Is anyone in our little group an amateur radio operator? I just got my license, and it is right up any geek's alley, especially with the new "software defined radios".

Jim

It's been an interest of mine since my youth due to a few friends, but never got around to getting licensed. May aim to do so early next year.

What level is your license? And any pointers towards resources that helped you prepare for it?

They dropped the code copying requirement several years ago, so it's just a multiple-choice test. If you have a technical background and understand the basics of RLC circuit, it's pretty easy.

I used hamtestonline.com. I threw down for all 3 levels and just worked the program until it told me to schedule my test. I have an engineering background, so it went pretty fast for me, but it's a great piece of software that keeps track of subjects you need more help on and drills those.

In 18 hours of study I took all three tests and got my Extra in one shot. I got one question wrong on each test (74% or so is passing). Many of the questions have similar answers and if you don't read them carefully you can pick the wrong one.

The stupidity of it is that there is a fixed question pool, so by just drilling on this web site you will encounter all the questions and be pretty much guaranteed to pass.

That's kind of the easy part. The learning curve beyond the test is pretty massive, which is why I thought it would appeal to the guys on this BBS. It's pretty fascinating stuff, actually, and not "dead" like I half expected it to be. There's a lot going on with computer/radio interfaces and digital communication modes that is quite interesting.

Main reason I want to get back into it is for disaster readiness. Both for natural disasters, and if anything goes wrong on a long motorcycle trip.

It's good to hear the computer/radio interfaces are still alive and well. A friend of mine ages back was showing me how he could dial into a BBS over his ham setup. Or make a normal phone call.

Sounds like the test is pretty much the same as I remember, should be easy enough to study for. Thanks for the site, I'll try that first and see how I do before taking the real test.

I am PC3C, but pretty much only use my licence for the military radios in my trucks.

I've been an Ham Radio for 2 years. I do mostly APRS on 2m. I want to install a small tower in the backyard sometime this summer and then get a shot at HF. The SDR stuff is quite cool too.

Patrick
VE2PKG

SDR stuff is fascinating! I bought a used Flex 3000 radio. It's astonishing! Really cool what they are doing with radio.

I got my general license and an RTL2838 SDR dongle did some cool stuff with them. I've never actually spoken on the airwaves, though.