Well yes...
I suspect this thread might bring in a few FR Hams.
I recognize the one of the first things to go wrong in any critical event or emergency is communications. I expect there to be many critical events in the coming months and years. Our country is falling apart and I expect it’s going to get very ugly.
Most of us have cellphones and other means to communicate and gather information, however, it seems to me that Ham radio could be of great assistance.
I would appreciate any of you Ham’s coming forward on listing or commenting on justifications for the expense and effort for a guy to get into Ham radio.
My initial thoughts are to purchase a base for my home, and portable for my boat (I do have marine radios) and vehicles.
Should I get into this, I would not seek the ability to simply talk to someone in my area, but around the world. I live near the top of a mountain and have the property to even put up a tower.
Thanks for any responses. I will be away from the computer... my wife has assigned me an outside project. ;>)
Well, I can only give you one small example. In 1992, I was living in Lynchburg, VA when a vicious squall line with 80+ mph straight-line winds tore through the entire area one Friday afternoon. Power to the entire metro area, over 150,000 people at the time, was knocked out. Emergency communications were still partially functional, but the phone lines that connected the City of Lynchburg’s emergency operations center to the three surrounding counties were knocked out, so in the case of a major problem such as a fire, it would be difficult or impossible to call the other jurisdictions for mutual aid.
One ham had a 2m VHF repeater that somehow was still working. So when the local ham club’s representatives arrived at the Lynchburg EOC (as part of the city’s emergency plan), they were requested to send people to the surrounding counties’ dispatch centers, and use that repeater to pass any necessary traffic back and forth so mutual aid could be requested in a serious emergency. None was needed, as it turns out, and the phones were back working in about 6 hours. But the hams were deployed and on station less than 90 minutes after the storm blew through.
I’ve had an Advanced class license since 1992 and I’m not active right now. But remember that this is Field Day weekend, I think I’ll drag my little portable HF rig out and charge it up, and see if I can talk to a few people.
}:-)4
Define what you mean by “get into ham radio.” There’s levels of involvement... from the small involvement (low power HF rig with a wire thrown up into a tree) up to moonbounce comm with 28’ dishes and 1kW power amps.
HF, VHF, UHF, SHF... there’s ham bands all over the place.
Personally, I think that given what you’ve given us, a 2M/440 dual-band rig that you could power up in the house and put into your car/truck is a great starting point. Figure a couple/three hundred bucks for the rig, you can buy whips for either the car or home and work your way up from there to directional antennas and the like.
There’s tons of used radios out there too — which keeps the entry price down on equipment.
To talk “around the world” — you’re now talking HF and HF antennas, which take up real estate if you want efficiency at all. If you have a choice whether to put money into a) bigger, more efficient antennas or b) higher power output, always go with “more antenna, higher in the air.” The reason why is that “if you can’t hear ‘em, you can’t work ‘em” is still the rule in radio, and you can’t hear any better with a bigger transmitter. There just is no substitute for “intercept area” of large antennas, especially when you’re talking HF.
Fortunately, if you have trees up on your mountain, you can make wire HF antennas quite cheaply and VERY effectively. All it takes is room to spread them out and trees into which to hoist the wire.
..I suspect this thread might bring in a few FR Hams....
I listed my base station above, much of which I got on the cheap or free. For example, my Mosley CL-33 beam was free. That's a $600 antenna that I received from another Ham who was upgrading to a different antenna. My tower was #200. The radio equipment cost me about $1,000 in total (bought at local Hamfests, silent keys, etc..
My mobile is a Kenwood Dual-Bander 2m/440 rig which cost me #250 at a hamfest earlier this year, and a Diamond dual-band antenna which I got for free from another Ham. (Ham's tend to give away lots of stuff, most of it very useful.)
But the best reason to get into it in my opinion: You meet an awful lot of very nice, very helpful people, most of which are more than happy to help you get started through either very cheap equipment, "loaners" or sometimes free stuff.
When my tower went up, I had 10 people over here helping out, doing everything from digging the 5x5x4 foot hole the base required, hepling pour the cement base, raising the tower and putting the antenna's up on top. All for the cost of free brats, burgers, hot dogs, cold beer and camaraderie.
I had always wanted to get into Ham radio from a young age (I'm 46 now) and finally did back in 2008. I've met more really good friends in the last year and a half than I think I have my entire lifetime. I think that says something about the amateur radio community.
Ham radio is great...Trust me, when and if the $hit ever hits the fan bad, your cells, computers, blackberries whatever, will be absolutely useless.
I can talk to the world, completely off the grid, portable power...Dependent on no one...
It's very cool to talk to some guy living on a small boat with his dog, on some tiny remote south pacific island, as he describes his environment and life...
I've talked to people at 35,000 feet flying Lear jets others navigating Alaskan mountain peaks in twin engine turbo props, guys in Russia, Tasmania, the Congo, Cuba... you name it...
Very cool stuff. Oh, and Morse code is addicting and has helped many people to quit smoking and pick up a new habit, a habit that turns out to be really fun and extremely addicting. So addicting, some guys never use a microphone...
Then throw in the broadcast shortwave bands...Some very interesting and bizarre listening there. If you make the leap, get a radio with a general coverage receiver, and sit back and listen to Radio Cuba for a good laugh.
Getting into Ham Radio has probably never been easier. Some folks call it “dumbing down” but I'm not so sure. No code eliminates a hurdle (if only psychological) for lots of folks but I think the various exams still pretty well cover the technical subjects most Hams should know.
Get The ARRL Ham Radio License Manual. Lots of places carry it. Radio Shack, I suspect, and I know Wal Mart has it online. Within it you will find everything you need to pass a Technician exam, as well as info on how to find local test sessions and radio clubs.
Technician class is easy and will get you started, but it won't give you the usable (right now) HF privileges it sounds as though you want. But you can gear up for VHF/UHF on the cheap to get started, used rigs abound for a hundred bucks or less and antennas are an equally negligible expense. Once active, a lot of the knowledge you will need for higher classes will come naturally from experience.
When you do pass your Technician exam (and it will be easier than you think), I would advise you to go ahead and take the General exam at the same session anyway. It won't cost any more but some of your free time and you just might get lucky. I passed my Extra exam a couple months ago. I had gone to the test session from my “free” General since I had passed that written element back in ‘82 when it was a requirement for Technician. The exam was difficult and required a lot of thought, and I just barely passed it, but I had not studied for it at all (but note well what I said about experience).
The expense and complexity of your station will only be what you want it to be. For a home HF station you can pick up something like an old Kenwood TS530 or TS830 for something near a couple hundred bucks and you will have one of the nicest sounding stations on the air (not to mention one of the prettiest rigs ever built). More modern compact solid state gear is somewhat more expensive but you can get something suitable for the boat and portable use for close to three hundred. And the free and super cheap hand me down stuff is out there as others have said.
Antennas likewise. Stringing wires between buildings and trees gets you on the air with little expense, and just starting out you shouldn't go to the expense of a tower and so forth right off the bat anyway, not knowing wat you're really going to want.
Well yes...