test questions and ONLY have the correct answer (instead of all the multiple choice wrong answers) listed. This method of study greatly improved my ability (as well as the others at the test) to pick the correct answers on the test. http://www.cauhf.org/resources/ Best of luck with it |
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Quoted:
Sure, hook it up, antenna and all, but don't plug in the mic. Put the mic in the back of your sock drawer and leave it there until you get listed.  Like many others, I purchased my first radio before I got my ticket. I reckoned that I could get the radio figured out while I was waiting to get listed, and then be ready to go when my call showed up in the database. One Saturday afternoon while I was programming some local repeaters I inadvertently hit the tx button on the HT, and naturally that kerchunked the repeater... (  !!)
...I damn_near_shat_myself when I did that. I had a mental image of a black van rolling up my driveway with a dish antenna rotating on the roof. Obviously it didn't come to that, but shortly after the "incident" I figured out how to disable tx in my HT's setup menu 
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| thanks for the links for the study guides. Not too worried about passing the first test. I read on other forums not to buy a hand held radio as your first radio. What distances can be achieved with a handheld and an antenna? I thought about starting with a handheld and picking up some sort of external antenna and using is to maybe extend my distance. I am not even sure this will work or not. Portability is important. I will be using it in the car and it will be nice to take it when I go and visit my parents at the beach. Of course if all I am going to be able to do is reach my local repeaters, I guess I will be getting bored quickly. Or at least that is what people are saying on other boards. If a hand held is not the right choice, what is? |
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Quoted:
thanks for the links for the study guides. Not too worried about passing the first test. I read on other forums not to buy a hand held radio as your first radio. What distances can be achieved with a handheld and an antenna? I thought about starting with a handheld and picking up some sort of external antenna and using is to maybe extend my distance. I am not even sure this will work or not. Portability is important. I will be using it in the car and it will be nice to take it when I go and visit my parents at the beach. Of course if all I am going to be able to do is reach my local repeaters, I guess I will be getting bored quickly. Or at least that is what people are saying on other boards. If a hand held is not the right choice, what is? I'm in the same boat as you, studying but not tested yet, and I wanted to buy a radio so I could listen before I get on the air. I want to have my act together before I make a complete ass of myself. Now I'll only make a partial ass of myself. 
At first I made that same decision. I'll buy a handheld so I can use the local repeater handheld and in the car with a mobile antenna. I don't think there's anything wrong with buying a handheld radio first, IF you plan to never do much else. But very few people plan to only use VHF/UHF/6 meters whatever handheld forever. One of the reasons why you'll be advised to not buy a handheld for a first radio is because you'll be stuck on local repeaters and that's it. You'll be stuck on local repeaters because you'll only have 5 watts (maybe less) to work with on your handheld. It seems to make a lot of sense at first to buy one and use a mobile antenna in your car, but you're still hobbled by the 5 watts. A mobile radio with 75 watts output can be had as cheap as a nice handheld. You can also run it at home with a power supply. As much as anything, you need to think about what you want to do with ham radio. Are you looking to chase DX, or participate in contests, or just shoot the shit with some friends? Answer that and you'll be on your way. Let me know and I'll be glad to help. Be aware that I'm a newbie too so listen to the experienced hams here first. I almost bought a Yaesu 897D for my first radio. It's a shack in a box type radio. HF/UHF/VHF all mode. It can be used mobile, base, or portable, but is not optimal for any of those uses. For a jack of all trades radio I don't think it can be beat. Icom makes a similar radio too. I ended up buying a radio more suited for use as a base station, and now I'll have to buy something else for portable use. So it's all a trade off. Depends on what you want to spend and what you want to do. PS - I'm not against handhelds, I'll probably buy one before a mobile radio. But I'm less than a mile from the local repeater and I can see the tower from my back yard. |