Hello,

A buddy and I are trying to get a bit more prepared for disaster type scenarios. We're maybe getting the horse in front of the cart a little, but we're looking into buying the Yaesu ft-3dr HTs. As of now, we have baofeng radios ordered, but with everything taking so long to ship who knows when they'll get here.

What I'm looking for is; if there's a good place that sells amateur radio equipment (specifically these HT's) less than what appears to be MAP? Every single place we look costs about the same... Also, what study materials did you use for your license? It seems like in much of the materials or even on YT videos (labeled as for beginners), they jump right in while using acronyms and hobby specific jargon. I'd like to find something that starts at the basics and builds up from there.

Thank you for any help or direction that can be given.

Ham radio is all about technical stuff and everything from the rules and conventions about transmitting on the air to the details of the hardware, i.e., the radios, antennas, etc., do require study and learning. Although it may not be possible right now, my wife and I found that attending a class put on by a local club for our first level of licenses was very useful. Just trying to learn the basics from a book or even online class makes things more difficult. I haven’t been active myself for a long time, but when I was I listened to other people on the air and read, read, read. Some of the technical details were absorbed only slowly (if ever), but I learned enough to be comfortable with the equipment and procedures.

There is more than one study manual for the Technician (first level) license, but I always used the ones published by the ARRL, and it’s available from Amazon and other sellers:

http://www.arrl.org/studying-for-a-technician-license

No idea where you live but urge you to find a local to you ham radio club and see if someone will “Elmer” you and your buddy to learn.

in order to legally purchase amateur radio equipment, you must be licensed and have a call sign grant on the FCC database. Then, depending on the nature of your particular grant - Technician, General, Extra - you can buy different equipment.

For all practical purposes, the entry level Technician license allows you to use a portion of the VHF-FM spectrum and you don't get any really useful band access until you get your General license

be careful of some of the really cheap Chinese gear - they've been blacklisted by the FCC as non-compliant

Unless there has been a fundamental change in the rules since I was active (and worked at a ham radio supply store), there is no requirement to have a ham license to purchase the equipment, including transmitters. The requirement is to have a license to transmit. Listening, building a station, and everything else is not regulated. In my experience many new hams purchased their radios before their license was issued so that they could start operating the day it was (as I did myself).

And most radios are not configured to limit their transmit frequencies to specific ham license levels. (In fact, I never heard of one that was except way back in history.) A typical rig that covers the amateur high frequency and 6 meter bands allows transmitting anywhere on those bands. It is the responsibility of the operator to limit his transmissions to the portions of the bands where his license gives him the privilege to operate.

Ham radio is mostly self-policing, and because ham license callsigns are public information, anyone who suspects that someone is operating outside his privileges can easily check to see what level license that person has.

What state do you live in?

Hamradio.com has brick and mortar stores in a handful of places. I’d check them out online.

Mtsradio.com in Paris,TX is another place to check.

How far away does your buddy live from you? 5 watts won’t go far.
You might want to keep the Baofong on order and get a mobile unit with 50 watts of power.

In short, 5 watts won’t give you much TX range so I’d consider that first. Baofang = Yaesu in this regard.

If you go with an HT consider an external vertical antenna and an adapter for your radio.

ARRL study material is available at hamradio.com and will suffice for a technician license.

You don’t need a license to buy HAM equipment you just need it before you can transmit. HamTestOnline is a good resource to use for studying. There are also sever free apps you can download on your phone. I have my Tech but need to get my General. Ham radio can be pretty technical and I am not at all but there are a lot of super helpful guys in the community (Called Elmer’s) that can assist you. The baofengs work great!! You’ll want to use Chrip to program them because doing so on the radio itself is cumbersome. But I don’t have any baofengs....since they are not FCC compliant......but I know this guy who has several and they are perfect. As far as pricing goes, you won’t find any at good discounts. Prices are all pretty much the same. Your best bet is to check eBay or go to a HAM Fest for used equipment.

I got my technician license 2 weeks ago so I am very new to the HAM world.

I studied using the ARRL Ham Radio License Manual. I probably spent about 10 to 15 hours going over the stuff.

I bought a Baofeng UV-82 HP with an external magnetic antenna to mount on the roof of my truck although I haven’t tried it out yet.

Right now I’m trying to figure out how to program the radio which is a royal PITA. But I think I have figured a way to do it via my PC and got the various frequencies from friends who are into HAM.

Keep in mind that with all things... , radio, guns, cars, you get what you pay for.
Technician class test is simple. The study book even gives you all the correct answers.
License lasts 10 years and is renewable.
If you know the difference between AC and DC (not the music group)you should have no trouble acquiring a license.
I took the test as a walk in just to see where I stood and walked out with a Tech license.

quote:

Originally posted by Sagamore-One:
If you know the difference between AC and DC (not the music group)you should have no trouble acquiring a license.

