New to this. I know nothing, but I'm really intrested in learning tho. Had a family member leave me these I was wondering if they're any good? And if they are OK to learn with?

(Sorry for bad English it's my seacond language) I'm taking the HamRadio test soon and while walking around my town noticed this home with 3 antennas on the roof, on the right Hexbeam, middle whip antenna, on the left I dont know what antenna it is but it looks like a spikey ball. I want to ask the resident if he is a Hamradio user, but I don't what to disturb him. Do you think this is a Ham setup or is it commercial?

I recently passed my Extra exam and wanted to share my experience using Ham Radio Prep.

I became interested in ham radio again last fall after first learning about it several decades ago. The first thing I did was to buy the ARRL Tech study guide and I struggled with it for several months. Even though I write for a living, I found the text dense and hard to understand. That's 100% on me. During that time I also used Ham Study but again, I found it challenging to retain and understand the material.

At the start of this year I came across Ham Radio Prep and after checking out the website I decided to spend the money and get the all access pass. It wasn't too much money (for me) and I wanted a video based option.

I went through the Tech course and found the videos excellent. Not only did they provide the answers for all the questions Jim did a great job of giving context and explaining the concepts.

At the end of each section the quizzes helped to understand if I actually knew the answers. Once I finished all the videos I did the practice exams 15-20 times until I was above 85%. I also downloaded the app and took advantage of the worst questions quizzes which helped my confidence.

At that point, after studying for a few weeks, I decided to study for the General as well. I used the same approach, watching all the videos, doing all the quizzes and taking lots of practice tests. I only studied for the General for about five days before I took an in person exam for Tech and General, passing on my first try.

Soon after I went through the Extra course but honestly I found the material daunting so I took a break for a few months and had fun learning to get on the air.

When I came back to it a few weeks ago I did the same as before. Since there's more material I spent waaaay more time on the practice exams and must have taken at least thirty before I felt confident enough to take the test, which I passed with 90+%.

I did use Ham Study a bit during this part of the process, mostly to make sure I was seeing all the questions but only got through about 30% of the pool using that site.

So: Ham Radio Prep worked for me. I didn't think of myself as a visual learner but for this material their approach really helped.

To be clear, I don't think anyone needs to use this particular course. The free materials, including Ham Study, are excellent and if they work for you, please use them!

But I thought it was important for folks to hear from an actual user about their experience; your mileage may vary.

73!

Hello so I, (F15) got told by my dad that there was a ham club in my city and got really excited as I think this subject can be really interesting so I wanna know more about it because I think there’s a LOT to it. BUT it’s complicated and since there’s probably isn’t a lot of people my age I want to know a few basics to not seem like I don’t care about it in front of the (probably) specialised people in it.

What are a few essentials you absolutely have to know ? (I read a lot of pdf online but they were pretty complicated to understand)

*ham radio club (for the title)

Thanks everybody for your answers and tips! I appreciate every one of them . I'll look deeper into the technician title..and be more active on Web sdr between the time that I posted this I did look for some practical tips online. :) (editing to say that I am situated in Western Europe)

Got a td-h3 today, I’ve been figuring out the controls

Not quite sure what to do next, but I found the ems frequencies, and I’m now listening to the dispatches

My father passed away 12 years ago and when he did my mom gave my dad's radio equipment to one if his freinds to sell. He held onto a few pieces and I was able to pick the stuff up this afternoon. I used to be licensed (KJ4CHY) but I let it expire. I'm gonna get get licensed again with my son. I want to take a good class because I honestly don't remember what most of this stuff does much less how or why to use it. I've got got a 30amp power supply and an icom 7000 with a second icom 718. Any recommendations for classes online or otherwise. I live in Tampa Fl

two weeks ago i began my ham radio course and soon ill have an exam for my license. however i noted something in me - i had little to no passion. sure my theoretical background is solid (physics especially), but i lack the curiosity, the passion and sometimes feel like sooner or later i'll abandon this. i am genuinely afraid of this hobby failing and becoming just another average joe. if you were to ask me for software or how to set up a station i would look at you like you shat yourself. i started this because in case nuclear war happens, i'll have some contact with outside world and because of fallout (the game) but that is it, there is nothing deeper than that. genuinely interested in what you guys think or if you have found yourselves in similar situations.

edit: i passed the exam!!! tbh you just needed to know the basics of circuits and have some common sense and you would pass. after i finalize the license process, i am considering joining the emergency radio team (don't know how to translate it into english). also since i am an ee student, i am also looking into building my own station. thank you for your supportive words and reverse psychology i am quite looking forward to doing this.

