Passed my Amature Radio (HAM) test

I should have my license this week. Thanks to Sequoia for the tip on how to study. I saw a lot of other people using 2m ham radios. Is there a place where all the Call Signs are listed?

Congrats

Congrats!
You can look up callsigns at www.qrz.com

Congrats, you will find 2-meters, along with 440, to be much more useful than CB, especially once you understand and start using repeaters.

Getting any of the ham licenses is so much easier today since the code requirement was dropped. Spent half of 6th grade tapping out Morse code with my friend so we could get our novice licenses.
Now, you can buy training books with all the answers and not really have to understand the theory.

Producer_Shawn said:

Thanks to Sequoia for the tip on how to study.

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How did you study?

I downloaded an app with a bunch of test questions, but it doesn't explain anything. That's OK if rote memorization is one's cup of tea, but it's not mine. I'd rather understand the material.

Al.

There are many study books that go into more detail.

Check your local library. Odds are you can get everything you want right there.

Nimrod said:

How did you study?

I downloaded an app with a bunch of test questions, but it doesn't explain anything. That's OK if rote memorization is one's cup of tea, but it's not mine. I'd rather understand the material.

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I felt the same way Al. I purchased Ham Radio For Dummies, which explains things in further detail. But I still couldn't fully grasp all the technical stuff. Guess that makes me dumber than a Dummy.

I did get my Technician license several years ago using the memorization method . And I still can't operate my handheld radio very well. I think I need someone to sit down with me to explain it.

Producer_Shawn said:

I should have my license this week.

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CONGRATULATIONS.......

johnnyc said:

I felt the same way Al. I purchased Ham Radio For Dummies, which explains things in further detail. But I still couldn't fully grasp all the technical stuff. Guess that makes me dumber than a Dummy.

I did get my Technician license several years ago using the memorization method . And I still can't operate my handheld radio very well. I think I need someone to sit down with me to explain it.

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Johnny,


All HTs are menu driven now adays.... unlike years ago....
Once you figure out the right key combination; you can change settings at will....
Although some radio manufacturers are more user friendly than others.
Years ago I would sit for hours programming simplex and repeater frequencies. Now I just spend 30 minutes programming frequencies by opening the CHIRP program and plug numbers into a matrix similar to an Excel file and then download them into the HT.

Charles
KG6VVM

Thanks for the responses.

I used The Technician Class 2014-18 FCC Element 2 Radio License Preparation Paperback by Gordon West. It comes with an audio CD that was pretty entertaining. However there is a lot of stuff that is just memorization. I used http://www.qrz.com/hamtest/ to practice for the test once you get an average of 85% then you are ready to test.

The radio I have is a Baofeng and its really easy to program. I use a USB cable and Chirp for setting my memory list.

what does the middle button on the baofengs do? cant figure it out.

Producer_Shawn said:

I used The Technician Class 2014-18 FCC Element 2 Radio License Preparation Paperback by Gordon West. It comes with an audio CD that was pretty entertaining. However there is a lot of stuff that is just memorization. I used http://www.qrz.com/hamtest/ to practice for the test once you get an average of 85% then you are ready to test.

Click to expand...

Thanks.

xcm said:

what does the middle button on the baofengs do? cant figure it out.

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Middle button? Or do you mean the top or bottom button on the side? Top is call to alert another radio, pretty useless. The lower is the stupid flashlight if you click it or drop the squelch gate if you hold it, dropping squelch is handy for spot volume checks and to catch a faint transmission that's bouncing in and out.

I was actually asking in jest, referring to the middle button on the side. Thanks for answering though, I hate that stupid flashlight option, all it does is get turned on by accident then kill your battery...

Congrats on the passing grade. Its not too hard if you spend some time studying.I think the ham radio for dummies book is worthless. Tech lic book and lots of time with practice questions

Congrats, I took my Technician and a day later General at the Dayton Hamfest this year. Not up on the air yet, but soon. KM4KMU
Not as essential here on the east coast as it is out west for calling in rescue. Remi save a life a several years ago because he was able to hit a repeater up on the Rubicon and call in a med evac.

John

Just did some HF work on 40m this weekend at Fieldday. My Callsign is K6PWN now.

KK6RBI here.

Have slew of cheap handhelds. 3xUV-5Rs, 1xBF-F8+, 1xYeasu Airband HT, I used when I had my Ultralight. Have a FT-90R for Mobile duty in the Jeep and a VV-898 (cheap chinese Dual Bander) that is on my base station right now but is going to wind up in an EMCOMM box in the near future.

If anyone needs any Baofeng assistance/programing give me a shout I have them down pretty good and can program them in a few minutes via laptop.

I live in Lakeside and my primary repeaters I monitor along with the call frequencies (2meter and 70cm). When I'm home I have the El Cajon UHF and Missionhills or Rattlesnake mtn tuned on my HT sitting on the counter. My base station is out in the garage.

El Cajon ARC UHF 445.900 - pl 107.2

440 "Hangout" Repeater up on Otay. 449.440 - pl 107.2 This is probably one of the more active repeaters in this area that I've found.

Mission Hills 145.320 - pl 107.2 This repeater is pretty dead most days. A buddy and I use it all the time it's so dead it's like our own private repeater.

Rattle Snake Mtn 147.765 - pl 79.7 I can actually hit this one from indoors with my HT it's so close. It over looks all of Lakeside/Santee/El Cajon ect.

Most of the time I use UHF I find it works better for me since I do a lot of HT operation and even when mobile I find I like the UHF repeaters better inthis area than most of the VHF. One exception is a Palomar repeater 146.730 - pl 107.2 that I've used all over the county and up to Santa Rosa Mountain east of Anza. It has some awesome coverage.

I took and passed the technician's exam this morning.

For anyone else thinking of doing it, I highly recommend hamstudy.org. They have electronic "flashcards" with all of the test questions from the question pool with short explanations, as well as practice tests. As you go through the flashcards, the site tracks your progress in terms of the percentage of questions from the exam pool you've been exposed to, as well as your aptitude in individual subject areas as judged by responses. Both these measures are displayed in a neat bar chart. You can go through the flash cards randomly, or review cards related to specific subject areas separately. In addition, as you take the practice tests, results are tracked on a line graph-type chart, so you can see your progress over successive tests. And its free of charge. For me, studying the flash cards, reading some of the explanations, and then taking practice exams was much more beneficial than taking practice exams alone would have been.