Getting your license is easy - study on your own using the app and/or manuals, take the multiple choice test online at home or at a testing center, get your license, get on the air.
Q. Do I need to take a class?
A. No, you only need to pass the FCC licensing test, classes aren't required.
Q.How do I study then?
A. You can use an app or go online to www.hamstudy.org (costs a few dollars), or go to to the app Ham Radio Prep (free). These will quiz you with explanations using the questions and answers on the test. You can purchase a study guide on Amazon for your technician license. I only used Hamstudy for my Technician License and never got the manual as it had the explanations in it.
Here is a syllabus for the technician test that was used on May 18th.
Q. But I don't feel like I know enough!
A. Me too! We're all learning and none of us knows everything, we've all been new, and there's a lot of people who will be excited to have a new Ham on the air and will be very happy to help.
Q. How do I know when to take the test?
A. When you start passing your practice tests on the app at 85% consistently, it is time to sign up to take your real test. (Anchorage Alaska Online Testing - most flexible one I've found - that link has all the instructions you'll need to get licensed, I got my last two licenses through them, they are a great bunch of people).
Q. Do I need to go to a testing center?
A. No, you can take the test online at home as long as you have a laptop and cell-phone with cameras so you can take the test virtually and an internet signal, you can take the test over Zoom. Usually you can sign up for a test within 24-48 hours of being ready. I prefer testing online because it's easier logistically. If you wish to take a test in person, you'll have to search for when one's offered by zip code and date and can do so here: https://www.arrl.org/find-an-amateur-radio-license-exam-session
Q. How much does it cost?
A. The test usually costs about $15, and the license costs $35 with the FCC (as of April 2022) and is good for ten years.
Q. What license do I need?
A. You'll start with your technician license which allows you to operate locally.
If you decide to go farther, for church operations, everything that we do in the church can be covered by the General License. We really* need General or Amateur Extra Licensees because they can communicate with the Bishop's Storehouses and Church Headquarters.
I strongly recommend if you wish to go for the Amateur Extra, that you pay close attention while studying for your General because you will you be building on the Material you studied in your General license.
Q. I passed the test, now what?
A. You'll have to pay the $35 fee to the FCC and you should have your call-sign issued within 10 days. You can see if you got your call sign by looking here and typing your name and city in: https://www.arrl.org/advanced-call-sign-search
Q. I got my call-sign, now what?
A. Join us on the air or go to a club meeting - here's the calendar for events in our stake: https://ontariostakeerc.blogspot.com/2024/05/ontario-stake-erc-events-may-2024.html
(I literally knew next to nothing my first time on the air, and I definitely had stage-fright, but One of the hams reached out to me and we're now best friends and we're helping others get going - you'll be okay! The whole point is to learn).
Q. But ham radio equipment is expensive, right?
A. A beginner radio, the Baofeng UV5R runs about $17 on Amazon - you can outfit a family of five for about $85, you put a better antenna on it (like this or this ) and my best with it is 73 miles (the recipient was on top of a mountain and I was in downtown Nampa), and I've also hit the International Space Station and reached into Canada and Alaska with a different type of antenna hooked to it.
Like anything there are more expensive radios - I do have one radio that has a "James Bond" type "radar scope" on it in my car that tracks satellites and will track other operators, give me the direction to them using compass headings and we can see where we are at, it can send and receive photos - all without cell-service or internet, and it was less than a decent cell-phone or laptop - I have that so I can contact my family if I'm at work and there's a loss of communication.
Q. Do I have to have a license to turn my radio on and listen?
A. You can listen without a license, you need your license to transmit though, and will need your license to practice.
Q. Why not just use handi-talkies from Walmart?
A. https://ontariostakeerc.blogspot.com/2024/04/why-ham-why-not-just-use.html
Q. I have friends who use those radios without a license, why do you need a license?
A. It is illegal to communicate on some FCC designated frequencies without a license and there are very heavy fines and penalties if caught. Also, as church members we want to be obeying the law so we set good examples in our community and help protect the church's reputation.
Q. Do I need a license to buy a radio?
A. Nope! I recommend get one radio for each member of the family plus a spare if you can ("Two is one, one is none"). Put it in your 72 hour kits. This way you can at least practice listening.
Q. But this seems like overkill to me, do we really need to do this?
A. The Church uses ham radio at its headquarters and bishop's storehouses, and amateur radio is part of emergency preparedness in the church handbook - the Lord has counseled his people to be prepared including at least a years worth of food storage.
Q. Do I need to learn Morse Code?
At any rate, 73 and we can't wait to help you get on the air!
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