SO YOU WANT TO BE A HAM?
BY THOMAS BROOKS, KG5ZSU
JULY 2021

If you have any ambition of becoming a ham radio operator, there are a few thing you need to know before you get into anything.

Ham radio is deceptively cheap. Yes, you can start out with a $10 VE testing fee (and maybe $45 for the ticket…) and get a $40 HT and be all set. But before long you will probably want a $300 VHF/UHF rig and a $60 antenna for your car, a $400-$1400 HF rig for your house, $100 in antennas, $50-$200 in coax, a thousand or more in tower and grounding, and before you know it, you’ll be out a few thousand dollars! But it doesn’t have to happen all at once, and some of you will never spend $1500 on an HF radio or half of that stuff. Then again, some of you may spend a lot more than a few $k. This is a hobby. Hobbies take money, plain and simple. Don’t expect to be perfectly content with only a $40 HT and a rubber duck. I can guarantee that you will want to upgrade something sometime, even if for no other reason that reducing your RF exposure. You can buy some nice antennas for less than $100, and a piece of coax for $25-$30 dollars, so even with upgrades, you can spend a little or a lot to fit your budget.

Ham radio is a hobby. Period. Yes, like most other hobbies, it can help you in other walks of life, but don’t think you’ll make money at is as an average ham. Maybe if you’re Gordon West you can make some money, but for mere mortals like us, it probably won’t pay any bills (haha). Ham radio has it’s advantages to be sure--emergency communication is just one use, and it is a platform to learn about many different electrical, mechanical, and computer skills, some of which can become very advanced and useful to specific trades or everyday life.

I won’t try and convince someone not to be a ham. But, if you like to argue and voice your opinion a lot, then you might rethink this idea. Self control is a must, and being able to walk away and exercise self control is necessary if you are going to keep your friends or your callsign. If you don’t like what you hear, you can always spin the dial.

The thing that sets ham radio apart from services like GMRS, FRS, or the CB is that we can run 1500 watts on most bands, and our objective (specialty, really) is talking all over the place. FRS and GMRS are for local, short range work only. CB does work a little farther, but they only get 4 watts and one band. Hams get a lot of bands and 1500 watts in most places, which gives us a lot more flexibility in operations. And we ham’s can talk across the country and the world on a good day, and people across town just about any time we want. We can talk through satellites, bounce signals off of the moon or the trails of meteors, or setup a repeater in our car. This is one flexible platform that has few, if any equals.

Ham radio is a great tool. For one, it requires no infrastructure. If an EMP hits and your rig is unplugged, it will probably be fine. (Okay, maybe not.) If you need help or info, there will probably be somebody on earth that can hear you. Local emergencies are where it really pays off, because if something like land-line phones or cellphones go down or get cut, radio will still get out to somebody who can contact the people you need—like family or EMT’s or law enforcement. It’s a one-to-many form of communication. Phones require you to have an endpoint. Radio can hit multiple endpoints at once, allowing rapid communication and coordination between many people or groups. It also allows the interaction of many people simultaneously. Because we must push-to-talk, it also saves power in emergencies because when you aren’t holding the button it isn’t transmitting, unlike a cellphone which is always transmitting something.

Ham radio is public and insecure. Scary, right? No. Nothing is secure, ham radio just reminds you that is is one of those things. The gov. still listens to it and records everything on HF. (Thanks to high-speed SDR’s.) They can RDF you, too. That means don’t do anything stupid or illegal. VHF is maybe a little more “private,” but don’t count on it. When data exists, it is vulnerable. Also, we can't use ham radio to transmit obscured or secret messages. Everything is clear-text and capable of being decoded by anyone with the right equipment.

Radio has many uses. I can send pictures, text, location information, text messages through an RF-to-Internet server system, email over radio, and good ‘ol voice to just about anywhere, provided the propagation is good.