I agree, but at the same time I strongly recommend one of the study manuals that does more than list the questions in the license examination pool and the right answers. The ARRL manuals used to provide more background and explanations about the questions and answers than some study manuals, and therefore they also helped understand what the question was about rather than being just something to memorize to pass the test.

So, I've been a bit dismayed at how the study materials (specifically this one ) seemed to almost be hard to read. Asking questions about things that hadn't even been discussed at all or up to that point... I was going to purchase this study book as it was discussed as a good option on the YouTube channel Ham Radio Crash Course. I have the time and drive now to focus on getting it, everything is just taking so long to get anything in the mail. I'll take a look again for the ARRL resource. I didn't see it online.

Is there a best place to find channels/broadcaast times for dialing in and listening (but not transmitting)?

The ARRL Handbook goes into some detail regarding the who, what, where and why of ham radio, but it’s a lot of pages of information!

For anyone considering taking the Amateur radio test, here's a FREE study guide to download...

https://www.kb6nu.com/wp-conte...study-guide-v1-1.pdf

Also, there's a website (Google) that will list the number of Ham repeaters in your neighborhood. (2 meter and 70CM have the most traffic) The closer to a repeater the better hook up. Two very popular networks are the Allstar and the Win System.

I would AVOID the cheap Chinese made HT radios and look for a better made Japanese radio.

and use a optional hand held microphone on the radio.

73, KJ7FTH.

As I mentioned, it’s been a long time since I was active on ham radio (should get back to it!), but a good place to look around for resources is the ARRL site. I fully realize that the whole process can be intimidating, but if you persevere and take one step at a time, it really is possible for almost anyone to get a ham license. Little kids and grandmothers do it all the time.
http://www.arrl.org/home

One thing to keep in mind is that although getting the various ham licenses requires learning things about electronics, in practice it’s not necessary to remember or even know very well all the technical details. It’s possible to be an active ham with a handheld radio that you program in some local 2 meter frequencies and start talking to the other people who use them. That's what many hams do and nothing more. At a more advanced level, understanding how to install and use various radios and antenna systems becomes important, but never once did I refer to Ohm’s Law to do that for myself. It was far more important for me to be able to put a connector on a length of co-ax cable than to understand the arcane theories of how the impedance worked.
Some hams will cringe at the thought, but when I upgraded from Advanced to Amateur Extra, I did that by cramming with the study manual for eight hours the night before the test.

If one has a radio that will receive amateur frequencies, a little research will yield the places on the spectrum to listen. Most metropolitan areas have ham repeaters where there tends to be a fair amount of local traffic. Search for “ham radio repeater” and your location. This seems to be a good site:
https://www.repeaterbook.com/r...ex.php?state_id=none

For “short wave” long distance communications, hams use several “high frequency” and other bands. For example, there are allocations in the 160, 80, 40, 20, 17, 12, and 10 meter bands, among others. During the day, much voice activity is on 20 meters from 14.150 to 14.350 MHz. At night the “lower” bands (160 and 80 meters) become more active. A more detailed list is here, but there are many Internet resources.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...requency_allocations

quote:

Originally posted by ChuckFinley:
Is there a best place to find channels/broadcaast times for dialing in and listening (but not transmitting)?

Here is a place you go to see what is in your area. http://www.levinecentral.com/r...s/google_mapping.php

quote:

Originally posted by GWbiker:
For anyone considering taking the Amateur radio test, here's a FREE study guide to download...

https://www.kb6nu.com/wp-conte...study-guide-v1-1.pdf

Also, there's a website (Google) that will list the number of Ham repeaters in your neighborhood. (2 meter and 70CM have the most traffic) The closer to a repeater the better hook up. Two very popular networks are the Allstar and the Win System.

I would AVOID the cheap Chinese made HT radios and look for a better made Japanese radio.

and use a optional hand held microphone on the radio.

73, KJ7FTH.

That's the specific guide that I thought was pretty poorly written (for someone with no idea of the amateur radio craft). I have a basic enough understanding of electricity, but it was written in a way that it made what I already knew confusing.. Maybe I was just having an off day, and I need to go back to try it again..

quote:

Originally posted by goatboyz:
I need to go back to try it again..

Or, as I suggest, try a different study guide.
Even 20+ years ago when I worked at a Ham Radio Outlet store, it was obvious that some were much better than others. Look around for others.

INMHO some of the study guides today are designed for people who do not want to study and understand the material and subject matter. Basically you are given the "actual" test questions with the correct answers (mixed with three other answers). So you can "memorize" the correct answers and pass the test. In 1978 we had to "know" the subject matter for the written test --NO MULTIPLE CHOICE POSSIBILITIES.... Also 5 word per minute code test and you had to "upgrade" to 13 wpm within 2 years or ticket no longer valid and you would have to start all over again . Now the code requirements have been dropped and not required but it is optional if you care to operate that mode of operation. There are several books and on-line study aids which allow you to take a "practice test" that work well for some people. I am all for someone who wants to become a "HAM" they need to "work" for it. ........... I am still active on the "ham" bands. ......drill sgt.