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Why?
- Thread starter okie
- Start date
It all depends on what you want out of radio communications. If you are happy with what you have then and have no desire to do anything different you may not benefit at all.However if you like to DX almost any time of the day or night, enjoy crystal clear communications with locals 30,50, or even 100 miles away, or enjoy trying different communications modes including slow-scan television, satellite communications, or a myriad of digital modes then getting a ham ticket would be the way to go. It's all about what YOU want from radio and not what someone tells you you should do.
Tim I was just going to mention the same thing here with even simplex you would do ok and with the repeater you can really talk and clear for alot farther of a range.
When my wife and I are down in our home town we can hit the local repeater where we live its not crystal clear but we can make the trip and we are 1 1/2 hours away from home!! That a pretty good trip for a mobile and that Kims Yaesu 857D and I believe its 50 watts output.
Its all preference and boils down to what you want to do. You deffinately open a whole new window of options and contacts with the amateur ticket but if you are doing fine with what you have and see no reason to upgrade then it wouldnt pay to do it.
When my wife and I are down in our home town we can hit the local repeater where we live its not crystal clear but we can make the trip and we are 1 1/2 hours away from home!! That a pretty good trip for a mobile and that Kims Yaesu 857D and I believe its 50 watts output.
Its all preference and boils down to what you want to do. You deffinately open a whole new window of options and contacts with the amateur ticket but if you are doing fine with what you have and see no reason to upgrade then it wouldnt pay to do it.
It would depend on a couple things. If you only work family and friends locally, you probably would not need to get a ham license. On the other hand, if you want, need, or like to communicate over longer distances, then ham radio would be the answer. Every band has different propagation characteristics and being only on the 11 meter band limits you to the characteristics of just the one band.
Range is probably one of the biggest benefits. A friend of mine made several trips a year to visit family about 260 air miles away and I had worked him a number of times from his door (about 2 miles away) to his family's home (and back) on both 40 and 75 meters. As for VHF and UHF, I have sat on the balcony of my hotel room at the beach and talked via a linked 440 mHz repeater system to my friends back home about 125 miles away. This was done with a handheld and running about 1 watt into a repeater that was about 10 miles away.
As for local communications, the ham bands provide very good coverage, and antennas are smaller as well. A 1/4 wave mobile antenna for 11 meters is about 9 feet tall. A 2 meter 1/4 wave mobile antenna is about 19 inches tall. This of course is true of the base station antennas as well. I have a 10 element 2 meter antenna that has only a 12 foot boom and I have worked people on both FM and SSB on 2 meters several hundred miles away with just normal groundwave and no enhancement.
These are just some points to ponder.
Range is probably one of the biggest benefits. A friend of mine made several trips a year to visit family about 260 air miles away and I had worked him a number of times from his door (about 2 miles away) to his family's home (and back) on both 40 and 75 meters. As for VHF and UHF, I have sat on the balcony of my hotel room at the beach and talked via a linked 440 mHz repeater system to my friends back home about 125 miles away. This was done with a handheld and running about 1 watt into a repeater that was about 10 miles away.
As for local communications, the ham bands provide very good coverage, and antennas are smaller as well. A 1/4 wave mobile antenna for 11 meters is about 9 feet tall. A 2 meter 1/4 wave mobile antenna is about 19 inches tall. This of course is true of the base station antennas as well. I have a 10 element 2 meter antenna that has only a 12 foot boom and I have worked people on both FM and SSB on 2 meters several hundred miles away with just normal groundwave and no enhancement.
These are just some points to ponder.
SIX-SHOOTER
ICOM CENTRAL.7610,9100,PW-1,HEIL FIN & HEIL PR-781
HAM VS CB?