Radio is not quite full-proof. The sun can make or break an attempted conversation. On HF, it is rare that you can’t hit somebody somewhere. On VHF, because the range is shorter, your odds are slightly lower (just because the number of fish in the barrel is smaller) but its more reliable at that shorter range. The fact remains that more often than not, you will be able to hear somebody, somewhere, and if you are talking to locals, chances are good that the only reason that can’t hear you is because they aren’t next to a radio or somebody has something broken. But at least its one ham’s problem and you have multiple shots at a contact. With phones, if one line gets cut, that may not be another route of making a contact. (Remember when the fiber optic cable got cut in Pittsburg about 2 years ago? No phone (land-line or cell) and no Internet.)

If you are still thinking ham radio is a hobby you'll like, then you’ll probably want to play on HF. Tech’s don’t get much bandwidth, so you might as well study for General, too. You can usually test for both (and even Extra Class if you like) on the same day for no extra charge. It’s worth the extra work, and it is easier to take them very close together because some content overlaps. 

The ARRL’s website is a good place to start your quest to becoming a ham: 
http://www.arrl.org/licensing-education-training 

But, to make a long story short, you will need to study for your test, find a club that will test you, and go take the test. So, start studying with one of these tools, or all of them. You will likely only need one:
A free tech-class study guide from KB6NU's website (you should probably search for this because the link for the PDF changes sometimes)
Any one of these fine books (remember, tech first, then general, then extra class): https://www.gordonwestradioschool.com/main/page_w5yi_training_resources.html
The ARRL Technician study guide (I hear their other books are good, too): http://www.arrl.org/shop/Ham-Radio-License-Manual/

Each resource has versions for each license level. KB6NU’s guides are my favorite, but Gordon West’s guide helped me with Extra. After you read one of those, or start to, anyway, take some practice tests. These are all great websites:
https://arrlexamreview.appspot.com/ 
This is one of my favorites: https://hamstudy.org
https://hamexam.org/ 

There are also several smart-phone apps which are very useful. 
This will make it easier as well, if you have trouble with math: https://blog.hamstudy.org/2015/01/hacking-the-general-and-extra-exams-from-n7smi/

Take lots of practice tests. Like a few each day. You can learn the questions by doing that by itself, but I recomend you still study the content in a study guide if you on;t know what you are doing. The tests give you the best preparation for what you'll see on test day and relieve a lot of fears.

As for local clubs, the ARRL can help with that too, unless you know of one already, in which case you might ask them if they do exam sessions.
http://arrl.org/find-a-club 
This website has a list as well: https://hamstudy.org/sessions/ 
If worst comes to worst, you might could test online. Take a look at:http://www.arrl.org/findonlineexam 
Or: https://hamstudy.org/sessions/remote 

I do recommend doing it in person though. Its much more enjoyable.

As for resources after you get your license, equipment can often be found used for cheap. Hamfests and flee markets and tailgate sales are awesome—no joke. Sometimes old hams (Elmers) have equipment they just get rid off, and sometimes its in great working order. Other times it needs some TLC (Time, inductors, and capacitors...you might not understand that yet, but one day you will.)
I am trying to boycott Amazon.com due to their wicked agendas, and I prefer Ham Radio Outlet (https://www.hamradio.com/) or DX Engineering (https://www.dxengineering.com/) for equipment. Ebay can be helpful, too. Word of mouth can find a lot of stuff, so ask around first. You may be surprised what you can find.

The ARRL Handbook and the ARRL Antenna Book are two great resources. I highly recommend them. Used and/or old versions are fine. Any version within the last couple of years is nice for the Handbook, but the Antenna Book really doesn’t change much. Again, you might find some old timers who have old copies they will give to you for free. Just ask around.

You can make a lot of your own goodies for this hobby. Antennas, support structures, radios, you name it, we can make it--provided it meets the requirements in part 97 or the FCC rules.

Speaking of rules, take a look at this: https://pacificlegal.org/the-fccs-ham-radio-license-requirements-are-unconstitutional-its-time-to-fight-back/
Yes, we do agree that, by using “their” service, we are allowing them to search our equipment if they want. They will come knock on whoever’s door they want, no matter whether you are a ham or not. And they don’t always do it peacefully.

