the members of the ARFCOM Ham Radio forum offer instruction, pointers, direction, tips, encouragement, hand-holding, coddling, WHATEVER IT TAKES, to help you get an amateur radio license and understand basic VHF/UHF operations (both simplex [radio-A to radio-B] and repeated [radio-A to repeater to radio-B]) such that local communications (and monitoring) are possible after events such as a tornado, flood, hurricane, sold out Lady Gaga concert, or other SHTF.

if you "sign up" by stating so in this thread i and other members of the Ham Radio forum will do everything possible to get you to a state where you have 1) a valid amateur radio license, 2) equipment suitable for your needs, and 3) know how to operate it for effective communications.  you will need to put forth some effort.  if you are self-motivated it will be quick and painless (as many others will attest to).  

note that there is VERY LITTLE expense involved with getting basic communication functionality.  there are many options, and the forum members can find a solution to everyone's situation.  repeat: this is not going to cost you an arm and leg –– and the effort/money you do put into it will result in far more communications capability than CB or FRS radios.

note that if you are not motivated we will ride your sorry ass like a busted mule.  

it is possible/practical to get from ZERO knowledge of communications to lawfully operating a VHF/UHF ham radio in a matter of weeks –– and that includes just a couple hours of study time.  concepts which you don't understand immediately i and others will explain in detail.  

no one is going to confuse you with complicated terminology.
no one is going to expect that you go on to become an uber-elite operator.
no one is going to suggest investing in thousands of dollars of equipment.
everyone is going to help you to your goals.

ps:
example of success:
http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=1143360 <–– even a Marine could do it!!!    (don't hurt me, please!)

example of MAJOR success: (author is an ARFCOMer)
http://www.eham.net/articles/20777


––––––––––

IF YOU ARE A SELF-STARTER you can begin by reading the Ham Radio 101 thread, here:
http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=10&f=22&t=604477
see specifically the VHF/UHF-related sections such as those titled,
–– ham radio 101
–– an introduction to VHF/UHF repeaters
–– how to get a ham radio license, in short
–– simplex communications and approximate ranges
–– how to find your local repeaters

––––––––––

ar-jedi

ETA:
several ham radio forum folks have IM'd me offering to help with answering questions etc in this thread –– BY ALL MEANS jump in and keep the ball rolling at any/every opportunity.  i have that pesky full-time "job thing" on the side, and a wife with a to-do list, so the more mentors we have the merrier!

––––––––––

THE "IN" CROWD:

[updated Tue May 28 12:45:37 UTC 2013]

<... the long list deleted ...>


I HAVE COMPLETELY GIVEN UP ON THE LIST.  

IT WAS A GOOD IDEA.  I THOUGHT I COULD DO IT.  

WITH NO REMORSE WHATSOEVER, I HAVE TO ADMIT THAT IT'S BEEN ALL BUT
IMPOSSIBLE TO KEEP TRACK OF ALL OF THE ARFCOM'ERS WHO HAVE GOTTEN
LICENSED WITHIN THIS THREAD.  THE TOTAL OF NEW LICENSEES IS EASILY
OVER 200.  THERE ARE ABOUT THE SAME NUMBER OF SUCCESSFUL LICENSE
UPGRADES AS WELL.

YOU GUYS BEAT ME.  

GREAT STUFF!


––––––––––

important note for those taking exams:

periodically, the license question pool is adjusted a bit -- to reflect current operating practices, or to sync up with bandplan changes, etc.
hence, if you are using an online or paper study guide, be sure to verify you are using one that reflects the current ARRL question pool for the license class you are interested in.



ar-jedi

ps
example thread noting comms needs/benefits
A few things i have learned so far from the tornado disaster in Alabama

specifically this post,
http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=10&f=17&t=646357&page=8#11023103

I posted the link earlier, this is but one option in Web SDR receivers. It opens up receiving the 40 meter amateur band in the "phone" (voice) segment.

http://www.sdrutah.org/websdr1.html

You can pick 80ph or 75ph for a lower frequency voice band.

