Category: Getting Started
-
Callsign vs DMR ID vs APRS SSID: Untangling Your Identifiers
You are not just a callsign anymore. Here is what each of your digital identifiers actually does.
-
Why Ham Radio Matters: A Hobby, a Lifeline, and a Century of Proof
Why ham radio still matters: the hobby, what it does for you, your family, and your town, and a century of times it kept people alive when everything else failed.
-
Understanding Reciprocal Callsigns: /W, /VE, and Portable Designators
Part of our Getting Licensed guide. Those slash-marked additions to a callsign, /W, /VE, /4, and similar, look cryptic to a new ham but follow a consistent, logical system once you understand what each type is communicating. Domestic Portable Designators: Operating From a Different Call Area US callsigns include a call district number, but that…
-
Emergency Alert System and Wireless Emergency Alerts: How They Work, and Ham Radio’s Role
EAS and WEA are not the same system, and understanding both tells you exactly where ham radio actually fits in.
-
Band Plans vs Frequency Allocations: What’s Actually Different
Part of our Building Your First Ham Radio Station guide. New hams often assume band plans carry the same legal weight as the FCC’s actual frequency allocations, and mixing these two up leads to real confusion about what is actually required versus what is just strongly encouraged convention. Frequency Allocations: The Actual Law The FCC’s…
-
Installing a Ham Dual-Band Mobile Radio in Your Vehicle
Part of our Building Your First Ham Radio Station guide. Installing a dual-band mobile follows the same basic principles as any mobile radio install, and getting the fundamentals right the first time saves you from chasing mystery problems down the road. Power: Straight to the Battery Run power leads directly to the battery rather than…
-
Tools Every New Ham Should Own for Basic Station Work
Part of our Building Your First Ham Radio Station guide. You do not need a full electronics bench to get started in this hobby, but a handful of basic tools will save you real frustration on your first antenna build or connector job. The Essentials A good wire stripper sized for the gauges you actually…
-
Choosing Your First HT: A Buyer’s Framework Beyond “Just Get a Baofeng”
Part of our Handheld Radios (HTs) guide. “Just get a Baofeng” is common advice for a new ham’s first HT, and it is not wrong exactly, but it skips over a decision that deserves a bit more thought than grabbing the cheapest radio on the shelf. What a Budget Radio Actually Gets You Radios like…
-
Understanding FCC Enforcement: What Actually Happens If You Violate Part 97
The FCC does still enforce Part 97. Here is what the actual escalation path looks like.
-
What Happens When You Key Up: A Beginner’s Walkthrough of the Transmit Chain
Pressing PTT feels instant. Here is everything your radio actually does in that split second.
-
3D Printing for Ham Radio: Antenna Mounts, Cases, and Field Accessories
A $200 printer solves a surprising number of small ham radio annoyances that nobody sells a product for.
-
Tower and Mast Permitting: Navigating Local Zoning Beyond PRB-1
Part of our Building Your First Ham Radio Station guide. I have written before about what PRB-1 is and what it actually protects. This post is about the part that comes after you understand PRB-1: the real, practical process of getting a tower or tall mast permitted with your local jurisdiction, which is a very…