Newest amateur radio licensee!

[AlphaSigOU]

Took the amateur radio licensing exam here in Kwaj tonight... passed the Technician portion! Should be getting my call sign from the FCC in about 2-3 weeks.

Now to study for the General...

[FW]

Welcome to the world of Hams on (the) Air. 

(KA3VAC)

[Major Lord]

Congratulations! It should not take 2-3 weeks for the FCC to post your call sign, unless the VE's sent the materials by sailing ship! Is there much activity down there on Tech bands? Getting your General should open up the world a bit for you, and the test is not too hard.

73,

Major Lord
AF6OF (AE Class)

[Seabee219]

Congrats, keep going with the professional development   :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

[JoeTomasone]

Congrats de AB2M / YI9MV!

[Larry Mangum]

Congrats AF6RG

[N Harmon]

Congratulations
(KC8DMU)

[flyboy76]

Welcome to the airwaves!

73 de W9MDC

[♠SARKID♠]

Welcome to ham radio!

KC9MJP

[RADIOMAN015]

Congratulations!  :clap:
Probably a good idea to carry your handheld ham radio with you even while performing CAP missions.  Although the radio can't be used for CAP routine mission type traffic, IF any emergency comes up, it's likely there will be many more amateur radio repeaters and radios listening than is possible with CAP.
RM 

[Pylon]

Welcome to the club.

73 de KC2BXV

[capchiro]

Congrats!!  KE4QBB       Anyone remember their old CB license?  KJD0785   (Boy, am I getting old..)

[AlphaSigOU]

Congratulations! It should not take 2-3 weeks for the FCC to post your call sign, unless the VE's sent the materials by sailing ship! Is there much activity down there on Tech bands? Getting your General should open up the world a bit for you, and the test is not too hard.

Ya gotta remember... I'm an 'inmate' of 'Kwajatraz Federal Penitentiary' - ahem, the Reagan Test Site at Kwajalein Atoll - we only get mail flown in from Honolulu twice a week, and that's if the plane doesn't break down! 

I took the General immediately after the Tech test, but didn't pass this time. Hopefully, it went in the mail on tonight's C-17 from Hickam, if not, it'll go on Tuesday's ATI flight. Once it gets to Hono is when mail resumes speedy delivery.

[Brad]

Congrats!

Trying to get started on mine to augment my CAP Comms stuff.

[DBlair]

Congrats!


-N2ZJM

[maverik]

Hey congrats! So did most of you buy your radios right after taining? If so what did you get? A fancy one with like PACKET and what not or did you get just a hadnheld capable of a few bands?

[JoeTomasone]

Most new hams (myself included) buy either a 2m or a 2m/440 handheld (depending on the level of 440 activity in the area).    You can buy a mobile antenna and use the handheld in the vehicle as well until/unless you decide to invest in a mobile rig.

2m/440 will have the most activity pretty much anywhere, and is used at most (all?) public service type events that hams may be assisting at.

Afterwards, hams tend to branch out into whatever seems interesting to them - HF, microwave, moonbounce, etc.   

Pretty much any radio you buy can be made to work packet - just depends on what accessories you need to connect it to a TNC.   Some mobile rigs (all Kenwood?) have TNCs built in.

I always suggest to new hams that they try out the radios that they are thinking of buying if possible... Find someone at a ham radio club that has it and ask them to demonstrate how to do common things like enter a frequency, offset, and PL...  Some radios are more intuitive to a given person than others - and it's a Ford vs. Chevy mentality sometimes - some prefer Icom, some Kenwood, some Yaesu, some Alinco, etc, etc, etc.

One more "newbie" tip - if you buy a mobile antenna, you WILL get what you pay for...   Expect to spend around $100 for a GOOD antenna and mobile mount.   Spend the "extra" money over the cheapie antennas and get one that will perform much better and last much longer.    That being said, antenna construction projects can be some of the most rewarding, instructional, and useful "self-training" you can ever have - and those skills translate to CAP.  You can make a J-pole antenna from TV twinlead cable, a piece of coax, and (optionally) some PVC for ~$30 that will make an outstanding base station antenna at a fraction of the cost.   

[CadetProgramGuy]

73's, KC0RHY

[Major Lord]

Joe,

Yaesu makes a mobile and a hand-held with TNC's built in too. Like the Kenwood's, they are both a little too much radio for a brand new ham, since using the advanced features takes a lot of experience.

Major Lord
AF6OF
Y222

[BTCS1*]

Welcome to the world of ham radio!
73,
KC2ULR