-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA256 On Sat, 7 Jan 2017 10:40:13 +1300 Klaatu <kla...@member.fsf.org> wrote:
> I'd be elated if someone could at least provide a general overview. > Abstract it as needed, to allow for localized exceptions, but the > process, surely, must still be the same? Not entirely because different countries specify different modes, power levels, and bands to different classes of licenses. Again, it all depends on what you want to do with the hobby. In the US, most people's entry to the process looks something like this: 0. Acquire study materials for a Technician class license from the ARRL, Gordon West, the Internet, or whereever. 1. Find a local Volunteer Examiner Coordinator and get scheduled for a test. 2. Memorize a question pool from the study materials. 3. Cough up $15 to the VEC and take the test. 4. Wait a few days for your ticket. 5. Buy a cheap handheld radio (probably one of the Chinese units). 6. Lament about the fact that you can only operate on VHF/UHF or use CW on some slim parts of bands and the repeaters are dead and there's no activity and... 7. Leave the hobby or upgrade to General class, sink your life savings in to high end radio gear and complain that there's nobody to talk to because the solar cycle is low and you have gout or something. Joking aside, usually hams in the US get their Technician class license first and get bored with VHF/UHF (usually short range) operation and want to work on HF so they move up to General class eventually. A few test for the Extra class license at some point. Many just stop at Tech and either get bored or get involved in public service. There are further complications with explaining things beyond differences by country. The number of modes of operation and facets of the hobby are head spinning. Here is just a sample of some things you can do: - - Emergency and public communications coordination - - Talk on local repeaters - - Talk on satellites - - Bounce a signal off the moon - - Use Morse Code - - Send digital signals over a variety of protocols... dozens of them! - - Talk to repeaters through the Internet - - Play with low power (QRP) transmissions - - DXing and contesting - - Experiment with Extremely Low Frequency - - Foxhunting - - Geolocation fun with things like APRS - - Slow scan television - - Talk on HF nets across the country through SSB if the solar cycles permit There are many other things you can do within the hobby and even just a single slice of it can fill up all your time. I'm just a technician class operator and I only work satellites and QRP CW (low power morse code) these days. I currently have no desire to upgrade. In the past, I used to spend my time on terrestrial repeaters and help with storm chasing or public events. All of that to say you should probably know what you're interested in with the hobby before figuring out how to get into the hobby. You'll be disappointed if you want to talk on SSB hundreds of miles away if you just get the Technician class license and a Chinese HT. Maybe it would be good to approach the round table or an intro series to the hobby with a few basic scenarios like what each license class is capable of working? It could get complex quickly but, if carefully laid out, could be informative. cmh - -- Happy Hacking! http://manor.space/~cmhobbs GPG: 1200 0808 F968 47AB F489 91A3 FE26 6FFB 1A77 0868 -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v2 iQIcBAEBCAAGBQJYcBqBAAoJEP4mb/sadwhoICkP/2EqUdeIM1EWyknLL1zV3QCX 94Z0aPpIvo1uubOdVsI3JQ1joEappYYC52uJAt4aqEvKkLJVloijRog0Tb9lcJqV ZFXbprmk24vZNQKrIfqjtgNksUuaGFVQ9Jpf63Y6zVjNVpXItaeP+AWLMUxZdGx4 IzqUw8MvsVAH6USIlR/vfUnotrPU2MMuX1AZ9h7S/oMym8Vw8oLMiH3VFy4jLyoH 59zj5uE5q7YcCVz6XsuBB9wUqMc9xTq6H66irwVvVXb6W/DcMiLnECuAH/dDtQ0+ e1hIxoabyIAtlM/tClDedi6GtAj0Wtg5w6ZlKx4cKEEJSXwvMq3fypFn2C9cp/3m uBKjTjh91RcdEd7sHYvgif/WIB0U+IsmYaJ3XH3uRMKzjxrAQhEgmt6zXWx3M4SJ G2bJOD+cc6Hp9LYk5YEoURR1TGBZBbU4Noa+sLqMIekxOiSxfsch07FtEuVQliCp Gg2ZsbqFa53X+rflg8auxg+FZ4I+A3AfidPYwsuPgm2aFL5Jm1zPNu9I61+Ys7eI ROrtsaWxf4RtJXmBtedt+v/gLaVakrYNd1loVIYnobrInmJ6fry3kgzFNA0NH2a1 Lxtb84KiiZrIiL9qDrjRY+sX+3Fi2B7Sp8+DxYyRltoyK+lraUQ/3DJuFUUEeyCV nKpBmd4HKKQ7N0331/M9 =e8Lr -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- _______________________________________________ Hpr mailing list Hpr@hackerpublicradio.org http://hackerpublicradio.org/mailman/listinfo/hpr_hackerpublicradio.org
