Category: Getting Started

  • Two Cheap Ways to Get Into DMR

    Part of our Getting On The Air: Modes, Operations, and Making Contacts guide. DMR is one of the cheapest digital modes to actually get on the air with, and you don’t need a nearby repeater to do it. There are two realistic paths in: buy a little hardware, or skip the hardware entirely and run…

  • The Complete Ham Radio Glossary: Definitions and Acronyms for Every Corner of the Hobby

    Ham radio runs on jargon. Half the barrier to getting comfortable in this hobby is not the electronics, it is the alphabet soup that gets thrown around on every net, every forum thread, and every product listing. I built this page to be the one link I send someone when they ask what a term…

  • 1901: The Wireless Pioneers Who Started It All

    Part of our The Evolution of Amateur Radio timeline series. There was no such thing as a licensed amateur radio operator in 1901. There was no FCC, no call signs, and no rules about who could key up on what frequency. What there was, was a small group of obsessive tinkerers who believed you could…

  • 1912: The Radio Act and the Birth of Licensed Amateur Radio

    Part of our The Evolution of Amateur Radio timeline series. The sinking of the Titanic in April 1912 is usually credited as the tipping point that forced Congress’s hand, though the interference problems from a decade of unregulated wireless had already been building pressure for years. Whatever the final push was, the result was the…

  • 1923: The HF DX Breakthrough That Changed Everything

    Part of our The Evolution of Amateur Radio timeline series. Remember that the government handed amateurs the shortwave spectrum above 1.5 MHz back in 1912 because they figured it was useless for anything but local contacts. In 1923, hams proved everyone wrong, and in the process turned amateur radio from a local curiosity into a…

  • 1934: How the FCC Took Over Amateur Radio Regulation

    Part of our The Evolution of Amateur Radio timeline series. By the early 1930s, amateur radio had already changed regulatory hands once, from the Department of Commerce to the newly formed Federal Radio Commission under the Radio Act of 1927. That arrangement didn’t last long either. In 1934, Congress passed the Communications Act, creating the…

  • 1945: How WWII Shut Down Amateur Radio, and How It Came Back

    Part of our The Evolution of Amateur Radio timeline series. This is the second time in this timeline that a world war forced amateur radio off the air entirely. It happened in WWI, and it happened again in WWII, only this time the shutdown lasted longer and the technology amateurs came back to was completely…

  • FTX-1 Menu Deep Dive: Settings Worth Changing from Factory Default

    The FTX-1 menu settings I changed out of the box, and why the factory defaults don’t fit most real operating situations.

  • Getting Licensed: A Beginner’s Path Into Ham Radio

    How to get your Technician ham radio license in 2026: what’s on the new 2026-2030 exam, how to study, your first radio, and the path beyond.

  • GMRS Radio: The Complete Guide

    Everything you need to know about GMRS radio: the $35 license, real-world range, repeaters, and which radio to actually buy first.

  • Ham Radio Cheat Sheet: Q Codes, Band Plan, Phonetics & Antenna Lengths

    Every ham radio cheat sheet you need in one place: Q codes, the ARRL band plan for Technician, General, and Extra, the phonetic alphabet, and EFHW and random wire antenna lengths for HF.

  • What to Expect at Your First Hamfest

    A hamfest is part flea market, part club gathering, part testing session, and the combination can feel a little chaotic the first time you walk in. Knowing roughly what to expect makes the whole experience a lot more useful. What’s actually there Most hamfests center around a flea market of tables set up by individual…

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