<snip> Is there anywhere on this site I can go to (or any other site for that matter) to get some Nebraska frequencies to listen to, while I decide whether I want to get a license or not? <snip>
Hi
@DavidK75 and welcome to Radio Reference (RR)! It is our pleasure here at RR to answer any radio question that you might have.
In all sincerity, listening to a repeater frequency or even multiple repeater frequencies with a Baofeng UV-82 is probably
not the best way to be introduced to Amateur Radio. Especially if you are going to use that experience to decide if you should get a license or not.
The main reason that I say that, in addition to what
@nd5y stated above, is because what you can hear on a Baofeng UV-82 is but a small glimpse of what Amateur Radio operators are doing worldwide with Amateur Radio technology. The equipment available and what you can do with that equipment is anything but “amateur” in functionality. Not to mention, by the way, all of the fun and excitement that you can have as an Amateur Radio operator.
Although this going to be another glimpse at what all is possible in Amateur Radio, this is what you will not experience with a Baofeng UV-82:
1. Another handheld radio about half that size that can talk to Amateur Radio operators all over the world…
2. Radio systems that can bounce signals off the moon to communicate with other Earthbound Amateur Radio operators…
3. Radio Systems that can communicate through satellites…
4. Radio systems that can access the International Space Station (ISS) to talk with other Amateur Radio operators of whom might include a chance conversation with an ISS astronaut…
5. Different types of communications that send pictures to other Amateur Radio operators, also known as “hams,” around the globe…
6. Rapid digital communications with other hams worldwide that might include typing messages on a keyboard or even semi-automatic computer to computer communications taking less than a minute to “work” other hams that might be on a mere rock sticking out of the ocean somewhere in the world called DXpeditions which may only be active for less than a week…
7. And the possibilities are almost endless…
I’ll let some other folks chime in here with other activities that hams do every day. As far as that goes, you might even tinker with experiments that develop new communication modes that do not exist today. The sky’s the limit…
So please, ask questions about the wonderful world of Amateur Radio. I think you will be pleasantly surprised at what all you can do as an Amateur Radio operator. Perhaps we will talk one day on the airwaves and exchange postcards, called QSL cards, confirming that we made contact with each other leading to any number of different awards. Enjoy your quest learning about Amateur Radio!
73 (best wishes in ham lingo), Dave K4EET