Attached File


the little yellow / |\ thing is where you are listening, the stripes like the one above the / |\ thing in that screenshot are voice conversations.

SSB which is the norm for amateur voice on HF does require precise tuning or else it sounds distorted.

80 and 40 are nighttime bands, daytime 40, 20, usually 17, sometimes higher.

160 is a nighttime band most popular in the winter, political convo going on on 1992 right now. 160 meters is just above the AM broadcast band.

You see why we tell people they can't just buy a bunch of stuff and pull it out when SHTF.

I'm brand new to radio. No real prior experience in terms of radio, but I do have a technical background in remote sensing so some of the propagation concepts etc. make sense to me.

Just started researching this yesterday. Going to do some reading through this and other threads and get prepped to test for tech and general ASAP.

Anyways - just saying "hi" to y'all and I'll probably be back soon with some annoying new guy questions.

Thanks in advance for the time and effort all of you have put into this thread and forum. I have a lot to learn!

My Tech study guide arrived today and I have been watching the W4EEY virtual classes on YouTube. Hope to take the exam in February when the one is offered here locally.

There's a big thread in GD full of people doing exactly that. Spending thousands of dollars on piles of stuff that they have no idea what to do with. Some are upset that the people who know aren't just telling them what to do. They (along with lots of other people) are literally buying out amateur radio vendors.

As you just discovered you can sit down at a fully functional high performance receiver connected to a high performance antenna and be overwhelmed. That's the easiest system around.

It's not rocket science but there are a lot of moving parts to both the equipment and the operating, and there's just no substitute for individual knowledge, and skill that comes from experience.  HF is an order of magnitude more challenging than basic VHF/UHF.

Signed up for my upgrade test to General.  Going back through some of the tech stuff, it has been a while.  

Has been forever since I talked to anyone, been using the license for FPV stuff.

Passed Tech and General.  Easy peasy.

@RaptorFuel

Did you take the online test or a local one?  If online what link to testing site that will let you do both in one shot?

On that note not that I could do it but if you pass your tech and general at the same time can you take the extra as well or would that be separate test no matter what?

The earliest test I have seen near me was a 4 hour drive and a month out.  I am sure there is something more local but don't know about it (southeast TN if that matters).  Local ham club pretty much has all the in person events on their calendar cancelled at this moment

On that note I am still here....  I haven't gotten as far as I wanted but I did do a stupid and ordered a radio incase its like ammo and they become harder to get.  I went with an Icom-7100 and purchased a Super Antenna MP1DXMAX for the camper.  I figure I will have several antennas in the end and need a pure portable solution as well.  This equipment seemed the best compromise of everything out there without having hands on experience to use it (<---stupid underlined here).  I will be using this as a home station and then once I move will use this in the camper only and have something else in the house.  

I haven't looked but any HF antennas out there that look like say a windmill or something somewhat decorative of what it really is.  I would probably mount my (wireless) weather station on it if it wouldn't affect performance of either.

I took it online at https://hamstudy.org/sessions.  I took it through the club from Anchorage, Alaska (KL5T).  I was able to get a slot 2 weeks out.

I also bought a IC-7100 which should be here tomorrow.  I'm going to use it as a base at home with a large fixed antenna (Diamond DX50) in the attic and as a mobile in the truck.

Thanks for the link...

Hope tomorrow is better than you expect .  I figure my antenna is like a swiss army knife, decent enough to get by but by no means excellent at anything.  My current home situation for this is not good.  I have above the ground power lines on three sides of my home and when the renovation happened they didn't make it friendly to run cables anywhere.  I expect to have a serious trial and error session with a majority of errors... .  Putting the antenna in my attic would be the best option for ease of routing cables but not sure how much affect a normal shingle roof would limit my reception/transmissions.

It's up to the local VEs but never seen a session that wouldn't let you take as many tests as you can pass.

