Getting started in Amateur Radio

Got an email from one of the local ("Northwest") bloggers asking about getting into Amateur Radio, with a specific interest in emergency communications. The following is based on my response to him, with details for his location deleted:

Check the ARRL web site for clubs in your area; contact them and I am sure they will be glad to help. We had a lady show up to one of our meetings looking for help programming her shortwave (listening) radio, and now she is a Technician studying for her General. (I've been told that most "old timers" in the Amateur Radio Service let their ARRL membership lapse; at this point, membership seems too useful for me to imagine doing so...)

I found the technician test to be pretty easy; it's more laws, rules, and accepted procedures than science. (The math on the General exam is kicking my butt!) Most clubs have testing sessions, and usually training as well. Also, there are a lot of practice test sessions on the internet; QRZ.com has one of the most popular (here), and also has reviews of equipment.

Other on-line practice exams include:

• eHam.net Ham Exams
• AA9PW Amateur Radio Exam Practice
• Copasetic Flow
• RadioExam.org Amateur Radio Exam Menu

Testing is no longer done by the FCC directly, but by Volunteer Examiners, who are certified by a Volunteer Examiner Coordinator. The ARRL is one of the largest of the VECs. Testing usually costs about $15.00, and if you are really ambitious you could take and pass the Technician, and then the General, and then the Amateur Extra exams, all at one sitting.

There is no longer a test for, or requirement for proficiency in, CW, AKA "Morse Code." (Many were staying away from the hobby due to the requirement, and others were learning it just well enough to pass the test, and then never using it.)

As for equipment, if buying off of eBay or other online service (QRZ.com, etc.) you should, of course, make sure you can return a radio that does not work. The one eBay purchase I made of radio gear was actually a local guy, so we made the deal online and then met face to face.

Brands: Kenwood, ICOM, and Yaesu are the "big three" of ham gear, with Alinco also making decent stuff that is not so fancy. (Think Honda, Toyota, and Nissan for the first three, and Alinco is Hyundai; to the best of my knowledge, the only US manufacturers still existing make the really high end stuff, or kits or experimental gear.)

Most people get started with a handheld; a Technician ticket gets you operating privileges on the 2 meter*, 1.25 meter, and 70 centimeter bands, all of which are covered adequately by handhelds. If you don't insist on fancy features like digital modes, GPS, or mil-spec water/dust/shock proof, you can get a handheld for these ranges for less--much less!--than $200 new, from any of the on-line dealers. The Yaesu FT60 is one of the most popular, but ICOM USA is in Redmond, and offers a digital mode that is very popular in this area, so I may need to switch brands... (I suggest you contact the clubs in your area and see if "everybody" uses a particular brand, and consider buying that one so you have local support.)

For emergency communications a handheld or mobile radio in the 2 meter band should be "good enough" for neighborhood and local communications. (A mobile radio, one that is designed for vehicle installation, can easily be installed in such a way that it can be moved into the house and powered from household current. If there is household current in a disaster...) I think a well-organized neighborhood association that was concerned about disaster preparedness/response should consider putting up a repeater and encouraging members to get a Technician license and a 2m radio for every licensed member; and, actually, The Law says that anyone can transmit on any frequency in the Amateur Bands in an emergency, if no other means of communication are available, so if they want to have additional radios for household members, that's OK.

Now, I almost just deleted everything I wrote here and left it at the following three links to the AR15.com Ham Radio Forum:

Ham Radio 101
Everything you wanted to know about ham radio but were too confused to ask.
Online retail vendors list.

but I decided that some folks would rather hear the basics here and then make up their minds to "click through." Which is fine. Heck, Sitemeter is bored with the traffic here anyway...

As hams say, "73"!
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*Two things; a Technician has operating privileges on some other bands, but these are the most generally useful.
Also, "bands" refers to the wavelength, that is, the number of fraction of meters that equals one wavelength; at 144 megaHertz, a radio wave is approximately 2 meters in length.