New Technician - Have Question(s)

[UTLNOK]

Just received my Techician license, I am still a little confused with all the charts, & abbreviations, and hope this is not a "dumb question", but which bands am I allowed to transmit \ broadcast using "voice"?.

Also I am wondering if anyone can recommend a radio that will give me the most benefit of my new technician privileges, preferably a hand-held, or mobile unit...what types of radios should I be looking for?, unfortunately I don't have a lot of money to invest at this time, so I'm looking for something cheap to get me started...anybody got any favorites?

Thanks in advance,
73 - KF5MTX

 

[Fast1eddie]

Cannot go wrong with any of the major manufacturers-I like Alinoco, Yaesu and Icom. You'll go through several before you find what is right, perhaps starting with something basic-even used is a good way to go.

Find out what bands favored in your location-although I like 6, seems as if it is taboo here in Pittsburgh-and my dumbass went out and bought nice multimode equipment before I discovered this. Result??? A primo Yaesu FT690R was sold for cheap due to non activity.

You'll find something that will click, just don't rush in. Good luck!

 

[UTLNOK]

Cannot go wrong with any of the major manufacturers-I like Alinoco, Yaesu and Icom. You'll go through several before you find what is right, perhaps starting with something basic-even used is a good way to go.

Find out what bands favored in your location-although I like 6, seems as if it is taboo here in Pittsburgh-and my dumbass went out and bought nice multimode equipment before I discovered this. Result??? A primo Yaesu FT690R was sold for cheap due to non activity.

You'll find something that will click, just don't rush in. Good luck!

Thanks Eddie, I live in N.E. Oklahoma, seems to be a few 70-centimeter we have a "Wide Area Linked System" I am interested in (if my privileges will allow it), and 2 meter in this area...

I had a little Yeasu hand-held a few years ago, should held on to it...it had like everything, I could even receive TX from the local public service on 800 MHz...it was nice..

 

[jim202]

Just received my Techician license, I am still a little confused with all the charts, & abbreviations, and hope this is not a "dumb question", but which bands am I allowed to transmit \ broadcast using "voice"?.

Also I am wondering if anyone can recommend a radio that will give me the most benefit of my new technician privileges, preferably a hand-held, or mobile unit...what types of radios should I be looking for?, unfortunately I don't have a lot of money to invest at this time, so I'm looking for something cheap to get me started...anybody got any favorites?

Thanks in advance,
73 - KF5MTX

I am not trying to be a pain or what ever you may choose to call it, but I am fairly sure that there was a question on your FCC Technician test that asked just the same question your asking about what bands you can operate on voice. Have you tried to do a search on FCC technician license and see what comes back? There are a number of charts available to download off the Internet that very clearly define what class license has what type of operation on which bands. The green is voice on the chart from the ARRL. The letters beside the different bands indicate the class of license. Can't get much clearer.

 

[LtDoc]

Grady,
You have a very nice source of information available to you right there in town, the NWS. A trip there will result in more information than you'll know what to do with, and is also a good place to learn about participating in weather related 'spotting'. They are almost always looking for volunteers to help so you may find a 'job' without spending much. Have fun.
- 'Doc

That 'linked' network you mentioned (UHF) isn't for general use, but for relaying information between areas. It's 'structured' as in disciplined nets. Certainly helpful to listen to by the people in the 'field', but not absolutely necessary.
(I'm in S.E Oklahoma. 'BigMac', on the outside looking in. Not the other way around!)

 

[k8wtf]

You will likely find the most local activity on the 2 meter and 70cm (440) bands in the FM mode. With a "dual band" rig - either mobile or handheld, you will surely find local repeaters and activity. If you want to do more than just repeaters - get a base/mobile rig and put up a vertical dual-band antenna - when conditions allow (and depending on your location) you can work 100-200 miles on simplex.

As far as what frequencies you can operate on, I tend to forget myself across all bands, so I keep a copy of this handy:

Nifty HF/VHF/UHF Bands Operating Guide

Basically a little flip-through guide that shows you what frequencies you can operate on based on your operating privileges. Covers HF/VHF/UHF up to 70cm (you do have some limited HF voice privileges on 10 meters, which will get you all over the world when the band is open...)

As jim202 said - the information is widely available online and on the ARRL site; I just didn't mind spending a few bucks for a small, bound and laminated version.

As far as a radio, dual band FM transceivers are a dime a dozen - I would look at what is available used. Craigslist and local ham clubs are ideal for this, or keep an eye out for a hamfest within a reasonable distance. eBay is loaded up too, but you will get to see (and possibly test) the radio before you buy with the other methods.

The eham.net site has a lot of reviews of just about any radio, but sometimes they must be taken with a grain of salt. You should really decide on handheld versus base/mobile first; with handheld you will be limited to 5 watts, which is fine if you are in a populous area with repeaters. Otherwise, consider a mobile 50 watt dual-band. Eventually you will have both anyway.

