Armed Polite Society
Main Forums => The Roundtable => Topic started by: cosine on April 25, 2010, 11:54:44 AM
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If you're interested in ham radio, there's no excuse to not get a license...
http://kb6nu.com/extra-class-easypass-how-everybody-can-be-an-extra/
While the author outlines why he believes that there's no excuse for upgrading to an Amateur Extra license, I think the same reasoning applies to getting started in ham radio with the Technician's license.
Some sections from the article:
You don’t have to learn Morse Code (CW) any more as part of the exam process. The FCC took the CW requirements off the table a while ago, so there is absolutely no excuse what-so-ever why you can’t upgrade.
No code requirements anymore for any of the license classes. There goes that excuse.
Do Take Note of the Following…
They publish and freely distribute all of the exact questions, 738 in all, and all of the exact correct answers to the Extra Class Question Pool; fifty of which will be repeated exactly in the written exam the VE hands you, with at worst, a change in the order of the answers on your test sheet.
The VECs have weeded out and eliminated any imperfect or ambiguous questions and/or answers.
They even give you the exact wrong answers (actually called “distractors”), that are placed right alongside of those exact correct answers in order to… you guessed it… distract you. (But much more on this point later.)
You can bring along a simple calculator, which perhaps you might not even need, as there is only a moderate number of really scary math questions. (Remembering again that they give you every single one of the correct questions and answers to study beforehand.)
No longer are you herded in and out of some government holding pen by career Civil Service “professionals” who are simply counting the minutes until their lunch and/or break time. These days you take the exam in a comfortable and friendly environment, supervised by like-minded individuals who are very seriously interested in your success.
It’s “multiple guess” with only a total of four possible choices.
As there really isn’t even a fixed time limit set for the test, you could even spend a few hours taking the exam, but you really shouldn’t need more than forty or fifty minutes, and even that’s stretching it.
And finally… even if you didn’t follow the “Meat and Potatoes” found below, and have somehow actually managed to fail the exam, you can simply pay another fee, and take another exam all over again, and again, and again, if you need to, as often as you wish, as long as you can keep coming up with another fee.
Wow!!!!!!! If you don’t already realize it, the current Amateur Radio exams and testing procedures are really a gift, and the only thing I could possibly think of that could have made my test taking experience a more pleasant and enjoyable event, would have been if they had served me a cold beer and a medium well burger with fries & coleslaw while I was taking the exam :)
Oh by-the-way, that gift mentioned above is worth perhaps forty to sixty billion dollars, which is a conservative low end estimate of what the entire Amateur Radio Frequency Spectrum would bring if it were auctioned off to the commercial interests.
All the above applies to the Tech and General license too. They publish the exact question pool for the Technician and General class license as well. You know exactly the questions that could be on the exam.
Let me quote from page 1-8, section 1.4, second paragraph of the ARRL Extra Class Manual:
This study guide will provide the necessary background and explanation for the answers to the exam questions. By learning this material, you will go beyond just learning the answers. You’ll understand the fundamentals behind them and this makes it easier to learn, remember and use what you know. This book also contains many useful facts and figures that you can use in your station and on the air.”
Well written, well punctuated, well structured, concise, absolutely 100% true in its description, and a representative paragraph of a superbly well researched work detailing with every single technical, regulatory and operational area from which the entire Amateur Extra Class question pool is based. But please, do send me a stinging barbed posting, if any of you out there have ever actually managed to wade through all of those four hundred and seventy pages in just a few weeks, and managed to retain enough of it to pass the extra exam on the first shot. I would be seriously impressed if you had.
But do please take note that the above quote states quite clearly that it goes beyond what is required!
Now this is going to rattle the cages of a few of you purists out there, but here’s some further serious reality check. You are not being tested by the VEs on what you know, rather, you are being tested only on how well you know the answers to a random subset of fifty (50) questions selected from a specific set of 738 questions in the VEC pool. That’s all, nothing more.
The bar that you have to get over to pass the Extra Exam was set at a very specific and well defined level. It is absolutely unnecessary for an individual to expend inordinate amounts of valuable time and effort in preparing to go much beyond that bar. Perhaps though, some of you really do have the time and desire to do so, and this is rather commendable and I seriously admire those of you who are so inclined.
However, any extra work that is performed in the course of preparing to take the Extra Class examination for the rest of us, will at best be only a time consuming distraction from the primary task at hand, which again is to simply get thirty seven or more correct answers circled on the answer sheet the very first time you attempt it.
