Posted: 9/6/2014 11:26:09 PM EDT
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I'm thinking that I want to find out a little about ham. What would be the initial cost to get set up with some basic equipment. And then, the cost to get the stuff that all the cool kids have? I'm sure I could spend a small fortune on the stuff, but what about just the basic stuff? I don't want to get into a hobby that will send me to the poor house. |
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http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_1_5/1488810_Got_45_bucks__You_can_afford_to_own_a_ham_radio_.html
Testing to get your license is going to run you $15. Theres more than enough links in here (or ask) for study guides. After you get your ticket you could run echolink (free program) and use the computer to be an ad hoc radio but I'd suggest to supplement that with the above link. 50 watt 2 meter mobile and antenna is probably starting at about 250.00. which is a nice step up from the 5 watt radios. There are people that are quite happy stopping there. Better radio's, HF radios, digital, go up from there. Then again used is a nice way to get in on some of this. All in all, its what you want out of it. We wont tell you what EBR actually stands for. |
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Some of my adventures in ham radio.
http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_10_22/676503_I_just_wanted_to_announce.html http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_10_22/675680_.html&page=1 http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_10_22/671603_Portable_power_and_Solar_Charging_Gadgets.html I need to do one on portable antennas. So, ham radio can be more than just talking across the county with the entry level Tech license. It can also be setting up, in an emergency, a 100 watt portable station and communicating coast to coast in the USA, to Canada, Mexico, the Carribean, even to Europe and South America. Or sitting in your home "ham shack". I do that, too, but I like to know I can go off the grid and operate anywhere. The possibilities are endless! There is a nitch for nearly all interests. You may very well be interested in aspects of ham radio you don't even know exist yet. Operating with just a handheld radio can be as little as $40 plus the cost of the test fee, $14 or $15. (price varies slightly depending on organization administering) But this is a very limited type of operation and I don't think it will hold your interest for long and you would probably decide it is all a waste of time and money. There is a lot more to ham radio than you will get from an HT (Handi-Talkie). Where you really get the most "bang for the buck" is once you obtain the General or Extra license. The General requires only a little more effort and study over the Tech license test. Seriously, I've had people take the Tech, and when they pass that, they are entitled to take the next step up, General test, at no additional charge. The test fee is per test SESSION, not per test. It is possible to take the Tech, pass, take the General, pass, and take/pass the Extra all in one sitting, for just one $14 test fee. I did, and so have others here. So, I gave the General test to the ones that passed Tech. "But I didn't study for General, just Tech!" I did strongly urge them to study General, too, at least look over the material. They took the General, and came within a few questions of passing that, too. I asked, "Had you at least looked over the material, don't you think you could have picked up another two correct (or four correct) answers? If so, you would be a General now." Study for the Tech, then when you are doing well on the FREE ONLINE PRACTICE TESTS begin study on the General, too. But keep studying the Tech material. There are many here in this forum that have passed Tech and General, or Tech, General, Extra, in one sitting. At the worst, they came back a month or two later and then passed General. So, what about the General license, why is that so much better? Because it gives you access to the bands that go the long distances. If you don't learn morse code, which is no longer a requirement for the tests, then you will be limited to the VHF/UHF bands for voice transmission. Those bands give line of sight communications, roughly a county wide area. Yes, there are ways to extend that, but require use of infrastructure that will likely be down when you need it most. The General gives you phone (voice) access to the HF bands, which are the frequencies that "skip" or reflect off the ionosphere and go long distances past the horizon. When you hear of hams talking to other hams in France, Italy, Australia, Japan, they are using the HF frequencies, which lie roughly between the AM broadcast band and CB. More accurately, HF is 3 mhz to 30 mhz. VHF is 30 - 300 mhz, and UHF is above 300 mhz. It is HF that gets the range. What does an HF rig cost? Most would chose a 100 watt rig, and those start about $700 new (Icom 718, Alinco DX-SR8T, DX-SR9T, Yaesu FT-450D, Yaesu FT-857, others). But there are other rigs just a few hundred dollars more that give a lot more performance (Icom 7200, Kenwood TS-480SAT, others). I would say for a rig that will perform well for you, but not break the bank, and a wire antenna which you can make yourself (please, do that, don't buy a factory made antenna), power supply, tuner, coax, etc, will put you in the $1200 - $1400 range. Think of this as the difference between a .22LR Lorcin or Jennings (HT), and a medium quality plain Jane AR-15 with a half dozen mags and a few thousand rounds of ammo, cleaning kit. OK, it costs more, but which is going to hold your interest? |
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I went HF only. I have about $750ish invested in my entire rig. Icom 718 HF radio. $425 used LDG IT-100 Tuner $75 used S9V 43' vertical antenna (I liked the option of being able to take it down rapidly) $75 closeout Power supply $75 new Coax $50 new Misc. and only study stuff. $50 So far I've had contacts of up to 9,000 miles away, and in about 1 hour one evening I was able to work Kuwait, Lebanon, and Israel. I've worked a fair number of locations I had to google to find out where that island or even country was located. I'm sure you can spend more but I think I am getting my monies worth of the rig so far. I've had my tech/general two months (now have extra) and in that two months I have approximately 45 countries so far that I have contacted and about 15 states off the top of my head (I normally just do states when there's a special station involved). My big contact so far has been an Anartica research station. Two different ones were on about a week apart and I got the 2nd one. Just to give you an idea. It's like every other hobby. You can spend as muchj as you want to. My other hobby is radio controlled airplanes. You can fly a $35 park flyer or a $15,000 turbine (yup real turbine) powered plane or a plane that's 42% scale of a real one. Everything in between, much like ham radio. |
