Ham Radio

When I was younger my cousin Jake and I used to play with my uncle's CB late at night and see how far away we could make contacts. It wasn't until I was older that I realized there was an even bigger section of radio for this known as Amateur (Ham) Radio. I never knew much about it until I realized my friend Mouser had a ham license (KB1IKC). I started doing some research and found out you needed a license to operate from the FCC. In Oct 2006, I started studying for my first Amateur Radio license exam.

KC0ZCR

On Dec 11, 2006 I passed my Technician License test. I was given the call sign KC0ZCR from the FCC. This is the station ID I use when on the air. The Tech License gives you access to frequencies from 50Mhz on up (the VHF and UHF bands). This is good for short range (around 50 miles) communications. To talk across longer distances you need to use lower frequencies (the HF bands). Unfortunately my license does not allow the use of HF, however I am currently studying for the next Amateur Radio license, the General License. When I pass this exam I will be allowed to operate on the lower frequency HF bands.

Interests

Every ham has different interests in the hobby, and there are many to choose from. My main interest is not much different than what it was when I was playing with my uncle's CB long ago. See how far out I can take a single to make a contact. This involves various personal challenges. One is to simply see how far I can get a signal (on any band of frequencies). Another is to see how far I can do it with the clearest signal possible ("S9", a strong signal). Lastly is to see how far I can do both of those on the lowest power output possible.

I am also interested in Skywarn. We tend to have a lot of severe weather here in the midwest with storms and I always thought it would be good to help out as a weather spotter. I plan on taking a class to become a Skywarn spotter next spring.

Things I am not interested in are things like Echolink, repeaters, etc. While these are great tools to get a signal very far distances using minimal tools, the fact that they use a third party transceiver or the internet to do that work in some ways to me feels like cheating. I much prefer direct contact between two points, and all the challenges that come with that.

Rig

Given I'm just starting out, I don't have much! My only current ham radio is an HT handheld radio, the ICOM IC-91A. It has 5w output, dual band receive, as well as wide band receive. It currently still has the stock "rubber duck" antenna but I plan on rectifying that soon. A review of the unit, with some helpful tips is coming soon.