Any Tips For Someone Thinking of Getting A H.A.M. License?

[Guest]

11 minutes ago, RayP said:

Well, for one thing, ham is not an acronym.

 

Don't worry - - I guess the O.P. wanted to make a P.O.I.N.T as he is known to appreciate S.A.D. HAMs 

   

[WRUU653]

1 hour ago, RayP said:

Well, for one thing, ham is not an acronym.

 

Oh he knows… I think he just likes to see who will jump to correct him.

[OffRoaderX]

1 hour ago, RayP said:

Well, for one thing, ham is not an acronym.

 

Obviously it is an acronym because "ham" would not make any sense. H.A.M. makes more sense to anyone with a good grasp of talking english good.

[SteveShannon]

Until fairly recently, one legend about the origin of the word "ham" as related to amateur radio operators, did admit the possibility of an acronym, made up of the first initials of three amateur operators who had one of the first call signs.  It has since been debunked, but honestly, the folks who get upset over things like this should just take a deep breath.

Another suggests that the letters came from Hertz, Armstrong, and Marconi. 

There is an entire article about the etymology of "ham" in Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etymology_of_ham_radio#:~:text="A little station called HAM",-This widely circulated&text=An amateur station that Hyman,represent all of amateur radio.

An amateur station that Hyman supposedly shared with Bob Almy and Reggie Murray, which was said to be using the self-assigned call sign HAM (short for Hyman-Almy-Murray), thus came to represent all of amateur radio.

[back4more70]

2 hours ago, WRXE944 said:

 

Ah, the McDonnell-Douglas NOTAR-ubicon.  Pretty fancy engineering there.

[mrobisr]

On 5/14/2023 at 6:16 PM, OffRoaderX said:

Just curious what tips all the licensed H.A.M. operators would give to someone thinking about getting their H.A.M. license.

 

I just took the tech and general test this morning and will say that if you have basic mechanical and electrical comprehension and are able to critically look at the question and possible answers then the tech is a short study. The general was more intense by every way, but I studied for two nights and passed easily. I like the flash cards (out of date) on hamexam.org/flash_cards/18-Technician and the current test questions on eham.net/exams/index, will use the same technique in two months when the test is local again and take the extra. 

[WRQC527]

On 7/30/2023 at 11:18 AM, RayP said:

Well, for one thing, ham is not an acronym.

https://tenor.com/view/muggy-fishing-gif-11290854

[FlatTop]

On 6/30/2023 at 4:33 PM, back4more70 said:

There isn't one above Amateur Extra...?

Master Class...but it's top secret. You have to be invited by two other Master Class ticket holders and then approved by the Master Class Board of Scrutiny.  It can take longer to get approved than the FCC takes processing licenses. 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, JoCoBrian said:

[...] It can take longer to get approved than the FCC takes processing licenses. 

That would be about three days then ?!? 

Sorry, but the processing times have really improved - The exams I submit to W5YI on a weekend have callsigns issued by Wednesday morning (that is VEC and FCC processing time) 

 

[SteveShannon]

1 hour ago, WRXD372 said:

That would be about three days then ?!? 

Sorry, but the processing times have really improved - The exams I submit to W5YI on a weekend have callsigns issued by Wednesday morning (that is VEC and FCC processing time) 

 

Our VEC electronically submitted my results the night I tested. The next day I had my license. 

[back4more70]

13 hours ago, JoCoBrian said:

Master Class...but it's top secret. You have to be invited by two other Master Class ticket holders and then approved by the Master Class Board of Scrutiny.  It can take longer to get approved than the FCC takes processing licenses. 

I've seen those guys in front of the grocery stores, handing out flowers and soliciting donations.  Odd hair styles though.

[Guest]

6 minutes ago, back4more70 said:

I've seen those guys in front of the grocery stores, handing out flowers and soliciting donations.  Odd hair styles though.

Are those the guys whose warning vests do not have reflective stripes and look like bedsheets ?!?

[WRXA276]

You can find practice material and practice exams for all three classes of amateur (ham) radio license at www.qrz.com . When you get to the homepage, click on "Resources" and you will find what you need. A good book for learning the radio theory is the ARRL Handbook, as the chapters in the beginning of this book will teach you how things work. You can order it from www.arrl.org .The W6SAI Radio Handbook by Bill Orr is also a gold mine of information; however, it may be out of print but still available on Amazon and the like. If you are in the Wilkes-Barre, PA area, the Murgas Amateur Radio Club offers testing sessions before the monthly meeting on the first Wednesday of each month. Contact murgasarc.org to register. Otherwise, check your local radio clubs for testing information. Testing sessions are commonly offered at hamfests, events where people sell used amateur radio (and, often, computer) equipment  and just shoot the breeze.