Well I enjoy BOTH but MOST of my CB friends are NOT hams & MOST of my HAM FRIENDS are NOT on CB.I can talk around the world at ALMOST "ANY" time on ham radio should I desire to do so but NOT a possibility on CB radio. TOTALLY different uses for me but I ENJOY them both.CB got me started at the young age of 6 & NOW at 50 I still ENJOY being on the radio as my HOBBY!
op:
SIX-SHOOTER
Well I enjoy BOTH but MOST of my CB friends are NOT hams & MOST of my HAM FRIENDS are NOT on CB.I can talk around the world at ALMOST "ANY" time on ham radio should I desire to do so but NOT a possibility on CB radio. TOTALLY different uses for me but I ENJOY them both.CB got me started at the young age of 6 & NOW at 50 I still ENJOY being on the radio as my HOBBY!
op:SIX-SHOOTER
Some good information,thanks. I had no idea about repeaters. Cell service is pretty spotty along hwy 70 in sw Ok. Ham would be great if there was a repeater in this area.
Any good sites where one can learn more about Ham Radio? I found a couple but their information links were dead.
Any good sites where one can learn more about Ham Radio? I found a couple but their information links were dead.
For me I like the technical as well as the operational aspects of the radio hobby, therefore I have been a licensed amateur radio operator for well over a quarter century. Building and working on radio gear is not only legal but encouraged in the amateur service. Also, amateur radio is the only service that allows a transmitting VFO. The aforementioned selection of bands and variety of modes keeps it interesting to me.
If you have a bend for radio and communications technology it may be worthwhile to pursue an amateur radio license. If all you care for is a radio intercom, then it may not be for you.
If you have a bend for radio and communications technology it may be worthwhile to pursue an amateur radio license. If all you care for is a radio intercom, then it may not be for you.
Okie,
The only good reason why anyone should become a ham is because they would like to be able to do some of the things that hams are capable of doing. (I honestly don't know of any hams that have done it all.) That includes the use of different bands with different characteristics. And almost any mode that you can possibly think of from CW to voice, to TV, to whatever. If none of that interests you then I wouldn't bother.
Ham radio, or amateur radio, requires that you have a license to allow you to do what is allowed to do on the ham bands. That's because you are allowed to do your own building (or modifying) of equipment. That means that you have to know what is allowed and why, and where, and how. Part of the knowledge required is about rules, and part is about safety, and part is about electrical theory. Those things make sense when you think about the things you can do. The electronics isn't as much as it used to be, but people don't do as much building as they used to either. The rules tell you what you can/can't do and where. The safety thingy is to keep you from killing or injuring yourself or someone else.
How do you go about becoming a ham? Very basically, do some studying of the required subjects and go take a test. That 'study' material is available in several places, the ARRL, W5YI, Radio Shack (I think), and other places. There are places on the internet to take 'practice tests'. Every question and answer that will ever be asked is published. I think the cost of taking a test is still $15.00. That test(s) are given by VE's (volunteer examiners), you don't have to go to an FCC field office anymore. (And, no, they don't get to keep any of that $15.00, that's only for the required postage/paper work involved).
That ought'a get you started, at least.
- 'Doc
The only good reason why anyone should become a ham is because they would like to be able to do some of the things that hams are capable of doing. (I honestly don't know of any hams that have done it all.) That includes the use of different bands with different characteristics. And almost any mode that you can possibly think of from CW to voice, to TV, to whatever. If none of that interests you then I wouldn't bother.
Ham radio, or amateur radio, requires that you have a license to allow you to do what is allowed to do on the ham bands. That's because you are allowed to do your own building (or modifying) of equipment. That means that you have to know what is allowed and why, and where, and how. Part of the knowledge required is about rules, and part is about safety, and part is about electrical theory. Those things make sense when you think about the things you can do. The electronics isn't as much as it used to be, but people don't do as much building as they used to either. The rules tell you what you can/can't do and where. The safety thingy is to keep you from killing or injuring yourself or someone else.
How do you go about becoming a ham? Very basically, do some studying of the required subjects and go take a test. That 'study' material is available in several places, the ARRL, W5YI, Radio Shack (I think), and other places. There are places on the internet to take 'practice tests'. Every question and answer that will ever be asked is published. I think the cost of taking a test is still $15.00. That test(s) are given by VE's (volunteer examiners), you don't have to go to an FCC field office anymore. (And, no, they don't get to keep any of that $15.00, that's only for the required postage/paper work involved).
That ought'a get you started, at least.
- 'Doc