A First Post – Getting Started in Amateur Radio

Greetings fellow and aspiring amateur radio operators. I’ve long had a passing interest in radios since being given a pair of old 3 channel CB walkie talkies to play with as a kid.

In college, I spent some time doing radio in a different way, spending a lot of time working at the college radio station as well as part time work for the local radio group. I rekindled that hobby a couple of years ago at wsup.rocks.

Life continued to happen; evolving career, marriage, kids, moves. As you surely have felt as well, life took a hard left in the spring of 2020 and many of us spent a LOT of time at home and in quasi-isolation. A good friend of mine, KD9OFI, punched his Technician ticket in November of 2019 and suggested I might be interested in doing the same. Indeed I was. Over the spring and summer, I started acquiring a small collection of mostly cheap radios and accessories and listening to local traffic, mostly on repeaters. The interest was piqued.

I used the ARRL Technician study guide and the hamstudy.org to study over the summer and felt more than well prepared to take the exam, however testing sessions were sparse in my area due to the ongoing pandemic. I looked into the remote testing options, and although I commend the VEs working on those sessions, it seemed like a lot of effort. Eventually an in-person session was available within striking distance and I passed and received my technician license and call in September 2020.

I also got licensed for GMRS in August 2020, so that my family has access to a radio service if needed. We experienced the worst severe weather event of my life, the August 2020 derecho, which disrupted power and cell phone service for several days. It also gives me an avenue to include my young son in some of the radio hobby and perhaps in a few years, he will wish to get amateur licensed himself.

I’ve been having a blast so far, just getting acclimated to the equipment I have acquired and making a few contacts. Plenty to keep occupied with over the foreseeable future and the sky is truly the limit from there.

I spent a lot of time researching and reading and decided I would like to document from time to time my experiences. It may demonstrate to aspiring operators that the initial barriers to entry are quite manageable. I also found limited real-world information on some of the equipment I was interested in so I am eager to share my anecdotes and experiences.

You can find a current list of my equipment on the About page. In the near future, I hope to start making more simplex and repeater contacts in the 2m and 70cm bands as well as get deeper into DMR radio. On the to-do list is the General class exam, and branch into some HF work and digital modes there as well.

KF0BTJ – 73 to all