Anybody on here have their Ham (Amateur) radio license?
- Thread starter old_man
- Start date
Do you have your license?
I just got my Extra Class. Wasn't hard since I have been designing and testing commercial communications equipment for decades.
I have a cheap Baofeng and like it. I have been looking at some cheap vehicle units to mount permanently in my XJ and my teardrop.
If anybody has issues with their radios, I can help.
Naw, it's on my "hobby to do list" lol - it ain't short.
What's the best informational website you know of to do some research regarding attaining a license?
Back in the day, a novice class Ham license required one to send and receive 5 WPM Morse code. My dad, being a real radio engineer, could do 70 WPM. I could never get past: dih dih dah dit. The link I had for a review for the test these days is gone, but it looked to be pretty freaking easy. Google. I have a Baofeng, I'm not too worried about a license.
HAM and GMRS KK6RBI / WQYH678
I did my tech test when I was stationed in California. Me and a bunch of motorcycle buddies wanted on bike comms that did better than the bluetooth units in rough terrain so we did motorcycle installs on all of our bike (ADV and Dual Sport style bikes). After that it kind of bled over into my Jeeps as well.
Eventually this will come to a head, we've seen it a little bit with the FCC ruling about import radios that operate outside of compliance with the the various type acceptance regulations.
The FCC didn't just decide to go after them out of the blue they were lobbied by the ARRL (like the NRA of the HAM Radio world), who get constant complaints from their membership.
Overall the FCC isn't much of a threat it's the old retired HAMs (i.e. most HAMs) sitting at home with nothing else better to do than "foxhunt" people operating where they shouldn't be.
I did my tech test when I was stationed in California. Me and a bunch of motorcycle buddies wanted on bike comms that did better than the bluetooth units in rough terrain so we did motorcycle installs on all of our bike (ADV and Dual Sport style bikes). After that it kind of bled over into my Jeeps as well.
That's pretty much all I have. I have a pile of the Baofeng HTs, UV5Rs, BFF8HPs, UV82s, UV82HP, two handfulls of BF888s. My mobile unit in my Jeep is a UV50X2 and then I have a few Yeasu radios laying around as well that rarely get used, including the mobile that used to be in my Jeep.
And this is why the radio community hates the off road community. It's fine when people have an idea of what they are doing with them and stay on out of the way bands but when it comes to many people, they buy HTs or even "race radios" from crooked ass companies like Rugged Radios with no idea on how to operate them and step on the wrong toes. They program them in the business bands which on frequencies like "weatherman" are used not just by that one person but by thousands of people nation wide.
Eventually this will come to a head, we've seen it a little bit with the FCC ruling about import radios that operate outside of compliance with the the various type acceptance regulations.
The FCC didn't just decide to go after them out of the blue they were lobbied by the ARRL (like the NRA of the HAM Radio world), who get constant complaints from their membership.
Overall the FCC isn't much of a threat it's the old retired HAMs (i.e. most HAMs) sitting at home with nothing else better to do than "foxhunt" people operating where they shouldn't be.
Technician license is insanely easy. Cost 15 dollars to take the test and the license is good for 10 years. Grade school kids have their technician licenses for instance. I'll link below to a practice test setup that draws the questions straight from the FCC question bank.
An even easier route is GMRS. It limits your access to radio spectrum but requires no testing. License is 70 dollars and is good for 10 years like the HAM license. Most people operate on GMRS with no license and you'll probably never get busted for it. The FCC doesn't have the manpower or time to go after every joebob with a handheld radio.
But having the license does give you access to GMRS repeaters which can bump your range from a few miles to 50+ miles. I'm currently trying to get my local group to at least go GMRS from CB.
https://hamexam.org/exam/12-Technician
Last edited:
What they do have is a ton of certified volunteers that do the policing on their behalf.
You just really never know who is listening.
Unless you're constantly broadcasting from one location it's a mute point because no one is going to be able to triangulated and track you ...lol... tracking intermittent use of a hand held would be pretty unlikely unless the guy was sitting ion his porch all the time transmitting.What they do have is a ton of certified volunteers that do the policing on their behalf.
You just really never know who is listening.
The chances of being caught as an individual is pretty slim unless you're transmitting on some pretty big toes. But the way the off road community uses them gives all of us a black eye.
I also believe that the radio community needs to do a better job at outreach than doing what they do now and that's rolling in and beating everyone about the head with laws. Its offputting to everyone. But being on a few HAM and GMRS groups i can say that even on those groups/forums nearly every thread turns to legal discussions about fcc rules/regs.
Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk
I also believe that the radio community needs to do a better job at outreach than doing what they do now and that's rolling in and beating everyone about the head with laws. Its offputting to everyone. But being on a few HAM and GMRS groups i can say that even on those groups/forums nearly every thread turns to legal discussions about fcc rules/regs.
Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk
Yep. Varmint #1 got his at 12.
I have a general class license. And to answer the OP's question, yes, I run a Kenwood TM-V71A in my Cherokee. Remote front fits nicely in the coin tray at the front of the console. Diamond antenna mounted on the rub rail on my DS armor.
I also have a foxhunting setup with a cubicle quad which I can control while driving, but that is just for special occasions. SoCal has a lot of active T-hunters. Not so much elsewhere.
in4aride
New member
This is why I don’t do “comms” outside of a handheld walkie or Cb in the tow rig type thing.
Preach it brother Mike.
I just ran into a guy on another forum who was proudly posting up pix of his CB running 400 watts.
Its really no different from the offroad guys bashing the quad guys because they go off trail and end up getting trails closed. There are rules, and they are supposed to be followed whether you like them or not.
Last edited:
I never did see any "big fcc" crackdowns on guys running 10 meter radios on channel 19 .you have hand fulls of folks broadcasting around big cities and many of them just playing games and these are folks with large antenna set up off their property and every year I'd come through these areas the same guys were on the air , so the FCC isn't really interested. I myself had a Galaxy dx99v backed by a 2x8 Dave made when I keyed up I would light up my tractors clearance lights the guys clearance lights next to me and come across the stereo speakers in all the trucks on my row where parked that amp swung 1800 watts . Semi truck had plenty of juice with 4 big batteries and a big case alternator to power that amplifier . I used that set up mostly for talking shit to the locals when stuck at a truck stop for longer than I wanted.
Last edited:
Glad I'm not around you to have all that RF radiation beamed into my head meats. Lighting up lights of multiple vehicles around you is a pretty crazy amount of RF radiation you are exposing everyone to.
For the most part CB is the wild wild west and no hams care about it. Basically CBers are shitting in their own backyard not others' so no one else cares. Even if you are using a 10meter radio on CB.
The difference between that and the explosion of the dual band handhelds and moibles is that these dual banders operate in territory that does interfere with people that care, hence the FCC stepping in on import radios. Again they didn't just do that because they care (they don't) they did that because of lobbying by the ARRL.
For the most part CB is the wild wild west and no hams care about it. Basically CBers are shitting in their own backyard not others' so no one else cares. Even if you are using a 10meter radio on CB.
The difference between that and the explosion of the dual band handhelds and moibles is that these dual banders operate in territory that does interfere with people that care, hence the FCC stepping in on import radios. Again they didn't just do that because they care (they don't) they did that because of lobbying by the ARRL.
It's unlikely to be any exposure worth chattering about ... plenty of things you're exposed to everyday that would probably be more cause for concern that you don't even think about.
Ludite?