Complete Newbie

[BoredNerd]

Hello my name is Konstantin and after about 20 years being an IT Professional I decided to take a peek in to HAM radio and I really like what I see. I am a bit surpriced that Kings county club have only like 60 members but at same time I do understand why kids this days rather press a button and have instant Video HD chat from anywhere in the world than learn how to send a message via APRS.

If possible few questions. I do see in June you’ll have get together, I would love to stop by and say hello. My newborn is just 6 months old and weekends usually very busy for me but I’ll make time to stop by. But beside this get together, how do I see you, how do I ask question or say hello ? Well Ham , yes but someone fresh off the boat like me without a callsign, how do I do it ?

Also I need help study and prepping for a license, anyone can give me suggestion on how to do it ? I found this web site that looks good https://www.hamradiolicenseexam.com I really rather have a videos with all 400 questions answered and explained but again text is better than nothing. And how do I register for exam, do you guys perform it on behalf of FCC , how do I register for one then.

Anyhow , hello everyone and hopefully to see you soon.

P.S.
Any suggestions on first radio ? I really rather invest in something that last than buying an upgrade often. Than again this is HAM, not iphone it will not be upgraded once a year 😀

[AC2GS]

Hello Konstantin,

I see that Milen KG2C already answered some of your question, but let me add my two cents worth –

There are approximately 750,000 Hams scattered throughout the United States. Probably more than half of them are not very active. Few of the active ones are that interested in Clubs, unfortunately.

There even smaller clubs scattered throughout the metropolitan area.

This hobby skews towards more “mature” hobbyist, although technical High Schools, like Brooklyn Tech have an active Radio Club. I recall the sense of magic that I saw in radio waves. Young people today seem a bit jaded by all the high tech that they’ve inherited – their loss.

We have a monthly meeting – the most recent one was just this past Wednesday. We have our meetings on the first Wednesday of every month, in the Methodist Hospital (The Carrington Conference Room on the first floor, between the Gift Shop and the Cafeteria). Everyone is welcome to come, member or non-member, Ham or unlicensed interested party. We arrange an informal technical question and answer session from 7 PM to 8 PM. The General Meeting commences at 8 PM and runs until 9-10PM. We sponsor numerous Nets on the radio. Our Club Repeater KC2RC operates on 146.730 MHz 2 Meter FM, but we stream the audio on the internet at http://stream.KC2RC.com. We have weekly Nets at 9 PM on Tuesdays (club check-in Net), and Thursday (Yaesu’s Digital Fusion technology Net) as well as a Quest and Answer Technical Net on the second and fourth Wednesdays. Every Sunday we have a Net on the 10 Meter band at 28.380 MHz upper sideband, that is streamed at http://live.KC2RC.com.

Toward the end of June Hams have a big annual event called Field Day. We will have stations up and operating over the weekend and you are free to visit at any time that you wish. Keep checking our Club website for all the specifics as they develop. Some of our present members got their first opportunities on some bands during a Field Day event!

Don’t worry about not knowing “enough” – we ALL started out not knowing much about this hobby. The fun thing is learning and practicing what we’ve learned, and we are all here to help out newcomers.

If you ask three different Hams for the best way to study for a license you’ll get a dozen different methods.

Personally, I think that you shouldn’t try to earn a home correspondence Electrical Engineering degree. Just focus on passing the test.

ALL the questions are available as a public pool. There are books, for those that prefer books from the ARRL and from Gordon West. There are MANY websites, both free and commercial that offer drilling through the public question pool. I, personally. like the AA9PW.com exams, but if that doesn’t suit you, just “Google” a few more. I wouldn’t pay for the commercial sites, they don’t seem to offer that much more than the free sites (IMHO).

I just ran through the questions and the answers again and again and again…

To a degree I took my exams as soon as I could to just stop continually doing that.

If something piques your interest, you can always look it up, but first things first, pass the exam. Plenty of time to learn all the fun stuff afterward!

I think that text based study would go much faster than 400 videos.

The ARRL has a very nice website (www.ARRL.org) that offers a list of some of the local exam sessions offered. Our Club sponsors a Volunteer Exam Session every two months – our most recetn one was this past Sunday – two guys got their Tech license and another upgraded from his General license to an Extra license.

Our next one will be July 22, across the street from Methodist Hospital, Wesley House 501 Sixth Street, Room 6B at 1 PM, but if that isn’t convenient you can find others in the area.

You should let Milen KG2C know a few weeks earlier than the exam if you intend to come, informally.

My first “radio” when I got into this hobby was my iPhone – I talked to a fellow in Romania on an EchoLink connection.

It is difficult or possibly impossible to tell someone you don’t know “what is the best radio” for them – it would be like answering what the best shoe might be for me.

I think that you can’t go wrong with a very inexpensive Baofeng Handy-Talkie. They go for $30-$60 (my Japanese HT’s leather accessory covering cost more than that!). It is ridiculously cheap and almost disposable but will let you list to all the FM repeaters on the 2 Meter and 70 cm bands, and once you get your Tech license you can press down on that “push to talk” button and join in!

Later on, you can consider what path you might wish to follow – this hobby has many different tributaries and what would be the perfect radio for one hobbyist might we a waste of money to another.

That is where knowing other Hams and having a means to discuss these things can be very useful!

We are here to offer guidance, based on our own experiences and the knowledge that we have accrued.

Take a look around the website, especially “Roy’s Place” you might find some articles of interest.

…And remember to have fun!

Best regards (“73”),

Roy AC2GS

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