I can already hear the murmurs of discontent from the purists out there who will most certainly point out in sharply worded posts, as to how detrimental and destructive my thoughts are to the integrity of the hobby, or raise issues of the need for personal growth and self improvement, or go on about the technical standards which need be maintained, or perhaps even express thoughts over the preparation required to assume the roll of world wide ambassadors for the hobby.
And of course, there will also be the sad and quite melancholy thoughts which will be expressed over how much the hobby has changed from the “good old days”… rubbish… get over it… These are the “good old days” and please do try and remember that it’s a fascinating fun hobby, and not a calling to some more serious religious vocation.
Sorry, but the rules have been clearly formulated and set in place. The test taker needs only to be focused on an honest and above board process of learning all of the questions and their answers in the pool beforehand, and then pulling fifty of those answers out of their head in order to be able to circle the correct answers, nothing more.
There aren’t any requirements in place for any sort of prerequisite preparation in order to take the Amateur Extra exam, and there are no retesting or proficiency requirements anytime in the future. So any method by which an individual can honestly get to the magic thirty seven (37) is fair, good, noble, and pure of heart, and only needs to be done once. And of course, your passing of the exam helps to sustain and grow our hobby no matter what the purists might have to say about it.
So grasshopper… let me guide you on to the path of true Extra Class test taking enlightenment.
So true. I did something similar by taking several practice tests a day until I memorized enough answers to pass the Amateur Extra class.
If you're interested, do mash the above link. The second half of the post outlines a process learn enough of the material to pass the Amateur Extra exam, but there's no reason why the same thing couldn't be done to learn enough to pass the Tech or General class licenses as well, which, by the way, only consists of 35 questions and requires 75% correct to pass.
-Andy (pm me for my call sign if you're interested)
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Thanks for the info. I missed the advanced class by one question back in '76 and if I'd made it, I'd have been grandfathered into the extra class... Not really that active except occasionally on 2M anymore. Sold my ICOM (insert big number here) XCVR when I moved into an apartment... no antoonies allowed.
Occasionally break out my one remaining HF rig, an ancient Heathkit HW-8 QRP (CW, code-only) xmtr, string some wire around the living room and try to copy the mail:
(https://armedpolitesociety.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fcommons%2F2%2F2a%2FHEATHKIT_HW8_3.JPG&hash=5733af7097ed7474330a4f17a1c0ede776dda87f)
Trouble is, my code is so bad nowadays, I can't even copy the repeater ID, and I know what it says!
I, for one, am glad they dropped the code requirement. I barely passed the 13WPM for general class by a lot of guesswork. Must have been dumb luck, 'cause it sure wasn't smart luck.
Terry, 230RN
(Pic credit in properties.... not my own actual rig, but looks just like it --even the key!)
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Uh... Why?
CB for nerds?
To listen to the paranoids?
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So we're assuming the existence of people interested in ham radio? :P
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Uh... Why?
CB for nerds?
To listen to the paranoids?
Last I checked CB was limited to only four watts. With a the right HAM setup, however, you can talk to the other side of the world in the amateur bands. Eventually I'd like to get a AN/GRC-106. Right now all I got is the AN/VRC-53 (6 meter).
Beats the heck out of hearing about some local truckers newly acquired itch.
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Uh... Why?
CB for nerds?
To listen to the paranoids?
Lots of interesting engineering challenges in amateur radio. My favorite is low power communications and alternative energy sources. It's also fun communicating with folks around the world without any infrastructure between the two participants. No towers, no intertubes, nothing owned or operated by govts, corporations, etc.
So we're assuming the existence of people interested in ham radio? :P
Still lots of us out there.
Chris
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So we're assuming the existence of people interested in ham radio? :P
I'm licensed although I don't do much with it.
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Quote
You don’t have to learn Morse Code (CW) any more as part of the exam process. The FCC took the CW requirements off the table a while ago, so there is absolutely no excuse what-so-ever why you can’t upgrade.
No code requirements anymore for any of the license classes. There goes that excuse.
And sweet jesus, some of the older hams bitch about this like nothing else...
Uh... Why?
CB for nerds?
To listen to the paranoids?
As Mtnbiker said, for the challenge. There is so much you can do with ham radio...it sure beats any other form of easily available radio...
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Why?
Why not!
The challange.
Helping with communications for marothons, bike rides/races, etc. etc.
Helping with communications during blackouts, disasters, etc. etc.
Would still get off on chasing tornados.
KB5UWT here.
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I'm kind of interested in the technical aspects, but the "talking to other people" aspect is kinda meh. That's what I have the intertubes for... ;)
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If there was a way to integrate ham radio and internet... [popcorn]
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If there was a way to integrate ham radio and internet... [popcorn]
Like packet radio?
