Study the correct answers a couple of times from the question pool online...
Take the test, take the test, take the test.. Two weeks later you'll have your call sign and be able to work UHF and VHF.. The HF is where you get the long range point to point connections. (I.E. working Washington into Southeast Asia)
There IS a side of the 2 meter band that hasn't been mentioned much in the few conversations on here. That's the repeater side. The two meter repeaters are located on the tops of mountains, tall buildings, and towers owned by other companies. If you can make a connection into one of those repeaters, you can cover hundreds of square miles and a lot of them even have Internet connections to other far off stations you can make contact with.
There are repeater directories that list the frequencies and PLL Tones needed to access the repeater. The PLL tone is a subaudible tone that 'wakes up the repeater' letting it know someone wants to talk.
The repeaters belong to clubs all around the country so if you find yourself traveling through an area, do some research on the amateur radio clubs there and you can then program in a few channels to monitor the repeaters in that area.
There are a lot of repeater links where when you get on one say in Phoenix, your transmission is sent through quite a few repeaters and anyone that hears you can reply and it'll make it's way back to you. So, if you need help, it's there.
When I was stationed in Fairbanks, AK, they ran a repeater link setup that covered over 60,000 sq miles. If the moose had 2 meter radios they could have told all the other moose where the wolves were located..
The setup there was great for hunters and snowmachiners wanting to check in at home or call out for help. Most of that area wasn't and still isn't covered by cellaphones.
One more tidbit of information about repeaters is the autopatch. Ham Radio Speak for a telephone line connected to it.
Here's how it works:
Find a repeater in your area that has Autopatch listed on it.
Set up your radio with the frequencies for that repeater. (Since it's probably a duplex system, you'll need an input frequency and have to know whether it's a + or - output frequency and that's usually set to .600
So, if the repeater is on 146.000+ and the pll tone is 103.5, you'll set up your radio to have the .600 offset, then make it a + offset (This usually only has to be set once on the radio as most 2 meter repeaters have a .600 offset)
Next you set that 146.000 freq into your radio and then you'll have to set the pll tone for that 'channel'.
Once you have it all set, key the radio, say your call sign and testing, when you release the mic button you should hear the repeater do some kind of beep tone back to let you know that you've got it set up right.
There's a book you can usually pick up at a decent book store as well as radio shack call Now you're talkin that tels you a little about all the different parts of the amateur radio community. If it's a current one, in the back of it is the entire question pool they pull questions from. Study only the correct answers, when you see that answer pop up, check it and move on..
With the Tech license, there's quite a lot you can do from working simplex with a friend to bouncing a 5 watt signal off the International Space Station with a home made antenna and everything in between.
First thing you need is that license. Then find a club, introduce yourself, and someone will probably come over and introduce themselves and tell you about what they love about the hobby.
You don't have to buy the latest radios either.. At those club meetings, one of those old guys there might just come over and offer you one at a really good price.
