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“Is anyone out There?” - HamRadio
(lemmy.zip)
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this post was submitted on 07 Sep 2026
14 points (76.9% liked)
No Stupid Questions
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!amateur_radio@lemmy.radio
Plenty of people do are still doing ham radio.
~~There isnt much risk being unlicenced, enforcement seems sporadic and unreliable.~~ I own a bunch of handheld radios that ideally I should have a licence for, but for road trips it hardly matters.
But at the same time, getting licenced isnt expensive or difficult, so you may as well just do it. The only reason I haven't is that I don't want to waste a bunch of Sundays going to a class to listen to year 10 electronics.
And thank you!! I subscribed!!
GOOD! then I will have plenty of people to talk to!
I do plan on getting licensed, I know I can buy hand held Ham, but I love a project, so I’d like to build my own out of old spare parts. The uglier the better. Any suggestions on the hand held? What sets some apart. Do you have a favorite?
I am not really qualified to comment on the quality of the handhelds, but have a few baofengs (don't know the model), a quangshen uv-k6 and a radtel rt-470x. All of them likely illegal, probably excessively spectrally noisy. But they are good for road trips.
This is awful advice considering how utterly simple it is to get licensed.
Speaking for US licensees, one only needs to memorize the question bank (legal and encouraged) and take the exam.
It can be done remotely. I did all of mine remotely, and have never set foot in any club or classroom.
Operating without a license will quickly become apparent to any experienced operator. Do not do this.
If one thinks the airways are dead, please check this spectral image of 20m I snapped a couple of years ago: https://lemmy.radio/post/3735300
I did see the class/test was all online.. easypeasy! I really don’t want to be fined.. so loose the chance to not have a license. I’m def going to do it. I hear if you use a hand held it’s easier not to get “caught” as you are mobile. But it’s not expensive. Doing it.
I assume you’re in the US, so you can use hamstudy.org. From there you can schedule your exam online and take it online. I did my Tech from a beachside resort in Philippines during the pandemic, and my General and Extra from an AirBnB in New Mexico. Two of my examiners were Australian, and each of them in different parts of the US as well.
With daily study, you should be able to knock out each license level in about a month each.
I am in the US, and yes, online course work, and in my state, it’s 15$ to take the test at a testing site near my home for the technical license. Thanks for the recommendation on the online course, there are many to choose from, and some of the websites are .. messy.
Certainly! It’s a bit of an unspoken duty to encourage others to get licensed. It’s one of the accomplishments I most adore.
You can do it in person, but hamstudy should also provide remote options as well. I did mine from a beach on a Pacific Island!
I agree in general, but not every country has a simple and easy licencing system. And if your just acquiring radios for shit-hits-the-fan scenarios, rather than regular use, expending the effort for a licence doesnt make sense to me.
In Aus, its a multiday in person class, with exams at fixed times during the year. And I've seen the course work, its mindnumbingly easy, it should be an online multiple choice. I would do it in a heartbeat if it were online.
Maybe an unpopular opinion and I'm sure you don't agree but even if you're only looking at radio for some weird apocalyptic situation, the knowledge you need to be licensed is there to teach you standards and best practices that will only improve your odds of successful communication without stepping on other people trying to do the same. Its not (all) some bureaucratic bullshit there just to make a buck or let The Man control you. You said it yourself, its easy. Just do it and know you can actually check the box without screwing up someone else's message or screaming into frequencies nobody is listening on anyway. Its a test to make sure you're a responsible member of a community.
I agree thats how it should be, but the licencing here in Aus doesnt line up with that.
The knowledge involved in the actual licencing isnt actually that useful for actually operating the radio. It was mostly tailored to designing radios from the ground up, and it was basically late highschool electronics.
The knowledge you need to operate the radios properly is all available online.
In my case, I am using handheld radios on the CB bands. I have limited the power correctly, but because they are capable of more power than allowed, that makes them require a licence, even when used in normal CB bands. It doesnt make sense for me to waste multiple Sundays to get a licence I am not actually going to take advantage of.
So here in Aus, it is just beaurocratic bullshit. And like I said, if it were online, I'd do it in a heartbeat.