Ham Radio and Radio at FIRST

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Eric,
It is pretty easy. All you have to do is study a little and take a test. The test is a variety of electronic questions mixed in with some operations questions. The test is intended to make sure you know enough to operate a transmitter and not interfere with anyone else or their enjoyment of the other public services. There are many local clubs that will help you study and obtain the license. There are several license classes, and each class gives the operator some privledges on different bands. The higher the class of license the more priveledge and the more questions asked. A Technician class license has 35 questions, the General an additional 35 questions and Extra an additional 50 questions. There is no longer a morse code requirement. You can find more info here... http://www.arrl.org/arrlvec/license-requirements.html
or search for FCC under US government. A local club will also help you locate equipment and set up a station. Many hams start out with a very simple station, an antenna strung between two trees and a borrowed radio is all it takes. Operating is just like writing here on CD for the first time. You listen around and find how others operate and then you just jump in. It is actually pretty cool because it takes some finesse to tune the radio and find someone. It isn't as simple as just typing and hoping someone reads what you typed. Sometimes the weather is against you, sometimes the sun is against you but sometimes under just the right conditions, you can talk to someone in the jungles of Africa, or downtown Barcelona or a previously closed(radio) country like the Czech Republic. I like a particular facet of this hobby known as QRP. This is where I use a radio with less than 5 watts output. That is lower than CB radios and sometimes I even use less than a watt on CW or Morse Code. Imagine sitting on a beach with a wire strung between two coconut palms while talking to another ham on a beach in St. Thomas who has the same kind of portable station and operates from batteries or solar cells. That is the kind of hobby some hams enjoy. Jump in the water's fine.