I posted this in response to a question on a Yahoo! group, and thought it might be of general interest. The question was "I am interested in learning about ham radio. What courses do you suggest? What radio should I buy to get started?"

To learn the material, I recommend Gordon West’s books; they are available on Amazon.com.

To practice for the tests, try www.aa9pw.com/radio — there is a pool of questions for each exam, and with some work you can memorize the answers. You’ll enjoy the hobby more if you learn the background, though. I used Gordon’s books and AA9PW’s site and passed the Technician and General tests at one sitting, after about a week of study.

There are lots of good websites where you can learn about ham radio; I like eHam; from there you’ll find lots of links to other sites. My favorite site to browse new radios is Universal Radio; look for Amateur Base Transceivers, Amateur Mobiles and Amateur Handhelds. They have lots of info on each radio, and you can tell when they update each section.

Try to get involved locally; if you’re in a big city, there are probably several clubs. Attend a few meetings, and look for a group that actively seeks new members; they’ll be a lot more fun to hang out with, and you’ll get to know some of the people in person that you talk to on the radio. Most clubs hold testing days periodically to facilitate getting your license.

As far as the first radio, some of that will depend upon your license class. Once you pass the Technician test, you’re entitled to use all ham bands from 50MHz and up, which usually means using repeaters. Repeaters are radios which simultaneously receive on one frequency and re-transmit on another, usually using a high antenna in order to receive and be received from further away than a radio on the ground. Your radio will transmit and receive on the opposite frequencies.

If you’re in a city, or live/drive within 10-15 miles of the repeater, a handheld radio will usually work fine. If you live further from the repeater, you’ll need a radio that runs off the car battery and has an antenna mounted on the outside of your vehicle (although an external antenna for the handheld radio could double its range). Since a repeater could have a range of over 100 miles, you could find yourself talking with someone 120 to 200 miles away, depending upon your setup and how far you and the other person are from the tower. For either a handheld or mobile radio, you can get started for under $200 with new equipment, including a good antenna.

(Many of these radios will operate on the same frequencies as FRS radios, and although it’s not legal except in an emergency, it’s pretty handy. My handheld will receive AM, FM, TV, CB, weather, and airplanes and airports, and will transmit and receive on the same frequencies as my local sheriff, fire departments and ambulance company. It costs $300, and is slightly modified. Many volunteer fire departments pick frequencies just outside the ham bands, so their members can use ham radios. One local police department does that – the chief is a ham, and at one time, most of the officers were, too.)

If you pass the General test, you can use lower-frequency radios, which can reach much further -– around the world with a proper setup. I had a horizontal wire antenna strung inside the attic of a rent house a few years ago here in NE Texas, and my furthest conversations were to New York (~1000 miles) and the Oregon-Washington border (~1500 miles). These radios start at around $700 new, and go way past $10,000. Your antenna(s) can cost next to nothing, like mine, or as much as you want to spend.

Most ham radios operate on 12V, so even the long-range radios can be mounted in a vehicle. Lots of truckers and RVers use them, since the range is so much greater than CB radios and the chatter on ham is a lot more civil than what you typically hear on CB. With a well-mounted antenna and cooperative terrain, you should be able to reach up to several hundred miles. From the top of a mountain or on the coast, you might reach Europe or Asia.
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I’d recommend studying and passing the Technician and General tests, even if you’re not sure what you want to do otherwise. The test is usually $10. I’d also recommend getting involved with local hams -– a fellow ham in my church gave me my first radios when I told him I’d passed the tests. Including the free radio and the parts for my attic antenna, I was on the air for under $30!

There’s a lot more beyond this, including Morse code, satellite repeaters, bouncing signals off the moon, even chatting with astronauts on the space station. It’s an enjoyable hobby, and I’m sure you’ll find many interesting things to do. The main thing is… get started!