I had some downtime recently with work and decided it would be a good time to get my amateur radio license. I started to look into the requirements with a serious focus. When I tell people I went from Technician Class (August 8, 2024) to Amateur Extra Class (September 17, 2024) in 40 days, naturally people also want to know what my motivation was.
I don’t really have a great answer to give. I had contemplated looking into licensing requirements (using the most loose definition of looked possible) in the past, but was not interested in learning Morse Code.
Morse Code, or more formally, the telegraphy examination, was Element 1. Various requirements for License Class upgrades were required in the past. Elimination of Element 1 requirements were adopted by the Federal Communications Commission on December 15, 2006. (1)(2)
Ironically, I am now interested in learning Morse Code! Why? I can’t give you an answer for that, either. Maybe maturity, maybe just because, or maybe because there is no longer pressure to learn it to even get started in the hobby?
Since I have achieved my Amateur Extra Class license, I have tinkered with actually learning how to successfully operate a radio, to include:
- proper radio etiquette (I understand this will be a forever ongoing challenge)
- repeater usage (programming Continuous Tone-Coded Squelch System (CTSS) modes, receive and transmit frequencies, along with offsets and direction)
- programming radios and memory positions using software (proprietary and open source)
- figuring out how to get from a memory channel to a Variable Frequency Oscillator (VFO) mode so I could get to a particular frequency
- participating in local nets
- trying to memorize the frequency and their equivalent band names (this concept still baffles me…”the radio operates on 2 m / 420 MHz”)
I only have handheld transceivers (HT) at this time, but that will likely change in the future. My favorite HT that I purchased (at my first Hamfest!) has been the Kenwood TH-D74. This handheld does everything and more than I could want for a brand new operator. Additional tinkering has lead me to Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS), Software Defined Radio (SDR), EchoLink, Winlink Global Radio Email, and maybe building my own antenna.
I have quickly realized that this hobby is not narrow by any means. Also and almost as quickly, however, is my realization that the information readily available can be so out of date and at other times, disorganized or all over the place! This is very frustrating at best, but even worse for someone who is just getting started, like myself. It hurts my brain to have such disconnected information out in the wild.
It will be interesting to see where this goes…
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