In my last post I talked about how experiencing two hurricanes within two weeks had spurred me to consider getting a ham radio license.
I watched as people in my home area of western North Carolina were trapped without a way to call for help or let loved ones know they were alive. Except for people with ham radios.
That gave me the sense of urgency I needed to study for an pass my exam for a Technician class license for amateur radio (ham).
In this post I'll outline how I went about it and provide links to resources for anyone interested.
My first step was to get the Amateur Radio Relay League's test prep book: ARRL Ham Radio License Manual 5th Edition – Complete Study Guide with Question Pool to Pass the Technician Class Amateur Radio Exam.
The book is precisely, if not concisely named.
This book was the base of my learning.
To be honest if I could have used nothing but this one book, I could have made it work.
Over the course of about ten chapters you learn a TON about radio. From scientific theory, to electronics, to operating laws and practices, this book covers much ground.
When I was a teenager I did a bit of electronics work, so I already knew much of the required content there.
A huge part of amateur radio is knowing which parts of the electromagnetic spectrum are available to your license level.
There are currently three levels of license:
- Technician
- General
- Amateur Extra
At the Technician level, you are allowed to use VHF and UHF aw well as certain frequencies in the 10 meter band of HF.
This is where the science theory comes in.
You need to understand how wavelength and frequency are related.
The simplest explanation is the longer the wavelength, the lower the frequency.
Even though HF stand for High Frequency, it is the lowest frequency of the set.
VHF, or Very High Frequency, is in the middle.
UHF, or Ultra High Frequency, is at the top of the range.
This is really fascinating stuff.
The ionosphere (region of the atmosphere with ions charged up by the sun), can refract HF waves back down towards the earth which in turn can bounce them back up to the ionosphere. Repeat this a couple of times, and you can talk to people on the other side of the planet.
But, Jeff, I hear you say. I can jump on the internet or my cell phone and talk to those same people any time I want.
You can NOW when things are working well. But what if, like the people in North Carolina, you had NO internet, cell or landline phone service?
That same ability to bounce a signal over the horizon can also let you call for help hundreds of miles away.
Now whereas HF will refract in the ionosphere, VHF and UHF will punch right on through.
That makes them generally line of sight, BUT there are a few factors that make them super useful.
First, that ability to puch right through the ionosphere makes them perfect for contacting satellites or the International Space Station.
What? You can do that? Yes you can!
The ISS has multiple radios and in their down time, some of the astronauts like to talk to hams on earth.
Both the ISS and many satellites have ham radio repeaters on them you can access.
Repeaters are the second factor making VHF and UHF super useful.
A repeater is a radio that receives on one frequency and immediately re-transmits on another frequency.
This means if you have a little hand held radio like the one in my photo, you can connect to a repeater and it can transmit your signal over a much larger area.
With a repeater on a satellite, you can connect with people over the horizon since the satellite is so high. Both you and the person you are talking to have line of sight with the satellite.
With terrestrial repeaters, you can talk to people over a radius of tens of miles.
In Florida we have something really cool called SAR Net.
SAR Net is a series of repeaters across the length and breadth of Florida and each tower has microwave transmitters that allow them to connect all of the repeaters into a network wihtout using the internet or landines.
This means I can connect to a repeater 5-10 miles away and have my transmission re-transmitted all over the state.
I have listened to people from the Panhandle to Jacksonville to Fort Myers.
That brings up an important point: you can own and listen on a ham radio without a license. You cannot transmit until you receive your callsign and show up in the FCC's database of licensees.
So that brings me back to the testing process.
You can now test online, which is super convenient.
I paid $5 to an online testing group based in Alabama, and a panel of certified examiners met with me in Zoom to take my exam.
Once you pass, you do also have to pay the FCC $35 as well.
I had to show them around the room to demonstrate that I didn't have any materials I could use to cheat on the test.
The test itself consists of 35 multiple-choice questions.
It took me probably 15 minutes, but it seemed like much longer since I was a fair bit nervous about it.
The 35 questions on the exam are pulled from a pool of about 400 questions.
The book I mentioned above lists all of the questions and their answers.
The approach I took was to read the book in its entirety, then read all of the questions.
Another excellent free resource is a YouTube series on a channel called Ham Radio Crash Course.
I cannot tell you how valuable this series is. Josh Nass goes through all of the sections of the exam questions and reads the questions then gives the answers. For many of the questions he explains the answer.
For me the combination of listening to him go over the questions (often while I was on the treadmill), and reading them myself, gave me two modes of learning. I think that reinforces the info in my brain. Your mileage may vary.
The last resource I found incredibly useful was HamStudy.org.
They have both a webssite and a mobile app.
You can take as many practice tests as you want. I found the mobile app to be especially helpful.
If you reach the point that you are passing the pratice tests without issue, then you are ready to schedule your test.
Since I took the test on a Saturday, I had to wait until Monday to get the confirmation from the FCC and the link to pay.
The good news is that you know instantly if you passed. It really does feel like you are just taking another practice test which is helpfu.
The hard part was waiting until Tuesday when my callsign was sent.
At that point I was able to start transmitting and making contacts.
I picked up the Tidradio H3 for $35 on Amazon, complete with a spare battery and lots of accessories.
You can program the memory slots (200 of them), either with a USB-C cable or via Bluetooth. I opted for Bluetooth since we are travelling, and for some reason it only wants to work with the USB-C cable that came with it, which unfortunately I left at home.
My mother-in-law was in the hospital, so we had to rent a house for the week near her on the west coast of Florida. Hence the canal and boats in the background of my picture.
From here I've been able to connect to the SAR Net repeater as well as local-only repeaters. Even though my little $35 handheld has only 5 watts of power, I have been able to connect to a repeater that was 12 miles away.
That's my journey thus far. I am currently studying for the General license and hope to take the test before the end of December.
My new call sign is KQ4YBF or Kilo Quebec Four Yankee Bravo Foxtrot.
If you are interested in getting licensed, I highly recommend you do so. It took me a little less than a month, but I was highly motivated. It might take you more or less time depending on your interest and how much time you have to devote to it.
Good luck on your test!