The only real problem would be if they were all scheduled and didn't have the proper test materials, or didn't have enough Extra VEs.

Pretty sure that ARRL and W5YI's websites have test schedules for the VEs they coordinate.

Or testing is available online as already mentioned.

I forgot to mention I had my call sign 15 minutes after taking the test.

Zoom or whatever videoconferencing software they use. Some want two cameras, or they have you pan the camera around the room.

Same here. I saw the thread started in GD a week ago, decided I wanted to get involved in amateur radio, and passed both the technician and general class license tests back to back today.

Congratulations!

EDIT: Just to clarify things for anyone interested, I took the tests in person at a location a little over 100 miles from my home -- there was nothing coming up in my zip code search on the ARRL website for testing anywhere near me. I thought about online testing, but it sounded like a big hassle using Zoom and taking the test on the toilet.

Well I signed up to take my exam this Sun.  I should be testing for the Tech and General, at least that is what I registered for.  I got my PO Box setup this week so figured I would shoot for the moon....

Good luck on your testing!

I've been passing my Amatuer Extra practice tests, and I really need to test while it's fresh in my memory. The next test within an hour and a half of me is 2/6. That would be lots of studying daily for two more weeks. I've never used Zoom before, but did install it on my phone and my old laptop tonight just in case I get the nerve to do the online testing.

I'm in, and hoping my teenage son sticks in it with me and gets his, too.  Got the ARRL manual in the mail today, and some cheapo Baofengs to get started after tech.  I'm not a cheap bastard who limes to work with bottom end equipment, though, and expect to get something better (maybe a mobile unit) before long.  Is there an acronym decoder ring somewhere that can be referenced?

There with you, I do GIS and work with imagery and airborn LiDAR quite a bit.

Nice. Airborne lidar is my primary focus. We should chat some time.

I read the ARRL study guide for Technical probably 2 times in the last 2 years (I start studying, then burn out).  I have read the Gordon West Technical guide once.  Started reading the ARRL General Guide (and burned out).  Honestly this made me feel damn old and had me thinking dementia was already setting in.  I used to be a very good test taker, but I just could not feel comfortable with this material.  

Part of my problem is my concentration is nowhere near what it used to be - and neither is my dedication.  For the CPA exam I probably put close to 500hrs into self study (did not take a class) and passed all sections in one sitting.  It was a fluke that I had that much time, but work was slow at the office and my employer told me it was my job to pass the test - so I was given paid study time.  I studied 40-50hrs a week for 2 months (35 or so at the office, then on my own nights and weekends).  The shit of it was after that, I worked a busy season - and was laid off with 90% of the other first and second year hires.  That too was company policy.

I have 12 hrs into HamTestOnline technical and have to say just for passing the test - it blows the books away.  I am moving on to HamTestOnline General now.  I am going to play with it this weekend, and probably start looking for test times Monday based on how it is going.  If I get confident in general before the test time I schedule - hell might play with extra for shits and giggles.

I was looking at purchasing a LiDAR unit and using a DJI drone (bigger model) to survey my property to put in a home design program to make it easier to get an idea of how much dirt I needed to move.  I figured the drone I would use as fun later so didn't think much of the cost, though expensive.  The LiDAR units are on another level but there have been a few that have set the bar much lower but think the last time I looked a base model with like 6" of accuracy deviation still cost 30k.  This was probably 2-3 years ago so maybe I might look at it again but still probably cheaper to just pay someone to do it.

Back to the topic of getting a license.  Can you have anything such as formulas out or do you need a clean desk to work from?  Technically if they ask the right question you need a scientific calculator but not sure if that is allowed either.  The online exam procedure pretty much focused on making sure you had zoom with camera access and preferred you use a non-central room to work from (pretty sure to lower any distractions such as kids running around the house).

You are allowed a blank piece of paper in case you want to do any scribbling. A calculator is allowed if the memory has been cleared and you do not use anything other than add, subtract, multiply, and divide.

I passed technician and general exams today.