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Quoted:
I went HF only. I have about $750ish invested in my entire rig. Icom 718 HF radio. $425 used LDG IT-100 Tuner $75 used S9V 43' vertical antenna (I liked the option of being able to take it down rapidly) $75 closeout Power supply $75 new Coax $50 new Misc. and only study stuff. $50 A great setup that will serve well... and already has! You can't beat the price of all that. A lot of performance for what he spent. But sooner or later Nathan will get the itch for something better. Was this wasted? Not on your life. It is good, solid gear that he is familiar with, and he can press into service for portable use. Field Day, club special events, or just an afternoon in the park set up on a picnic table, a wire shot up into a tree with a slingshot. Or taken to the hunting camp, on vacation, etc. It will be the makings of a good portable setup that he can operate well, knows just what it can do. A $40 interface will let him do digital transmission with his laptop computer. It can run off the car battery in a pinch. But my point, the money spent on this first rig is NOT wasted. Nor should he run out to sell it right away if he gets something better. A reliable backup radio is always good to have. And he could not do better in that regard. Nathan has not been a ham very long, but look what he's done with a minimal (but good solid gear) set up. You can do likewise. |
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Like any hobby you can go little or go big
BUT Unlike many hobbies you don't need to go big to have a lot of fun. My first HF station was a tube rig that cost me $275 and I had a blast with it Don't get wrapped up in all the must have features people say you must have. Step 1 you are doing now.... Ask Questions |
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Quoted:
Like any hobby you can go little or go big BUT Unlike many hobbies you don't need to go big to have a lot of fun. My first HF station was a tube rig that cost me $275 and I had a blast with it Don't get wrapped up in all the must have features people say you must have. Step 1 you are doing now.... Ask Questions Dude, not all of us can have Marconi as an Elmer. 
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Dude, not all of us can have Marconi as an Elmer. Quoted:
Quoted:
Like any hobby you can go little or go big BUT Unlike many hobbies you don't need to go big to have a lot of fun. My first HF station was a tube rig that cost me $275 and I had a blast with it Don't get wrapped up in all the must have features people say you must have. Step 1 you are doing now.... Ask Questions Dude, not all of us can have Marconi as an Elmer. You owe me a new keyboard. |
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We will soon be addressing this very issue (and moar) on Fo Time
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Quoted:
Dude, not all of us can have Marconi as an Elmer. Quoted:
Quoted:
Like any hobby you can go little or go big BUT Unlike many hobbies you don't need to go big to have a lot of fun. My first HF station was a tube rig that cost me $275 and I had a blast with it Don't get wrapped up in all the must have features people say you must have. Step 1 you are doing now.... Ask Questions Dude, not all of us can have Marconi as an Elmer. Tesla not Marconi |
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Quoted:
Tesla not Marconi Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Like any hobby you can go little or go big BUT Unlike many hobbies you don't need to go big to have a lot of fun. My first HF station was a tube rig that cost me $275 and I had a blast with it Don't get wrapped up in all the must have features people say you must have. Step 1 you are doing now.... Ask Questions Dude, not all of us can have Marconi as an Elmer. Tesla not Marconi I came here to post this. HAM is not talking on the radio. HAM is the building of the antenna, the running of grounds, the study of the features of the radio, the study of the propagation under current conditions. HAM is reading the ARRL wire antenna classics book, scrounging old 300 ohm tv antenna ladder wire to build a dipole, meeting up with an elmer to tune the antenna, then studying your setup more to make it resonant. HAM is scouring this subforum, as well as eham reviews as you look at old gear for sale. Oh yeah, and when you get done with this stuff, you might actually transmit. You don't have to go HF to have fun. Also, you can spend a pile of $ on just 2 meter gear. |
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Quoted:
I went HF only. I have about $750ish invested in my entire rig. Icom 718 HF radio. $425 used LDG IT-100 Tuner $75 used S9V 43' vertical antenna (I liked the option of being able to take it down rapidly) $75 closeout Power supply $75 new Coax $50 new Misc. and only study stuff. $50 So far I've had contacts of up to 9,000 miles away, and in about 1 hour one evening I was able to work Kuwait, Lebanon, and Israel. I've worked a fair number of locations I had to google to find out where that island or even country was located. I'm sure you can spend more but I think I am getting my monies worth of the rig so far. I've had my tech/general two months (now have extra) and in that two months I have approximately 45 countries so far that I have contacted and about 15 states off the top of my head (I normally just do states when there's a special station involved). My big contact so far has been an Anartica research station. Two different ones were on about a week apart and I got the 2nd one. Just to give you an idea. It's like every other hobby. You can spend as muchj as you want to. My other hobby is radio controlled airplanes. You can fly a $35 park flyer or a $15,000 turbine (yup real turbine) powered plane or a plane that's 42% scale of a real one. Everything in between, much like ham radio. Pretty much this. I have a good, solid intermediate setup for HF. IC 7200 about $1K (you can get them for $900ish now) AH-4 tuner about $300 Power supply about $135 DXE 43 foot vertical antenna about $400 delivered. Plus about $150-200 for radial wires, coax etc. A good solid setup for about $2K An IC 718 with a tuner, power supply and wire antenna is in the area of about $1K but I'd spend the mooney on an IC 7200. Buy once, cry once. |
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For HF, if you have room & trees I'll put in a plug for a DIY wire antenna. My current favorite HF antenna is a 550' loop fed by homebrew ladder line. It cost about $85 for wire (2 500' spools - used about 830') and another $85 for 2 1000' spools of paracord for pull lines (used maybe 1500') + $20 for miscellaneous fence insulators from the farm store. You can also home brew very effective VHF/UHF base antennas if you are handy with tools and so inclined...
Nick |