Communications > Radio

HAM Radio For Beginers. IE: me...

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Burt Gummer:
Alright so i've recently picked up a Handheld tripple band HAM Radio. Specifically a Yaesu VX-6R.

The problem is i'm not a coms guy, i've always just loaded the fill and pressed PTT.
And so I consulted the interwebs like we all do, except I didn't know radio guys talk a different language (might as well be)
Comes down to me looking for a starting point to learn how it works, why I need to do what i'm doing how I can apply that know how in a practical way in case of a grid down scenario.
Any and all help / input will be greatly appreciated, because you likely know more then me.

APX808:
I got my license a few months ago.

I strongly suggest you to contact your local HAM club and enlist in the course to get the license.
There are a lot of topics to cover and many of them are very technical related to electromagnetism and electronics.

Also you can get a copy of Ham Radio for dummies. http://amzn.com/1118592115

There are many tutorials online on how to operate, types of antennas etc but HAM world is so big you will get lost and won't know were to start.

More related to prepping use of radio you can follow the awesome Youtube channel GuerrillaComm http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSSOElgoCSU9wNcN5VpgoEw

And also you could check Signal Corps blog, previously it posted nice stuff, lately it just publicizes his upcoming courses, but whatever http://sparks31.wordpress.com/

crudos:
That is a nice radio Burt. If you can find a local ham who is willing to walk you thru the basics, that might be your best option. Or just dive-in, head first and learn by doing. Yeah it can definitely be overwhelming with all the info out there.

rah45:
I googled your radio model, got a pros/cons page. Vast majority are 5/5, but one guy gave a 1/5 and kept fussing about "intermod" problems in urban areas. What is he talking about?


--- Quote ---Don't you think about having one of these in a urban area with many systems around you. I live in downtown Miami and this radio is simply useless. I have an FT-60R that handles Intermod great, buy one of those instead. The VX-6R is well build, metal case, Li-Ion battery, many features in the menu, DCS, narrow/wide band, 220Mhz!.etc etc etc...Simply take it outside your house and go to downtown and you will have a useless full bars signal box with nothing to receive. Sorry Yaesu, but not this time. I tried 4 diferent units between last year and last week. I returned all. Same problem, INTERMOD INTERMOD INTERMOD!!!!!!!.....Specially in UHF. Ft-60R is a winner, VX-3r and VX-5r handle fairly well. This one becomes useless. Save your money and get an FT-60R...You will be able to see the light!
--- End quote ---

JohnyMac:
Burt, great to hear you are getting into HAM.

When you get a chance you might want to read this discussion on this forum earlier about HAM and specifically BAOFENG HAM radios.


--- Quote ---What APX wrote:
I strongly suggest you to contact your local HAM club and enlist in the course to get the license.
There are a lot of topics to cover and many of them are very technical related to electromagnetism and electronics.
--- End quote ---


I am lucky because a neighbor up at the cabin is an old HAM. He took me to a meeting last winter and gave me a cd with a whole bunch of educational things to read. He has been a big help but I have not taken the test yet to get my "ticket."

Check out this club. Their next meeting is the 27th of this month.

Good luck! 

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