Elmers: Not Just for Rabbits

Well you are setting out into this new adventure that is an unhealthy mixture of math, science, with an unhealthy dose of black magic with all the enthusiasm of a toddler with a complex toy and making about as much progress.  To keep from wasting a ton of money and time I recommend that you go down to your local radio club and talk about what your interests are.  Eventually the esteemed members will introduce you to somebody who has been where you have been and shares your particular interest.   This is very important as you might end up in a club or with fellow radio operators that are not interested in what you are interested in and as a result you will not only retard your progress, but you may end up giving up entirely.

You can find out more about Elmers here.

Once you have an Elmer that is a good fit you are set.  They will help you learn about your area of interest and master your particular skill set you have decided on.  To clarify what I am talking about here is a small list of areas of Ham radio sub genres.   There is HF (high frequency), VHF (very high frequency), UHF (ultra high frequency); the various voice, digital, and CW modes; there are local repeaters to talk on with Nets; there are contests; personal goals (making contacts or QSOs with every state/region/county; DXing which is shorthand for distance (outside the operators own country); Earth-Moon-Earth or EME which is using the Moon as a natural communications satellite and bouncing a signal off of it.

This is from a great article on EME contacts- Click Here

I personally have a thing for the British Clansman military surplus radios.  I have to go to the internet to get support but I am getting my questions answered and making progress.  As a matter of fact I have an Elmer named Alex and he lives in Australia.  From all of the way around the world his encouragement has allowed me to be able to explore antenna design without all of the mental blocks that I was creating for myself.  Our current goal, which I have dubbed Operation OZ to Oz, is to make phone contact with Australia from here in Kansas in the USA.  This particular project needs a simple antenna cut to the right lengths, over 100 sun spots, and a whole lot of luck.   The fun part of radio DXpeditions are you never know who is going to hear you and when you might meet your goal. I might spend years trying to make that Australian contact; I will keep trying every weekend.

For less than $20 you can build a GREAT antenna-directions are here.

Now that we have brought up antennas I should touch a little bit on that.  If you start into antenna theory and cost it will make your head swim.  Seriously, antennas are expensive and of dubious effectiveness sometimes; a lot of money can be wasted in a short amount of time.  Here is a dirty secret: the best antennas can be made for less than $20 and built in under an hour.  Depending on what you  are trying to do almost anything can be made into an antenna.  Some frequencies use coat hangers, cookie tins, miles of speaker wire, sewing thread spools, folding chairs, ladders, and your imagination.   Seriously, I have tried a lot of different things and the current long distance contact I have made, which was in Maine, was done with a long piece of speaker wire in a tree.

The best thing you can do while you are studying for your exam is to listen to the radio.  Hear what people are talking about; the format of an exchange; and the information that every Ham is expecting from you for a legal contact.  It is a gentleman's hobby after all and being polite is to always be observed.

Get That Ticket!!!

Giant maps give you instant cred.

My name is Don (N2DDT) and I am a licensed Ham radio operator and I am not a man of means.  I am a 40 hour a week, joe-job working, family supporting, non-electrical degree holding, burning myself every time I try to solder guy like most of you out there.  I have had my Ham license for several years now and I have wasted a lot of time and money trying to get it right with little to no guidance to speak of.  That is why I am writing this blog; to get you pointed in the right direction and show you that you are not alone; we have all been there where you are right now.  For your own reasons, reasons that nobody else may understand (and that's OK), you are interested in becoming an amateur radio operator.  When you first heard someone talking about Ham radio you probably equated it to citizens band radio, or CB.   There are many similarities but the differences are vast and important.

CB rules set by the FCC

The first difference is that you do not need to have an FCC license to operate a CB radio.  Anyone with $5, the right estate sale, and access to an Uncle over the age of 45 can get a CB on the air and communicate.  It is referred to as the "Children's Band" among Ham radio operators.  I personally enjoy using and monitoring CB; I have just learned to not bring it up-you should too.  In the old days a radio operator had to have a license from the FCC to do any broadcasting.  The fine for broadcasting without a license starts out at $10,000 and can go up from there, so pay attention.  After a time the FCC decided to create a concept of "license by rule"; this means that by virtue of operating a CB radio you magically have a license.  On a CB you can also refer to yourself by any name you want; seriously, as long as you don't violate any decency laws you are free to call yourself anything.  As a result anyone driving around talking on a CB becomes an anonymous voice calling out over the airwaves.  So catching a person who violates the rules set forth by the FCC becomes a real chore; which brings us to the next part of our story- rules and their enforcement.

Donald Manson working as an employee of the Marconi Company (England, 1906)

In the dawn of radio there were no rules as it was so new that nobody cared what you did. It was new and innovation was the name of the game.  People all over the world in every social class were experimenting and inventing the world of radio.  As people often do, clubs started to form so that people could share knowledge and help each other grow as radio operators.  As the need for order and organization grew the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) was born.  In April of 1914 the ARRL was founded and began the task of bringing order to the chaos that was amateur radio.  The ARRL started to make sure that people were not stepping on each other and that information was was being spread throughout the small local and regional clubs that were associated with it.  This is important as that by the 1930s commercial radio and amateur radio was beginning to clash and the Federal Communications Commission was born in 1934.

Remember that I am simplifying a lot of things but this is just to give you an overall idea as to the history, and proud history at that, of what you are getting yourself into-back to the story...

This was a magical time, a time when the US government didn't want to do anything that they didn't have to because it cost money (imagine that).  The ARRL did something amazing; they told the Government that they had already organized amateur radio into a gentleman's club where everyone got along and best of all, amateur radio was self policing!  They made a series of proposals to the FCC, lines were drawn to give official order to the radio waves (band plan), and an agreement was made that the ARRL would police amateur radio and report violators to the FCC.  This has been how the world of radio has existed ever since.

Ok, this brings us back to CB vs Ham radio.  When the FCC quit licensing CB radio operators it kind of became a crazy place full of crazy people.  So, the serious operators went full Ham radio and left the 40 channels, or frequencies to the savages.

So that means that you can use the 40 channels given to CB or you can enjoy the freedom of using whole giant swatches of frequencies to your hearts content.  Also, CB is limited to 4 watts of output power and Ham radio operators as beginners or Technicians are limited to 200 watts and higher license holders are limited to 1500 watts with some exceptions.  When I used my CB I was good to talk to another radio across town; now I talk to other countries, just saying.

Look up your local radio club; you don't have to join, but they will help you get your license and you never know- your first radio might fall into your lap.  Yea, radio guys are awesome like that.

Next week- Elmers: they are not just for rabbits anymore.