If you have an active GMRS repeater in your area, don't be afraid to ask about amateur radio activity. Many of us are licensed in both services. In my area, the GMRS repeater sounds a lot like our 2 meter ham repeaters.

Phil K2PG (ham for 55 years) and WRXA276 (recently licensed in GMRS)

[OffRoaderX]

3 minutes ago, WRXA276 said:

Phil K2PG (ham for 55 years)

Thank you. I was skeptical until I saw how long you've been a H.A.M., but now I am very impressed.

[WRTJ886]

12 hours ago, OffRoaderX said:

Thank you. I was skeptical until I saw how long you've been a H.A.M., but now I am very impressed.

Man, you're kind of a dick online.  You were one of the people I would watch regularly when trying to figure out this whole GMRS thing.  Your schtick is funny on YouTube but something is getting lost in translation via text.

[OffRoaderX]

1 hour ago, WRTJ886 said:

Man, you're kind of a dick online

I'm a dick in person too, so its ok.

[SteveShannon]

2 hours ago, OffRoaderX said:

I'm a dick in person too, so its ok.

Affiliate link below  

[GreggInFL]

Question (which may have been addressed in the previous pages, but I'm too lazy to check):  Must one take the tech exam first?  What if one wants to go straight to the general?  Is that a no-can-do, or a sure-why-not?

Okay, three questions total.

[WRYS709]

…

[WRXN668]

7 minutes ago, GreggInFL said:

Question (which may have been addressed in the previous pages, but I'm too lazy to check):  Must one take the tech exam first?  What if one wants to go straight to the general?  Is that a no-can-do, or a sure-why-not?

Okay, three questions total.

I can't answer definitively or through my own experience, but many that have fairly recently taken exams described taking a lower-level exam first, and after passing being offered to take a higher level exam.  Like, they took Technician, and then sat for General even though they hadn't signed up specifically to do so because the proctors offered it.  Someone sitting for General described then sitting for Extra because it was offered.

My own Technician license was tested-for and received more than twenty years ago, I don't recall that sort of thing being the case back then, but then again this was only just after the morse code 'Tech Plus' was dropped, and there might still have been a morse code requirement for General, and if I told the test proctors that then they probably wouldn't have even offered me a General exam.

Given that this was back before most people even had Internet access and those few who did had dialup, there might have been more interest generally in the hobby to where there wasn't yet a desire to lower the barriers more than the morse code situation for the entry-level license.

Passing Technician back then was almost trivially easy.  I expect that it's no worse today, and frankly that many GMRS users would actually be happier as hams with more bands, spectrum within bands, and power available to them.

 

[SteveShannon]

18 minutes ago, WRXN668 said:

I can't answer definitively or through my own experience, but many that have fairly recently taken exams described taking a lower-level exam first, and after passing being offered to take a higher level exam.  Like, they took Technician, and then sat for General even though they hadn't signed up specifically to do so because the proctors offered it.  Someone sitting for General described then sitting for Extra because it was offered.

My own Technician license was tested-for and received more than twenty years ago, I don't recall that sort of thing being the case back then, but then again this was only just after the morse code 'Tech Plus' was dropped, and there might still have been a morse code requirement for General, and if I told the test proctors that then they probably wouldn't have even offered me a General exam.

Given that this was back before most people even had Internet access and those few who did had dialup, there might have been more interest generally in the hobby to where there wasn't yet a desire to lower the barriers more than the morse code situation for the entry-level license.

Passing Technician back then was almost trivially easy.  I expect that it's no worse today, and frankly that many GMRS users would actually be happier as hams with more bands, spectrum within bands, and power available to them.

 

Yes, a person with a decent understanding of electronics and who studies to understand could walk in with no license and walk out with an Amateur Extra license. 

[back4more70]

41 minutes ago, GreggInFL said:

Question (which may have been addressed in the previous pages, but I'm too lazy to check):  Must one take the tech exam first?  What if one wants to go straight to the general?  Is that a no-can-do, or a sure-why-not?

Okay, three questions total.

You take the technician exam first.  If you pass, they offer the general exam right then and there.  If you pass that, they offer the amateur extra exam right then and there.  In theory, you could pass the whole thing in one sitting.

[back4more70]

On 10/7/2023 at 10:00 AM, OffRoaderX said:

I'm a dick in person too, so its ok.

I heard if you put on a bikini and wash his Jeep, he is slightly nicer.

[SOBX]

On 5/14/2023 at 7:16 PM, OffRoaderX said:

Just curious what tips all the licensed H.A.M. operators would give to someone thinking about getting their H.A.M. license.

 

I'm Jewish.  We don't get ham licenses.  That's a sin.

[WRQC527]

37 minutes ago, LariatAdvance said:

I'm Jewish.  We don't get ham licenses.  That's a sin.

There's a little-known FCC regulation concerning a kosher license. It's so little-known, in fact, that no one knows about it.