Getting Started - from ground zero

[aircatheavy]

Hello,
Now that I'm retired I want to learn to use SW radio and explore the world via long distance radio.
I have no idea where to begin. I know I need an FCC license. I know I need a transceiver. I know I need an antenna. But that's about it.
I can spend about $1500 on equipment.

Can you give me some advice?
Much appreciated.

 

[trentbob]

Hello,
Now that I'm retired I want to learn to use SW radio and explore the world via long distance radio.
I have no idea where to begin. I know I need an FCC license. I know I need a transceiver. I know I need an antenna. But that's about it.
I can spend about $1500 on equipment.

Can you give me some advice?
Much appreciated.

$1500 can get you started but it's not a matter of what you can spend, it's a matter of what you end up spending as you expand in the hobby😂.

So much help here for you more worthy than me but yes you need a license so the advice I could offer is Google amateur radio clubs in the immediate vicinity and join now as an associate member, could be 25 or $50 a year and go to the meetings and they will assist you in getting your license as the club will have members who are authorized to give you the test and will advise you what you need to do to be eligible to sit for the exam which will probably be done wherever your meetings are on specific scheduled days each month. They will probably offer classes too. That's my two cents.

 

[Bird_Person]

Congratulations on your retirement and welcome to amateur radio!

$1500 is definitely a starting point, but my advice is don't necessarily think in terms of how much to spend... think more in terms of how you want to use amateur radio. Do you want to spend time on 2200m? 70cm? 2m? 10m? Are you interested in CW (Morse code)? Digital radio/DMR? Would you like to bounce signals off of rocks in space or the moon? Decide where you want to begin your journey into transmitting and then build up from there.

For me, I was heavily interested in DMR at first and 2m/70cm (144/440 MHz) to get started. Moving into the HF realm my current interests are in 10m, 15m and 20m bands. I still use the DMR radio a bunch on local repeaters for both digital and analog because there are a lot of people to chew rags with out there, but there is something addicting about making those DX contacts over thousands of miles.

Trent gives good advice on looking for local ham clubs and meeting people. Not only do you get to meet some decent folks, but you get to learn from them and prepare for tests and other stuff with them such as antenna/equipment building and even working with ARES or maintaining repeaters. There is a lot to do in this hobby.

TL;DR
Concentrate on how you want to radio more than what you can spend and then you can see where you want to go.

 

[robertwbob]

id go to club meetings ask questions. maybe a seasoned operator would let you try your hand on diffrent radios? that can set the stage for your goals. around here its too quiet on 2 meters 70 cm. but if you live in heavily populated area ,might be lot more traffic on fore mentioned bands
welcome here and ENJOY RETIREMENT. ive been retired 7 years but still work part time

 

[KC1THE]

Hello @aircatheavy, it looks like you may already possess a Technician's license since you asked about testing for General since this post back in 2020? Have you tested for General since? That will give you more privileges on HF.

Taking the General test

Hello, I'm in South East Florida and it seems the COVID-19 situation has shuttered all the testing. Anyone know if there's any place to take the General test or when they might start again? Thanks

forums.radioreference.com

I agree with the folks above. Ask yourself what interests you and what you would like to accomplish in the hobby and go from there. There are so many paths to take and that will help hone down the right equipment path for you.

What do you have now for radios (if any)? In past posts, you mentioned some Baofeng HT's so it looks like you are familiar with programming radios and have experience with 2m/70cm.

Baofeng - Baofeng UV-5R-3 not comunicating with Chirp.

A friend of mine really likes this radio and uses it everyday. He also swears by this tri-band antenna from Anytone... AT-3318UV-E Replacement Antenna (tri-band) If memory serves me correctly, he had to use an O-ring to take up some slack in the connection.

forums.radioreference.com

Good luck whatever you decide.

PS: were you a Pilot before retirement? I see some clues in your User ID: aircatheavy and Location: 33,000 ft.

 

[ladn]

Now that I'm retired I want to learn to use SW radio and explore the world via long distance radio.
I have no idea where to begin. I know I need an FCC license. I know I need a transceiver.

You only need a license to transmit on the HF ham bands. Receive all you want license free!

There's a lot to listen to on the HF bands, both within and outside of the ham allocations. An easy, and low cost, way to get a tase of HF is to use a web-connected SDR radio: websdr.org.

And I second (third?) the suggestion to find a ham radio club and attend some meetings. I think learning from an experienced "Elmer" (mentor) is one of the best ways to enrich one's radio knowledge.