Anyone here a licensed Amatuer Radio Operator?

[Hounddog]

I recently passed my Amateur Radio Exam. Anyone else hold their license?

What motivated me to get my license: On a recent camping trip we had a situation where I witnessed a couple of guys in the group use their VHF's with the assistance of another radio operator they contacted, send out assistance to our location. I figured that expanding my means of communication, be it, cell, SPOT, Ham Radio, it certainly can't hurt having multiple means of communication resources available for urgent situations...

So, VE6WOZ is on the air.

[Doc McCoy]

I'm not yet but interested. What is the first step to getting licensed.

[mookie]

Just to clarify what Hounddog said, the contact was made via a repeater to the other station (other ham operator) to get the assistance. This wasn't a radio to radio contact (simplex), but a duplex signal to the repeater. So, yes, vhf was very handy. Now a few of us have HF radios, so it's around the world contact now (or just to Calgary...)

VE6BEE here.

To get licensed you can either take a course offered by the Calgary Amateur Radio Association (they offer the basic course twice a year September and January) or you can self study by buying the basic study guide and then go and write the exam.

Instructor lead has many benefits, experience of the instructor, layman terms, hands on examples, questions from other classmates that may or may not be of interest, but good knowledge otherwise, radio recommendations, ham radio and gps, internet and email knowledge, etc.

You can also download a test generator from Industry Canada and go through that as you are studying. Those questions on the generator are the same questions on the test. It's a bank of over a 1000 questions but only a hundred or so are on the test you write.

70% is all you need to pass for your basic license which gets you on vhf and uhf. Get 80% and higher you get honors which will give you full access to all the amateur bands = HF (high frequency bands). This lets you talk world wide radio to radio - certain conditions of course depending on propagation, sun cycles, etc. Vhf/ufh you can talk radio to radio (simplex) but are limited to line of sight still (the radio signal goes straight up and does not reflect back to earth unless you are moon bouncing) so that is why the limited range. You are also dependent on repeaters for longer distances. HF the signal is sent up but is reflected back to earth (ionosphere) where your signal can be picked up (depending on propagation and sun cycles again, etc, etc). and that gives you the world wide range.

Shooting for an 80%+ on the test and being able to work all the bands opens up a whole new window when it comes ham radio.

[freeze]

great explanation mookie! I too will be taking my exam. I've had a handheld for sometime for the backcountry to contact some of the lodges.

Good work on passing your exam Hounddog!

[uriedog]

I have 3 radios. Have yet to go write the test yet. Guess I should get on that. I have them for emergency contact. Cell phones are usless. I spend allot of time backcountry snowboarding, biking, hiking, and offroading

[Dante's Taco]

great explanation mookie! I too will be taking my exam.

So, Freeze, did you get your license?

Geoff

[DINOSORE]

I started my online studying this week! Hope it only takes a couple months to memorize all this stuff!

:D

[Hounddog]

Way to go! Good luck!

[DINOSORE]

Any study tips Hounddog?

[Hounddog]

This is exactly the same time period I studied for my exam - too much happening in spring/summer, fall/winter too busy also.

Download the, "Exam Generator" off the net, (I'll post a link when I get home) and hit the exam generator over and over....and over. Don't worry about comprehending the material yet.

It'll be pure memorization, but all you need is 70% to pass. Once you've have passed, THEN you can learn the practical, and theory behind HAM radio. Besides, once you're on the air waves, you'll absorb the info much more clearly. This is the fastest way to get you licensed.

Don't get bogged down on understanding 100% of the material yet- you'll never be confident enough to write the exam, whereas if you consistently pull over 70% by doing the exam generator, you'll do just fine. The test if the same structure as the exam generator. All multiple choice!

I'll add to this later along with the link, but some food for thought for now...

[BeachBoy]

my goal is to get mine before March 31st

better get back on the study, a few sections I have trouble with (especially the block diagrams and the antenna part)

[BeachBoy]

my studying trip is to do the exam generator 100 times.

every time you don't get an answer, or you "guess" it, write down questiona dn right answer.

very quickly you'll get quit good at knowing the theory and won'T even need to study the book too hard.

[DINOSORE]

great! .. someone with some advice. I signed up with hamstudy. com It's 90 days of online resources and questions derived from the current question bank. The dude that runs it told me it's all I need to pass.

I started yesterday and can see that memorization is the only way to go. The electronic theories and formulas will be the toughest for me. I SUCK at math!

I guess if I have the current bank of questions at my disposal, I should be able to simply memorize the answers as you have suggested.

I have the test simulator on one of our PC's at work, so I will get on that as well. Wish it was Mac compatible though!

At some point I am gonna need some direction in terms of hand held HAM units, so if you can give me any advice on that, I will take it as well!

Thanks!

[BeachBoy]

some is memory, but some are easily derived.

i.e. when they ask what is the freq range for a certain length, you only have to know one and which way it goes up or down.
I memorized 70cm = ~440MHz, 2m = 144MHz and then the rest is very easy
10m = 28MHz is the only thing you have to know, after that it's a simple deduction
20m = 14MHz (double the lenght = half the frequency)
40m = 7MHz (double the lenght = half the frequency)
80m = 3.5 MHz (double the lenght = half the frequency)

The electrical stuff are very simple maths. you just have to know when you need to divide vs multiply (depending on parallel or serial). some elements behave differenbtly (resistance vs capacitor)

[Doc McCoy]

Oh god. Not another electrical exam.

[Hounddog]

Here's the one I used. http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/smt-gst.nsf/eng/h_sf05378.html

There are a couple different ones out there, but this particular exam generator is very close to the same structure as the written exam. Meaning the wording is very similar on your written as it is on the generator. Makes for a very easy transition from studying to writing the exam.

Etienne is bang on when he says some answers can be derived - as you progress, you'll notice that some of the answers will seem to make more sense.

As for the actual VHF units themselves, Mookie here is well versed in them. I'm still farting around with mine - still very much a noob. We'll have to have a club outing to visit Ray over at NTF - perhaps a group buy!

[mookie]

If you are running the exam generator just to get licensed, you may want to pay close attention to feed lines and antennas at least. Those are the two things that will help you out once you get your radio and for radio installs.

80%+ is a good goal to shoot for as you will get access to the HF bands. I figured I'd never want to head into HF, (thought that for about 4-5 yrs) but it's a whole different world from vhf.

Good luck all of you!

[Dante's Taco]

Thanks Mookie

I'll be going it alone up here, but hope to have it by the fall.

I'd like HF for down the road as well

[mookie]

This could help out some.

If you book your exam first (either with Industry Canada or with an accredited Instructor that resides near you) say 2-4 weeks away, that deadline does help keep you focused. If you book with a friend, that helps even more...'cause either of you aren't going to be the one to bail!

That's what I did. By the time I got around to studying, I had left it for 10 days. Didn't think I was going to make it, but you will find you start to "learn" rather than memorize.

[DINOSORE]

Thanks for all the support and encouragement guys! It only makes sense to me to have the most capable communication equipment when on the trail or exploring. HAM appears to be very reliable as well. I need to give myself a deadline as well!