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Like packet radio?
/googles it
Yep. =)
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Hey, hammies, I don't think anybody here is really knockin' ya. Just teasin'. We're all gun types here. We understand the joy of toys, skills, gadgets, etc. No need to explain.
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Always been interested in it. Just not enough hours in the day, or days in the week for everything that interests me.
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I'm kind of interested in the technical aspects, but the "talking to other people" aspect is kinda meh. That's what I have the intertubes for... ;)
I don't really care much for the talking part either. I just like to tinker.
Like packet radio?
D-Star's data capabilities are quite interesting.
Chris
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I keep thinking that it's nifty, an then I think "But what am I gonna say? 'Uh, hello?' 'Hello world'?"
In some jurisdictions a license can be practical. There are places where you have to be a licensed ham to have a scanner in your car.
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I don't really care much for the talking part either. I just like to tinker.
Chris
Yeah. But I'd rather build bass effects pedals and such if I want to tinker w/ electronic stuffs.
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Don't forget the significantly-cheaper-than-other-vanity-plates-in-most-states callsign license plates. $2 initially and $1 per year here in TX. I get to keep the same plate number as long as I renew my ham license, and I can have the same plates on up to four vehicles. (Great way to mess with cops' minds.)
(https://armedpolitesociety.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fkd5nrh.smugmug.com%2Fphotos%2F636333929_DxjxW-M.jpg&hash=28393097dccad5b31aac8f0c5059e134ed3cadf4)
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Oh to hell with it, I'm finally going to do it this summer. It's all ya'lls fault.
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Yeah. But I'd rather build bass effects pedals and such if I want to tinker w/ electronic stuffs.
umm. ok. Then build effects pedals.
Being a borderline prepper, amateur radio fits in well with that interest. I may not like to *talk* to people much via radio, but I see the value in certain circumstances. For example, when 911 occurred, the phones here were down for hours. With AmRad, I could have gotten onto one of the message handling nets and gotten a short message out to my family (was a govt contractor at the time, they were worried)
Chris
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I keep thinking that it's nifty, an then I think "But what am I gonna say? 'Uh, hello?' 'Hello world'?"
In some jurisdictions a license can be practical. There are places where you have to be a licensed ham to have a scanner in your car.
Join a "ragchewing" conversation. Use the amateur satellites. Receive and send slow scan TV pictures (if anybody is still doing that...), listen to conversations around the world. Do direction finding contests.
I listen a heck of a lot more than talking.
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Amateur radio used for short-range non-emergency communications is a novelty if you ask me. The two people I knew in high school who had licenses seem to have let them lapse.
Most serious hams who stick with it seem to be into the whole emergency response scene, or they go (or want to prepare to go) off the beaten track (camping, hiking, storm chasing, survivalism, etc), or else they have a license because they are very interested in antenna or radio design, or because their work involves commercial radio equipment so it's a small step from that to amateur radio land.
If you don't fall into one of those categories, then before you buy any ham gear, you might want to get a radio scanner (uniden makes some decent ones that decode unencrypted APCO 25 too) so you can listen to what actually goes on on the amateur bands. If you do get heavily into ham communications, you'll want a scanner or three anyway (a scanner can monitor ham bands for traffic faster than a ham radio can). If you discover amateur radio conversations are dull, you'll have a useful scanner -- that you can use for listening to all sorts of stuff -- rather than a ham radio that you'll never use.
The question pools (http://www.arrl.org/question-pools) for all the amateur tests are public.
The FCC license database is public record (http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/UlsSearch/searchAmateur.jsp).
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The FCC license database is public record.
That's why I get a little hinky about giving out my call sign. I had the zero-slash plates (Colorado) on my car for a couple of years because I thought they were neat. ("Whut's that 'O' with the crossbar through it?) I just quit using the plates after I got older and more paranoid. Still have the old ham plates sitting in a closet.
Terry, 230RN
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Amateur radio used for short-range non-emergency communications is a novelty if you ask me. The two people I knew in high school who had licenses seem to have let them lapse.
Most serious hams who stick with it seem to be into the whole emergency response scene, or they go (or want to prepare to go) off the beaten track (camping, hiking, storm chasing, survivalism, etc), or else they have a license because they are very interested in antenna or radio design, or because their work involves commercial radio equipment so it's a small step from that to amateur radio land.
Ever occur to you that some folks just like to visit? I know that vocal communications is a lost art on youngsters these day, but it still comes in handy from time to time.
