New to ham, looking for advice c:

Salutations, I'm powder. I'm looking to get into ham radios. I found this community from a tiktok about it and found the concept pretty cool!

I would like some advice on how to get started, and a good radio to buy that's both cheap and long range enough to be fun to play around with <:

I live in a small town in canada so long range is a must 😁

Thanks!

6 comments

Comments (6)

w8nsi Jim

May 04, 2022

Whether you are able to communicate is dependent on:

[1] Propagation Conditions, [2] the Antenna, [3] the Radio

If propagation is not there, numbers 2 and 3 won't make any difference.

If you have great propagation, you can work the world on a bedspring antenna and a couple of watts. But generally speaking, you will need conditions allowing your signal to travel some distance. You will need the biggest antenna that you can place up in the air. You will need a radio with a decent receiver and enough transmit power (generally in the 100 watt class) to reach out to others. With items 1, 2, and 3 plus your ham radio license, you should be talking to the world. Low power is fun for enthusiasts but newbs do not need frustration at the beginning. Get busy studying for your license now.

jyunte

May 05, 2022

Replying to

@powder One thing I should have mentioned, is look at the websites that tell you how to get a ham radio license in Canada.

The governments website is: https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/smt-gst.nsf/eng/sf01862.html

That page says:

"Traditionally, amateur radio operators were issued two separate authorizations; an Amateur Radio Operator Certificate and a radio station licence. The Amateur Radio Operator Certificate was issued for life and had no fee associated with it, while the radio station licence was issued on a yearly basis and a licence renewal fee was charged.

Effective April 1, 2000, Industry Canada has combined these documents into one authorization, the Amateur Radio Operator Certificate. This certificate is the sole authorization required to operate amateur radio apparatus in the amateur radio service. "

What this suggests to me is the book you have will describe rules and regulations that are current, as of September 2018, but those rules and regulations may be incorrect for 2022. Here in the USA, our question pools change every few years. This is why I suggested you go to (or call) your nearest ham radio store because they know the up-to-date requirements for getting a license and what books most people find helpful in preparing for their license.

One of the links on that page point to a section on "Certification", which reads:

"Authority to operate radio apparatus in the amateur radio service is issued to holders of an Amateur Radio Operator Certificate with Basic Qualification.

Other qualifications available with the Amateur Radio Operator Certificate are Morse Code and Advanced Qualification.

Operating privileges are granted according to the level of achievement. Attaining honours scores (i.e. 80% or above) on the basic examination, or attaining qualifications in addition to the Amateur Radio Operator Certificate with Basic Qualification will grant the certificate holder additional operating privileges as specified in Regulation by Reference RBR-4, Standards for the Operation of Radio Stations in the Amateur Radio Service, including full access to the amateur frequency bands below 30 MHz (i.e. HF)."

I believe the Basic Qualification gives you only privileges above 30 MHz. These frequencies are relatively short range and "line-of-sight" so for your long range requirement, you would probably need to do whatever is required in the last paragraph of the quoted material, above.

The second website is the Radio Amateurs of Canada. Their Requirements page is a good starting point: https://www.rac.ca/requirements/ They clarify things nicely:

"The first level of authorization is the Amateur Radio Operator Certificate with the Basic Qualification. Passing (70%) a multiple choice exam of 100 questions will provide you with your own call sign and allow you to operate on all Amateur Radio frequencies above 30 MHz. These are most often used for relatively short-range radio to radio communications that can be extended to greater distances using “repeaters” operated by other Radio Amateurs.

The next level of authorization allows Radio Amateurs to use all of the Amateur frequency bands including those allowing direct communications with other Radio Amateurs over much greater distances.

There are two ways to achieve these greater operating privileges: by passing the Basic exam and also by demonstrating the ability to send and receive Morse Code at 5 words per minute or by scoring a higher mark on the Basic exam. The “Basic with Honours” qualification is awarded to persons who get 80% or higher on the 100-question, multiple choice exam. Today the majority of candidates who pass the Basic exam achieve Honours and are able to use all Amateur Radio bands immediately."

I would strongly recommend you talk with the fine folks at you local amateur radio store, first, to find out if the book you ordered is current enough for preparing you for your license test, and second, to find out more about ham radio and if it's really what you want to do. There may be other ways to achieve what you want (though none as flexible as ham radio).

Good luck!

powder

May 05, 2022

Replying to

Okay! So I cancelled the 2018 book and got the most recent one available. Thanks for catching onto my mistake!

jyunte

May 05, 2022

Replying to

@powder Excellent! That should get you going! I still recommend going to or calling your local store. Going there is way better... it'll whet your appetite for all kinds of things, and they may even get you on the air talking on your future radio! :-)

jyunte

May 03, 2022

Hi. I don't live in Canada so can't give you specific advice about ham radio in Canada, but ham radio, pretty much the world over, requires you to get a license. The first thing to do would be to buy a good book that covers the Canadian rules, regulations and even the test questions and answers. Here in the USA all questions and answers are open to the public and are available online. You would be able to find the book at your nearest ham radio store - Google would be your friend there.

After passing the test and receiving your license, you'd want to go back to that ham radio store and talk to them about what exactly it is you want to do with ham radio. There are many things you cannot do with ham radio, for example, use it for business purposes or get paid for using ham radio. The books and manuals you used to get ready for your license test will (hopefully) explain about propagation and how using ham radio isn't as simple as turning on the radio and having reliable communications with someone far away. There are days when that simply won't happen due to atmospheric conditions that are beyond your control. It will explain that the antenna is the most important part of your station and, generally speaking, the bigger and higher up your antenna can be, the better your signal will be and the more stations you'll hear. The good folks in the ham radio store will be able to steer you in the right direction as to which radio, antenna and accessories you will need to meet your goals. I wouldn't recommend buying a radio before passing your test as you may well buy the wrong equipment. I would also recommend joining a ham club in your area as you might well find people with similar interests and who have already done what you are wanting to do.

You should understand that "cheap" radios and "expensive" radios do not determine the range of your signal. Your antenna and propagation conditions determine the range of your signal... as does the antenna and receiver quality of the people receiving your signal. If they can't hear you because they have a lousy antenna, it doesn't matter how great your station is or how strong your signal is. You can buy a cheap 100 watt transceiver with badly designed electronics inside it and be unhappy with it, or you can buy a more moderately priced 10 watt transceiver with excellently designed and implemented electronics and the 10 watt radio will work many times better, assuming every other part of your station is the same. A 100 watt radio is the "standard" output power for most radios. Some people enjoy the challenge of using low power ("QRP") radios that output 20 watts, 10 watts, 5 watts or less. All of those radios are capable of talking all around the world, depending on the antenna and propagation conditions. Some people don't want to mess with low power solutions and buy amplifiers. An amplifier can cost many thousands of dollars, require a separate power supply and even require a separate electrical circuit to be installed in your house to handle the current required by the amplifier. Even then, if your antenna and propagation conditions are not up to scratch, stations won't hear you... and you still need to be able to hear them to "work" them. If YOU need an amplifier for them to hear you, they may require an amplifier for you to hear THEM!

Ham radio is a lot of fun, but it's not plug and play. There's a steep learning curve. Get a good book from the ham store, talk to the people there, join a club, get your license and enjoy!