School me on Ham Radios.

[Man]

Ok...I'll break the ice. Is this something along the lines of a good starter ham? Also why do some models say amateur?

[TxKronik]

School me on Ham Radios.

Ok...I'll break the ice. Is this something along the lines of a good starter ham? Also why do some models say amateur?

Amateur radio is the real name for Ham radio. Amateur basically in that you can not broadcast for profit.

Icom is an average - good brand.

For a mobile unit I wouldnt get the radio you linked personally. My main issue is it looks like it’s single band and I would look for a Dual band VHF and UHF 136-174MHz, 400-520MHz ranges. Digital is also something I would be looking for if it’s in your budget but not required.

Not bad entry mobile units below.

[TxKronik]

What you buy depends on what you want out of it.

[MadHatter]

What you buy depends on what you want out of it.

Yep.
Like fishing poles .
Are you gonna make short cast, or really long cast?
Big fish, or little fish?
Freshwater or salt lol?
I do work for a ton of hamm clubs, and individual hamm guys, they are always buying more .

[cmanning]

I used the HAM TECH app (blue background with a handheld unit and an A+ on it) on my phone to study for the test... All questions and answers are there that can appear on the issued exam.

[Man]

I used to sit in our attic with my dad and talk to people on Ham way back in the day before internet and cell phones and everything came about. My question is....with all internet technology, phones, apps etc....what are people talking about these days on ham? What are the discussions about?

[Death from Above]

Baofeng 5r. Add a good antenna.

Learn from there before dropping lots of $

[Death from Above]

I used to sit in our attic with my dad and talk to people on Ham way back in the day before internet and cell phones and everything came about. My question is....with all internet technology, phones, apps etc....what are people talking about these days on ham? What are the discussions about?

Mine is a prepping component. I can talk to my son 50 miles away using repeaters.

[ColinR]

What is the license for? I mean like do you have to show your license to buy the radio? I’m guessing not because you can buy everything on amazon. How does anyone know if you have a license on not?

[Hills of Texas]

Baofeng 5r. Add a good antenna.

Learn from there before dropping lots of $

The Baofeng looks like a cheap intro with decent reviews. I’m mainly inter in using it for communication in west Texas but can see value for emergency situations as well. I’m guessing you’ve used one. What was your impression of it?

[TxKronik]

School me on Ham Radios.

What is the license for? I mean like do you have to show your license to buy the radio? I’m guessing not because you can buy everything on amazon. How does anyone know if you have a license on not?

FCC requires a test which is 15$ and License which is more like registering to broadcast. Listening doesn’t require a license. This equipment can be very powerful and interfere with emergency channels, aircraft and marine channels. It can also interfere with other airwave devices. Think WiFi and telephone etc. there are a lot of ways to interfere some minor some major.

Heck if a ham operates to close to a wireless weather station the station can drop its connections.

If you broadcast illegally it is possible to locate you and most ham clubs have the equipment to do it. Fines are pretty hefty.

No license need for purchase

[ColinR]

FCC requires a test which is 15$ and License which is more like registering to broadcast. Listening doesn’t require a license. This equipment can be very powerful and interfere with emergency channels, aircraft and marine channels. It can also interfere with other airwave devices. Think WiFi and telephone etc. there are a lot of ways to interfere some minor some major.

Heck if a ham operates to close to a wireless weather station the station can drop its connections.

If you broadcast illegally it is possible to locate you and most ham clubs have the equipment to do it. Fines are pretty hefty.

No license need for purchase

Gotcha thanks.

So like someone else asked what kinda conversations are on ham radio. Back in high school I had a cb, lots of friends did to. Some very interesting conversations back then. Now on cb it’s nothing but Spanish garbage.

Are there amps or linears for ham like we used to have for cb? Without a linear, just a regular store bought ham radio mounted in a truck and a good truck antenna on average, not counting skip, what is the range of a ham radio?

[ColinR]

Mine is a prepping component. I can talk to my son 50 miles away using repeaters.

Using repeaters.....are these the repeaters you have to pay a service fee for like company’s use for there field guys? Or are there ham radio repeaters that don’t cost anything? How do you use them?

[TxKronik]

Using repeaters.....are these the repeaters you have to pay a service fee for like company’s use for there field guys? Or are there ham radio repeaters that don’t cost anything? How do you use them?

Repeaters are installed by clubs and enthusiasts and have no cost.

[Death from Above]

The Baofeng looks like a cheap intro with decent reviews. I’m mainly inter in using it for communication in west Texas but can see value for emergency situations as well. I’m guessing you’ve used one. What was your impression of it?

You are spot on.

It will do everything you need it to do unless you wanna go all "HAM"

I bought a 5rs as well as the 8watt F8HP

I also added Nagoya NA771 antennas and extended battery packs. while technically illegal you can use FRS radio channels and GMRS. buy the license with GMRS and you are good to go.