KB6NU

Newly minted HAM here. HamStudy is excellent, but / and works very, very well with these "No Nonsense" guides: https://www.kb6nu.com/study-guides/ They are excellent - they're built around the exam questions, but structured in a way that you understand the mechanics behind everything. I'd attempted my license before, but never managed. After finding HamStudy + those guides, got my technician, general and extra class within 3 weeks. 73!

Check out The No-Nonsense Study Guides[1]. They are stripped down to just the essential knowledge for the exams. They won't help you master the material, but will give you more than enough information to pass the exams. I used them with great success to pass all three tests on my first attempt. [1] http://www.kb6nu.com/study-guides/

Currently studying to take the test next weekend. There's actually some really great free resources for anyone looking to learn[0][1]. That said though, a couple guys at my work have really gotten into it and have started volunteering at some of the events around the Boston area where I live. There's actually a surprisingly large demand[2] for amateur radio operators at public events like the Boston Marathon and part of the reason I'm getting my license is I think it would be a great way to volunteer at events around here. If you're interested, the survival guide for the Boston Marathon Ham Operators[3] is a pretty good read! [0] https://hamstudy.org [1] http://www.kb6nu.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/2014-no-nonsense-tech-… [2] http://www.arrl.org/news/more-than-300-amateur-radio-volunteers-suppor… [3] http://www.mmra.org/marc/Boston%20Marathon%20Survival%20Guide.pdf

The Slinky antenna goes back to at least the 1970s.[1] It's not just a dipole. The helical coils give it a much longer effective length than a straight wire. Some preppers are into Slinky antennas. Compact in storage, easy to set up, reusable. [1] https://www.kb6nu.com/the-slinky-antenna/

Big fan of the No-Nonsense Technician-Class License Study Guide. In addition to vocabulary and terms, there's also sections about units and conversions and basic maths involved to understand the flow of electrical current as it passes through a system https://www.kb6nu.com/study-guides/

You may wish to know that the current executive budget proposal would shutter the NIST time radio broadcasts (WWV, WWVH, and WWVB)[1][2][3]. [1] https://swling.com/blog/2018/08/information-from-the-nist-regarding-po… [2] https://www.kb6nu.com/nist-to-shutter-wwv-wwvh-wwvb/ [3] https://www.nist.gov/director/fy-2019-presidential-budget-request-summ… "Illustrative program reductions in FY 2019 -$6.3 million supporting fundamental measurement dissemination, including the shutdown of NIST radio stations in Colorado and Hawaii"

Also FWIW here are the two easy study guides used for US Tech/General licensing that can be downloaded. You shouldn't have any difficulty getting 35/35 on each in ten minutes. No Nonsense Technician Class Study Guide https://www.kb6nu.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/2018-no-nonsense-tech… No Nonsense General Class Study Guide https://archive.org/details/NoNonsenseGeneralClassStudyGuide NB Tech now has 15 revised questions in test pool so check.

Apparently this exercise was not quite what it was made out to be: http://adam.curry.com/html/PleasecancelyourARRL-1508324966.html http://www.kb6nu.com/weighing-puerto-rico/ (FCC Amateur Extra class here)

http://www.kb6nu.com/ham-ham-radio-ham-radio-amateur-radio/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etymology_of_ham_radio > I don’t think that you can argue with this. Let’s avoid confusion by using “amateur radio” when writing about our hobby/service. I’d even urge the ARRL to rethink their use of “Amateur Radio.” Sometimes, it may be OK to use “ham radio,” but it’s just not correct to use “HAM radio” or just “HAM.”

That's fine for governments and corporations, but expensive for most individuals. Also, a geostationary amateur radio satellite is being launched in 2017: http://www.kb6nu.com/first-amateur-radio-geosynchronous-satellite-laun…

1. You found your call sign already, but if you're interested in upgrading, the https://www.kb6nu.com/study-guides/ were very helpful for me becoming a general which lets you play in the world of HF radio. There are exams in almost everywhere about once a month http://www.arrl.org/find-an-amateur-radio-license-exam-session and they're just multi-choice which aren't too difficult. 2. For me, three things. There are a variety of low-earth orbiting satellites that can be accessed with nothing but a Baofeng and a yagi built with some Romex copper elements, glue, and balsa wood (Google AMSAT FM). There's something awe-inspiring to me being able to talk to people contient wide with just a few watts and < $50s of walkie-talkie gear. Second, even though it's been possible since the 50's, it's still a rush to talk to people across the US or world over shortwave with just a long wire thrown up in the tree. I got started with the http://www.elecraft.com/KX2/kx2.htm although there are certainly more affordable entry paths. Some spare Ethernet cable, the ugly balum http://www.hamuniverse.com/balun.html and a few trees make a surprisngly effective means of communicating on 40 meters without that much power. Third, although ubiquitos cell service has lessend the usefulness, the distributed nature of being able to transmit your position and exchange txt messages with people around the world via APRS https://aprs.fi/ is still amazing to me.