Hell yeah!  Welcome to the club!

Now try to not check the FCC website 4 times a day for your callsign.....I heard a dude did that once.

Thanks man.

I'll wait til monday before I start compulsively checking the FCC database.

Awesome!

I can't remember -- did you take your tests online? I took both of mine in person a week ago today and still don't have my callsign. I've read that testing online usually gets them within a day.

A question for those more knowledgeable: Can I take the Amateur Extra test now, or must I wait for my callsign?

Can take tests anytime you want.

You'll need your CSCE's from previous tests so that the VEs can properly put in a request for license upgrade.

One downside to that is not knowing if you want to request a callsign change. If you get something you like for the General call you might want to keep it. That was more an issue before vanity callsigns.

Passed General yesterday

Congratulations guys on the upgrades and new hams

I took mine in person. The guys administering the test said they submit everything online and that it should show up in the FCC database Monday afternoon or Tuesday morning.

I tried to sign up for an online session today for my Amatuer Extra, but they emailed me and said that I couldn't take it until I get my callsign from my first testing session.

"We have to wait for your paperwork to hit the FCC; otherwise, when your other paperwork comes in, your extra will not make it. We do an electronic upload. Therefore, it will be there on the same day."

Same for me today, I may or may not get a call sign before close of business tomorrow.  They do send the info to the Gov and its up to them to complete the task.

ETA...beat like a rented mule, based on your follow up response I wonder if that is only for online testing you need the call sign to take the Extra?  I wouldn't see where it should matter but your certificate is good for 365 days, if you don't get it entered in a year I am not sure what to say...

Probably answered but so long as you have a certificate of completion (CSCE or some acronym I can't remember ) you should be able to take your extra.  You will have to show that before you can though. I just passed both the T and the G today so others might have better information.

Congratulations!

When I took the test online I had a callsign within 15 minutes.

The FCC has to be open for business to actually finish the process.  Its a weekend, did you take your test on a weekday?

It was on a weekday.  It seemed like an automated process.

Okay...not sure what the hell but just got a notice in my inbox....call sign issued?

The email came from hamstudy.org

I did verify it on the FCC website....

Either the normal business hours are really strange (eh looking for people illegally broadcasting at night might be a thing) or it is automated to a degree.  I tested with at least 125 applicants so maybe to get the organization to finish the paperwork and send it over took time.

Upgrade to general is done.

Fortunately everyone is sold out of everything, so I haven't spent any more than the $10 for the test.

Congratulations!

Re lidar: I'll follow-up with a PM. Or if you'd like to create a thread (in a non General Discussion area), I'd be happy to share my thoughts/feedback on terrain/property mapping in this context as that might be of interest to many here. I rarely have the chance to "give back" to ARFcom in terms of knowledge/experience, so I'd be happy to do so.

Alright, back on topic!

I've been reading/studying and playing (just listening to local repeaters, getting familiar with radio, etc.) with my new Yaesu FT3DR. Looks like that club in Los Angeles is doing a lot of online tests, so I'll try to do mine through them soon. Still need to find some more time to dedicate to studying, but am preparing to get tech and general at the same time, hopefully.

I guess I need to ask, like avoid the General Outdoors discussion or the inmate crowd known as GD?  .  Or in ARFCOM terms "both."   I thought about the Homestead, Farm sub area but not sure if it would provide other services than just what I had in mind and might not get the audience it deserves.

Back on topic....

Good luck and may study time be with you.

Congrats to all the new hams. I have studied up for the Techinical 3X over the past 2 years but never got around to taking the test. Here in Austin area they are on weekends and I am 2 hours out of town. I had heard the online testing was a bit of a PITA so once again I will wait and see when in person testing is done. I know ZERO, will have to start over to do bettter than 80%, have never seen any of the higher license questions but I would have to guess then learn. Do not have a radio bone in my body, MHz to Frequency rations, the electronic schematics symbols all I had to learn from taking the test. Sure not the way I learned in law school 30 years ago.