 

[UTLNOK]

I am not trying to be a pain or what ever you may choose to call it, but I am fairly sure that there was a question on your FCC Technician test that asked just the same question your asking about what bands you can operate on voice. Have you tried to do a search on FCC technician license and see what comes back? There are a number of charts available to download off the Internet that very clearly define what class license has what type of operation on which bands. The green is voice on the chart from the ARRL. The letters beside the different bands indicate the class of license. Can't get much clearer.

I don't remember the exact version of the test that I took, or any specific questions, that had to do with transmitting "voice" (not saying it wasn't there), just saying I don't remember it, I've done many searches for "FCC Technician license" (and variations of that), most of what I've found has dealt more with test preparation, and not much in the way of actual privileges, "The green is voice on the chart from the ARRL." so what I call "voice", they are calling it "Phone" which I interpreted as using a touch pad to dial a "phone number" (sure you can understand the confusion there)...but thanks for clearing that up for me.

 

[N5TWB]

I belong to both of the major Tulsa ham groups, Tulsa Amateur Radio Club (TARC) and Tulsa Repeater Organization (TRO). They both have websites: TARC - TARC - Tulsa Amateur Radio Club and TRO - The Tulsa Repeater Organization. Check out the websites and come to a meeting next month. Send me a PM and I'll be glad to call you or arrange to meet to discuss your interests and questions in person. Both ham clubs have people that are involved with supporting the National Weather Service during storm events by using the linked repeater UHF system of TARC and the VHF repeater of TRO for Tulsa County events. Both groups have people that are involved with ARES and both groups support community events like bike races and marathons that require supplemental communications.

There are other groups in the Tulsa area, including a strong club in Broken Arrow. One of these groups can be a source of assistance to you as a new ham.

The TRO club meeting in October will involve an auction of equipment donated to the club by the family of a ham that has passed away. You might learn a few things from that experience.

 

[UTLNOK]

I belong to both of the major Tulsa ham groups, Tulsa Amateur Radio Club (TARC) and Tulsa Repeater Organization (TRO). They both have websites: TARC - TARC - Tulsa Amateur Radio Club and TRO - The Tulsa Repeater Organization. Check out the websites and come to a meeting next month. Send me a PM and I'll be glad to call you or arrange to meet to discuss your interests and questions in person. Both ham clubs have people that are involved with supporting the National Weather Service during storm events by using the linked repeater UHF system of TARC and the VHF repeater of TRO for Tulsa County events. Both groups have people that are involved with ARES and both groups support community events like bike races and marathons that require supplemental communications.

There are other groups in the Tulsa area, including a strong club in Broken Arrow. One of these groups can be a source of assistance to you as a new ham.

The TRO club meeting in October will involve an auction of equipment donated to the club by the family of a ham that has passed away. You might learn a few things from that experience.

Thanks for the info, I am off to what appears to be a slow start, so any help is good help, and always willing too make a new friend or two, so I will definitely look for some time to "look you up", and the clubs sound interesting too..I am currently unemployed so busy with "Damage Control", as you might imagine..

 

[JeremyB]

Here's the chart that shows privileges: http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Hambands_color.pdf

For the most part, you are limited to the right side of the page 6M-23cm, but you can use SSB(single side band) on 10 meters(yellow) and RTTY and data modes on 10(red). Common practice on 10M is to use USB. The bands are further broken down into CW, data, SSB, AM, FM simplex, FM repeater and other segments to keep some order

 

[Token]

The bands are further broken down into CW, data, SSB, AM, FM simplex, FM repeater and other segments to keep some order

The bands above 30 MHz are only broken down into SSB/AM/FM Simp/FM Rep by convention (band plans), not by regulation, with a couple of very minor exceptions. On 6 M and 2 M there are small designated CW only sections and 1.25 M has an odd digital forwarding allocation, but all other frequencies are open to all legal ham modes.

For example, on 2 meters 146.520 might be recognized and designated as the "FM Simplex Calling Frequency" but it is perfectly legal to transmit CW, AM, SSB, or data on that frequency, assuming you are in compliance in all other aspects except mode. This might make you a LID, but it is not illegal or in violation. And you could, for example, similarly use the "repeater output frequency" of 146.970 for any mode you want.

Indeed, in areas where there are no repeaters on a given frequency I see absolutely nothing wrong with using that frequency any way you want. Use it for simplex, use it for other modes, whatever. But it is up to you as an operator to know if you are or potentially might causing harmful interference to a coordinated repeater or even to another user in another mode who has the same thought as you. You must be in compliance with 97.101 in such operation.

Myself and a couple of locals regularly fire up in AM on 146.44, despite it being generally listed as in an FM Simplex area of the band. A couple of the guys have old tube type crystal operated 2 meter AM rigs and they had crystals for that frequency. Since APRS grabbed 144.390 and the rest of 144.300 to 144.500 went Oscar we like to stay away from the old AM calling freq of 144.400. So we end up using either an FM simplex or unused FM repeater output frequency for AM, we know it is legal and we know there are no repeaters we will cause any interference to. We try to avoid repeater input frequencies, even when there are no repeaters in reasonable distances on those frequencies. Even 2 meters sometimes can go rather long with a nice band opening and we would hate to accidentally get into someone’s repeater 800 miles away, regardless of how unlikely it is, and not realize it.

T!