When I decided to be come a ham radio operator, I was living in Salt Lake City and was worried about emergency communications. There was an ad in the paper about Ham radio classes so my friend and I showed up. I was fascinated with the Morse code. My sisters and I had been into codes when I was about eight years old. I was fascinated with electronics. At the end of the evening I had a novice license.

So you want to be a Ham, too. There are so many areas you can be involved in when you have earned your license. You could become involved in emergency communication, radio frequency direction finding, moon bounce, contesting, or any number of radio spectrum experimentation. One of the developers of the GPS tracking system is a Ham. Even better you can work on many types of radio equipment with a license.

With a ham radio license, you are allowed to experiment. Many of the astronauts have licenses and use it to talk to children on the ground. They also experiment with radio communications. The ham radio field is wide open to inventors.

But you want to know how to become a ham radio operator. Currently, the FCC Amateur Radio license has three classes: Technician, General, and Extra Class.

As a beginner, you need to start with the technician class. The Amateur Radio Relay League (ARRL) created a public service campaign, Hello Radio, to introduce the public to Ham Radio Operators.

According this campaign, there are two ways to prepare for the FCC Technician license test: take a class or do-it-yourself.

1. How to take a class:
a. At ARRL at http://www.arrl.org//FandES/co urses/search.html, you can search for a class in your area.
b. Also, ARRL offers online classes. Information is at this link http://www.arrl.org/cce/course s.html#ec010.
c. Sometimes the classes are in your local newspaper.
d. Lastly, you could go to a local Amateur Radio club. Many of these clubs offer a Technician class to newcomers. You can find a club in your area at this link: http://www.arrl.org/cce/course s.html#ec010.

2. Do-It-Yourself
a. You can buy a license manual for Technician from ARRL at www.arrl.org/catalog/lm.
b. Gordon West also provides Technician manuals for beginners at www.w5yi.org/catalog.php?sort= 4.
c. If you can't afford a manual, ARRL offers the exam question pool at http://www.arrl.org/arrlvec/po ols.html. (The questions do not change. Because it is an FCC exam, the same questions you see in the pool are the same questions you will see on the test.)

After you have studied for the test, you will need to find a testing site. ARRL at http://www.arrl.org/exam.html can help you find a site in your area. If you live in Nevada, you can find a test at SIERA (link below).

Since FCC dropped the Morse code requirement, earning a Ham radio license is easier than ever.

Once you get your license, then the real fun begins. Most technicians start out with a hand held radio. This radio uses UHF/VHF frequencies and is line of site. Many clubs get together and put up repeaters in your area so that you can talk long distance (one side of the city to the other).

The best training you can get as a new ham radio operator is with your club. Many of them sponsor net training (on the air training with large groups of people), emergency communication training, DF training, and other fun stuff.

So get that license. Become involved in a club in your area.

Hope to hear you on the air.

73s KB7BZE

Useful Links

AA9PW FCC Amateur Radio www.aa9pw.com/radio/
ARRL www.arrl.org
Hello Radio www.hello-radio.org
QRZ.com Practice Exams www.qrz.com/ham/
SIERA www.siera-amateur-radio.org/
W5YI www.w5yi.org

Learn more about this author, Cyn Bagley.
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