Getting started in amateur radio

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Chadillacs

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Jan 17, 2019
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Albany Oregon
Hello I'm a caregiver for developmentally disabled adults in Albany Oregon & one of my clients is infatuated with scanners & radios of all kinds and he's driving me up a wall about getting dialled Into ham radio. I know nothing about it and so i did the best I could with research and I got him a camouflage Baofeng uv-82hp to transmit/receive on ham radio locally. I understand that we need a technicians license, this is my first day on here & I'm looking for anyone who can point me out a resource that will help introduce myself to this, I'm uber intimidated by the abbreviations alone. I'd appreciate ANY pointers, is this even a suitable device for what he's interested in, & if not what (under $150) handheld ham would be best for this? We will get licensed, just don't want to go in blind and look foolish
 

WRCM

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Dec 4, 2018
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Hello I'm a caregiver for developmentally disabled adults in Albany Oregon & one of my clients is infatuated with scanners & radios of all kinds and he's driving me up a wall about getting dialled Into ham radio. I know nothing about it and so i did the best I could with research and I got him a camouflage Baofeng uv-82hp to transmit/receive on ham radio locally. I understand that we need a technicians license, this is my first day on here & I'm looking for anyone who can point me out a resource that will help introduce myself to this, I'm uber intimidated by the abbreviations alone. I'd appreciate ANY pointers, is this even a suitable device for what he's interested in, & if not what (under $150) handheld ham would be best for this? We will get licensed, just don't want to go in blind and look foolish
Yes, the uv82hp would work fine.
As nd5y stated, ARRL is a good source of information. Also find your local amateur radio club and make contact with them; they almost certainly have a website. That is who will administer the test, and they will be able to point you in the right direction.
 

N5XTC

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Hampton, Virginia
if you find a local amateur radio club, you will more than likely find someone to mentor you, so to speak. find one who has advanced past the technician level and who uses HF, not just local repeaters and echolink. you will need that type of information as well as you advance within the hobby. best of luck in the hobby!
 

TailGator911

Silent Key/KF4ANC
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Feb 12, 2005
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Fairborn, OH
Just be very careful about transmitting on local ham repeaters if you are NOT yet licensed by the FCC. Local hams police their air waves and will jump on you like a duck on a Junebug if you are not licensed, and you may find yourself in hot water and starting off on the wrong foot. Find the geographical section here in the forums (Oregon for you) and ask in there if anyone knows when and where the next FCC exams are being held. This forum is a great resource for the hobby and anything and everything you need to know you can find in here. Have fun with it!

JD
kf4anc
 

ko6jw_2

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Santa Ynez, CA
I found a radio club in your city,here is a phone number you can try 229-883-9633 ask for Robert (K4PHE) hope this helps and good luck.......
That operator lives in Georgia. The question is from Oregon.

Look up the Linn County Amateur Radio Emergency Services with a Google search. Can't find a web page address, but found them by searching 'Linn County Amateur Radio."
 

bharvey2

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Mar 12, 2014
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Another website might be oregonconnection.net It isn't really a place to "start up" but is a link to a networked repeater system in Oregon. You'll find that there's a repeater on Mary's Peak in Corvallis. At the least, it'll give you something to listen to. I monitor their system when I travel through Oregon. Oftentimes, it's linked to the CARLA system in California.

As noted, make sure you don't transmit until you're properly licensed. You're certainly free to monitor though. No licensed needed for that. And ask questions here too. A lot of people on this site have their ham radio licenses and would be willing to help. Myself included.
 
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