Brad
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I think my daughter got the license, but she doesn't have a radio.
I'm wondering if our local emergency services radios are functionally the same as "ham" ?? (but different frequencies)
They're going to go digital pretty soon, and there should be a lot of surplus analog portable and mobile radios.
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I'm wondering if our local emergency services radios are functionally the same as "ham" ?? (but different frequencies)
It's fairly common; my Kenwood mobile is identical to the radio a friend had when he was working for a nearby county, except that mine cost half as much and has the ham faceplate. (which allows it to be programmed directly from the faceplate rather than using an external programming setup) Pull two diodes off the board on his, pop my faceplate on it, and we were able to get him set up on the frequencies they'd reassigned before the overpaid programming guy got there.
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It's fairly common; my Kenwood mobile is identical to the radio a friend had when he was working for a nearby county, except that mine cost half as much and has the ham faceplate. (which allows it to be programmed directly from the faceplate rather than using an external programming setup) Pull two diodes off the board on his, pop my faceplate on it, and we were able to get him set up on the frequencies they'd reassigned before the overpaid programming guy got there.
Yep, that's what I have sitting in on the dining room table - a cute little Kenwood.
But after everything goes digital, we will all have to use the big boxy Bendix-Kings, and the Kenwood will be nothing but LOS walkie talkies (unless used for Ham).
Thanks for the Info =)
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What if you're just interested in ham? =)
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Ham is delicious. =) ;)
If one were to go ahead and get their license, what sort of equipment costs are they looking at?
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Sorry, I've been reading the word "ham" for three or so days now and I couldn't resist anymore. I just had to get it out of my system. :laugh: >:D
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I just had to get it out of my system. :laugh: >:D
I you have ham you will eventually, by default, get it out of your system no matter what you do. :laugh:
Brad
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i thought red meat stayed in the colon for eight thousand years? [popcorn] surely the hippies can't be wrong.
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I you have ham you will eventually, by default, get it out of your system no matter what you do. :laugh:
Brad
Hmmm, now that I think about it...See ya in a while... =D
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If one were to go ahead and get their license, what sort of equipment costs are they looking at?
Depends on what you want to do.
$100-$10000+.
Seriously.
Chris
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Sounds a lot like guns.
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Sounds a lot like guns.
Not far from it.
Chris
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Sounds a lot like guns.
You have guns in your colon?
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for when smart carry is just to conspicuous?
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If one were to go ahead and get their license, what sort of equipment costs are they looking at?
As mtnbkr said, $100-1000+.
The CHEAPEST way to get into ham is with a VHF mobile or handi-talki. I would go the mobile route simply because I like the additional power. I have examples of mobiles and handitalkis. They are not too bad on the cost range. But you only pretty much talk locally...
Getting into HF- that is, talking around the nation/world, is going to cost you a pretty penny more.
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Getting into HF- that is, talking around the nation/world, is going to cost you a pretty penny more.
Not necessarily; a good older HF multiband base station can be had for $300-400. Either add a tuner for $100-300 more or pick your frequency ranges and make resonant antennas. You wouldn't be the first guy with a spiderweb of wire antennas over the house for just that reason.
If you're really cheap, learn Morse, bust up an old TV and play on the colorburst frequency.
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Avenger, I said 10K+. :)
How would you spend 10k or more? Buy a multi-kilobuck contesting rig, add a legal limit amp, a tuner, a multi-frequency beam antenna, tower, rotator, hardline coax, etc.
Or, you could build a CW only HF kit (couple hundred) and a resonant wire antenna for the band of your choice (several examples here: http://www.qrpkits.com/).
I'm somewhere in between. I have a Yaesu 817 with a bunch of mods ($1k total for radio and mods). When at home, I'm connected to a multiband vertical ($50 used, about $150 new) with about 35yds of LMR-400 coax (paid about $80 for the 50yd portion). In the field, I use a homebuilt tuner ($50) with a wire antenna of some sort (let's say about $15-$20 worth of wire and connectors).
If you forgo the internal mods of the Yaesu 819, you can frequently get one used for as little as $450. New, they're near $700.
Chris
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Or, you could build a CW only HF kit (couple hundred)
Geez, I need to start selling you random piles of parts. :P CW QRP kits are best made from junk for free. Maybe $20-30 worth of crystals if you don't want to build a VFO. If you want an amp, that's still pretty easy from a well-stocked junk box.
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Geez, I need to start selling you random piles of parts. :P CW QRP kits are best made from junk for free. Maybe $20-30 worth of crystals if you don't want to build a VFO. If you want an amp, that's still pretty easy from a well-stocked junk box.