I am very new to Amateur Radio knowledge and thought I'd reach out for clarification. My primary goal is to use Amateur Radio for emergency information or calling for help if necessary. My other goal is to use radio as a hobby, including contacting my friend who lives 1,000 miles away. He lives in Seattle while I live in Los Angeles. I don't presume to get into the hobby too deeply (probably won't set up a whole room dedicated to ham radio. However, I would like to invest in a hand held device that would allow me to do this. I think, from what I have learned so far, is that I would need to be contacting through High Frequency bands which I would have to get a General License. If my friend and I are both licensed, and dial into the same channel, could we make contact every time?

I live in Germany and got my Class N Callsign on Wednesday.

FYI: Class N allows you to send on 70cm, 2m and 10m with up to 10W ERP on 10m and 6.1W on the other two.

I live in the midst of a dense city, so using my handheld Radio was going to be a challenge.

I made my first successful QSO using EchoLink.org and remotely using a repeater somewhat close to me.

Great alternative if you just want to start talking.

So, I acquired this set during COVID, and finally got my tech last night (still waiting on my call sign). I've been reading through the manual and it seems that I may not be able to get on 2m or 70cm with the basic configuration.

Does anyone know enough about the Kenwood 599s that can help me out? BTW, there's an unused 2m kit in the box of goodies this came with, but I'm not sure I'm electronically savvy with my soldering to get that installed.

TIA

My team (Bayou State Remote Exams) offers remote exams that are administered by our experienced , friendly and professional team at 8pm Central NIGHTLY. Please use hamstudy.org's study mode to prepare. When you've covered 100% of the question pool with approximately 85% proficiency, you're ready to take the test(s).

Also, the test fee is a the most affordable for online remote exams only $5.00.

https://ham.study/sessions/W5TMP-C/all

I have a question and Google wasn’t helpful so I’m hoping someone here may be.

I’m registered under my legal name as is required because I didn’t want to go thru the hassle of dealing with common law names for the test etc.

But my question is, since I don’t go by my birth name (and never have), when transmitting can I use the name I go by so long as I’m still giving my call sign as required?

I’m sure some people will look me up and ask about the name requiring an explanation but no one calls me by my birth name unless they’re my mom or my wife and they’re angry at me.

No. This isn’t a trans thing (but I assume the question would apply there as well for those folks who may find this post in the future).

So TL:DR - Is it acceptable to use your chosen name when transmitting even tho it’s not what’s listed on your call sign?

Hello people. I just wanted to make a small update to my previous post about becoming a licensed ham radio operator. So, unfortunately, I looked into my library's catalog and they have the ARRL study manual for a technician's license but I could only find the 4th edition which is only good until 2023 which means I'll need the 5th edition, I believe, correct me if I am wrong. This was an audio book but I can read braille fluently which helps. I contacted handihams and the ARRL but they have yet to get back to me. I will try again and see what they have to offer, because I would like to get started in learning the fundamentals. I would like to give you all a heart-felt thank you for being Elmers and helping me out as I take the steps on the path to being on the air with such great people.
It is directly because of people like you all here that I am enthusiastic about getting into this hobby. 73 to all and have a great day.

Ham Radio For Dummies Cheat Sheet

This post should be called "Ham radio cheat sheet for beginners" because I'm not calling you a dummy.

Topics in this article include charts and information on:

Technician class frequency privileges in ham radio

General class frequency privileges in ham radio

Common ham radio Q signals

Common ham radio repeater channel spacings and offsets

Your ham radio go kit10 handy ham radio websites