Amateur radio is a fascinating hobby that anyone can get into! Amateur radio is a really neat service/hobby that, obviously, involves radio communications, some of which are worldwide! It is really fascinating to think that your voice is traveling through the air at light speed, around the world, or around the block.
It is very easy to get a beginners license, you don't even have to know Morse code! It is just a fairly simple a 35 question, multiple choice test, you can even take it multiple times in a row, if you did not pass it the first time! I got my license on June 19th, 2003, and have greatly enjoyed it ever since. There are things called repeaters that take in a signal and then broadcast it back out on a different frequency. Repeaters greatly extend the operating range of handheld and mobile transceivers, even base stations are permitted to use repeaters!
My current station consists of a Yaesu FT-1500M and a Icom T-81A/E. Both of which I am borrowing from Tim - KG4HOT. I am mostly on two meters on the 146.76 WA4TFZ repeater. I am an active participant in the VYRAA (Virginia Young Radio Amateurs Association) youth net. The net is hold on the 147.075 W4PNT repeater, if you are a licensed Amateur radio operator, and you are not able to get into the repeater, you can check in via echolink. The echolink callsign is KG4ZYH. Membership to VYRAA is free for all youth hams. If you would like to find out a little more about VYRAA, you can e-mail me and I will be happy to help you if I can.
To find out more go to www.qrz.com. There you will find practice test, and other neat little things, and you can look up any US issued Amateur Radio callsign, and find out there name, address, and maybe even phone number and e-mail address. Another good site for the study materials is www.hamquick.com. Well, study hard and I hope to catch you on the air sometime!
My favorite digital operating mode is SSTV, that is when you send pictures, using sound, over the radio. it is lots of fun and very easy to use. My favorite SSTV program is MMSSTV, you can download it for free from www.qsl.net/mmhamsoft. It is very easy to use and setup. For an interface between the radio and computer, different people use different things. With my setup I just use a Mic held up to the speaker for transmit and receive. It works, but it is not the best. Some have a cable connecting the radio and computer for receive, and some for both transmit and receive, this is the way that provides you with the clearest image.
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