I was quoting figures for folks who don't have a well stocked junk box or the skills to take a pile of random parts and make a functioning radio. If you can do that, obviously your costs are going to be lower.
And yes, you can even find CW kits for very little, but I had some of the more feature-rich kits in mind when I wrote that. I assume anyone who's new to the hobby would need more features to ease them into things. A Tuna Tin CW Transceiver is probably not a good first radio.
Chris
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You have guns in your colon?
Not that I'm aware of but I wouldn't mind crapping myself a nice Hamerli... ;)
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A Tuna Tin CW Transceiver is probably not a good first radio.
It's the perfect first radio; he'd have to go ahead and take all three tests at once, saving him about $28 in fees, and he'd have a really strong incentive to come up with a better radio :laugh:
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It's the perfect first radio; he'd have to go ahead and take all three tests at once, saving him about $28 in fees, and he'd have a really strong incentive to come up with a better radio :laugh:
Taking all three at once to save that $28 is the Ham Way (ie cheap SOBs).
Speaking of cheap hams, some of us in our club have proposed raising the YEARLY club fee from $10/year to $15 or $20 A YEAR!! Would you believe some folks have complained and claimed they don't have the money? We're talking less than a dollar a month increase at most.
Chris
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Dear Lord, how I do miss Heathkit. =(
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Speaking of cheap hams, some of us in our club have proposed raising the YEARLY club fee from $10/year to $15 or $20 A YEAR!! Would you believe some folks have complained and claimed they don't have the money? We're talking less than a dollar a month increase at most.
Couple hundred dollars for a new amp, base unit, or high-gain stick? Necessary expense. A few bucks for toothpaste, soap, and deoderant? Totally optional.
Brad
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Couple hundred dollars for a new amp, base unit, or high-gain stick? Necessary expense. A few bucks for toothpaste, soap, and deoderant? Totally optional.
Brad
I gotta say we don't have any that fit *that* particular ham stereotype, but we sure do have a bunch who fit the cheap thrifty stereotype.
Chris
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not working in firefox and you have to login, but i think this thread needs this link (http://www.hulu.com/watch/147344/justified-blowback#s-p1-so-i0). [popcorn] probably wrong though.
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not working in firefox and you have to login, but i think this thread needs this link (http://www.hulu.com/watch/147344/justified-blowback#s-p1-so-i0). [popcorn] probably wrong though.
Works in my Firefox fine. How far do I have to watch to see relevance?
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when the prisoner says he has to go to the bathroom. :laugh: and then when Raylan asks him where he got the shank. was a good episode though, the ending was funny as all get out. guess you had to watch the rest of the series to get it though.
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One of the better entry-level (lower power) HF transceivers I know of is the portable (but not hand-held) Yaesu ft-817dn. $600-ish, probably slightly cheaper at swap meets or ebay. Older variants (used) might be several hundred cheaper, particularly factoring in other stuff they'll be sold with with like accessories or antennas.
http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/hamhf/1817.html
More prices...
Mobile FM: http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/fm_txvrs.html
Handhelds (FM): http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/ht.html
HF transceivers, some mobile, some base: http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/ht.html
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One of the better entry-level (lower power) HF transceivers I know of is the portable (but not hand-held) Yaesu ft-817dn. $600-ish, probably slightly cheaper at swap meets or ebay. Older variants (used) might be several hundred cheaper, particularly factoring in other stuff they'll be sold with with like accessories or antennas.
Yup; a good used 817 and VX-5R (or 7R if someone's selling cheap enough) have been on my wish list for a while now.
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Tyme, QRP is not entry level. It's actually more difficult to work with than high power because your stuff has to be *right* in order to make contacts and be heard.
I have the 817nd. Why I called it an "819" in my earlier post, I have no idea.
Great radio. I love the internal battery pack, which is something other QRP rigs lacked. My longest contact has been out to California with that radio and a 120ft wire dipole, ladder line, and a tuner kit I assembled.
Chris
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Tyme, QRP is not entry level. It's actually more difficult to work with than high power because your stuff has to be *right* in order to make contacts and be heard.
Good; starting out QRP forces you to avoid getting into bad habits like hook-up-any-old-chunk-of-metal-and-let-the-tuner-handle-it.
Heck, with some salvaged fence wire, three fishing poles, and about 15 minutes of tweaking to get it exactly resonant I was able to talk into Canada from Texas with 3 watts on 10m SSB. Great signal reports with 12W AM from that same setup, too.