And speaking of privacy, if you get tested and apply for a callsign, your name and address will be placed in a publicly accessible database. But it already is, ham or not. For me, I was just being open with those people I talk to. Maybe some don’t like that, but I didn’t mind it. I did a few google searches for my name before I got licensed and found out where I have lived and a whole mess of other info, so I knew it was out there already regardless of the FCC database entry.

Back to equipment, Eham.net has a ton of reviews, and the QRZ.com forums have a lot of info, too. But I am boycotting QRZ.com because of their stance on several religious issues, so I can’t recommend you use any service which you need a login for on their site. Do your homework before you buy anything. The most popular rigs are made by Kenwood, Icom, Yaesu, Alinco, and AnyTone. These companies have good reputations for solid, reliable equipment. 

“Those are expensive!” you exclaim. You want cheap? I’ll show you cheap. Buy a Baofeng UV-5R on Amazon.com. The average price is about $27 dollars today. They are cheap, but they usually work. Wouxun radios are higher quality and feel nicer in your hand, but again, the 'fengs work, most of the time! (There are some duds out there, but hey, the thing costs less than $30! IF it doesn't work, return it and bu another!)

For HF, I’ve heard good things about the Xiegu G90. The G1M is even cheaper at $259! Sure, they aren’t Icom 7300’s, but they do their jobs. 

Don’t overlook used equipment. Sometimes there are real gems to be had for not much money at all. Old Kenwood and Icom are some of my favorites to look at, and some of them have very, very good specifications and performance. Radio Shack, ADI, Alinco, Kenwood, Icom; all of these companies have mad a lot of mobile rigs, HT’s, and even HF rigs over the years. Just make sure you don’t buy a lemon. Its best to ask around and get some opinions (or look at reviews oneham for old rigs. Just one example is the Alinco DJ-580 HT. Sure, its simple, but it is built like a tank and feel like a brick in your hand. Its a cool little rig, but not very expensive and very well made. Just check the prices of new batteries before you by it, or any old battery operated equipment.

If I had to buy a new station on the cheap, it would probably be a Baofeng and a Xiegu HF rig. (Yeah, I know, its all Chinese.) Add a mag-mount antenna for 2m and 70cm on the mobile, a homemade OCF dipole for HF at home, and a flower pot antenna inside the house that I can plug the HT into, and I’d be set for a lot of ham radio fun and emergency communications. Add a mini power bank/jump starter deal, and I’d even have backup power.

WAIT! I've learned a little since I typed that. First, none of those Chinese rigs are that good. The Xiegu's seem to have poor RX audio quality, difficulty when using digital modes, and poor heat dissipation capability. The UV-5R HT's are a dime a dozen--for good reason. You never know what you'll get. Yes, either brand will work in a lot of cases. There are a whole bunch of hams using them everyday, (Don't believe me? Join the Ham Radio Crash Course Discord server and see for yourself.) But, for not that much more you can get something that will work much better. Now I recommend new equipment for the most part, unless you know what you are doing and can check out equipment before you buy it. I like the IC-7100 for instance, the replacement for the IC-706, which is now full of un-obtanium. (Read: if it breaks, you can't fix it.) The IC-7100 does D-STAR and is a great all-around rig for its price. Pair that with a Wouxun HT and you'll be doing pretty good.

Your mileage may vary, as they say, but that’s a pretty nice start in my mind. Just a note, there are days where I would rather have a portable setup rather than my TS-2000 (its heavy and pulls a lot of power), but that’s just me. I would also rather have independent HF and 2m/70cm rigs for redundancy. And I don’t have HF antennas for the car, so an all-mode all-band rig is overkill for my mobile setup. A simple 2m/70cm rig would suit me well for those times I need more power than an HT would give me.

If you are still on the fence about becoming a ham, get a scanner or an SDR, or even a ‘feng, and start listening in on local activity. Once I did that, I was hooked.

And that my $0.02 worth on ham radio.

73 de KG5ZSU