Based on the recommendation not to modify your FCC license for 30 days, I’m setting Feb 9th as the day to schedule my General exam. I started using the HamBook.org guide again, but as I’ve gotten farther into the book (about half way through) there are headers saying that it is a work in progress and lots of images are obviously missing. Also, the HamStudy app doesn’t support the HamBook General book (which is strange). So, I ended up buying the ARRL General Class License Manual. I’ve been enjoying the lighthearted tone of HamBook, but I’m at the point where I have to keep looking up information that is clearly missing, so time to switch to the ARRL book.

The content has been pretty interesting honestly. The electronics/physics sections were a great refresher of my college Circuits 2 class. Thankfully we don’t have to do any of the equations for transistors/op-amps as I remember having a hard time keeping all of those straight. But the frequency based LRC stuff has been fun. I also enjoyed learning more about the ioniosphere properties and how they reflect/refract(?) RF.

The only place I’m getting frustrated is by the perpetual shifting from frequency to approximate wavelength. I feel like I’m constantly having to convert “band” to frequency to make sense of things. At least the equation is straightforward enough that it can be approximated in your head.

Practical HAM

I broke down and bought a pair of Baofeng UV-5R minis the other day. Plus a CHIRP cable and a Diamond antenna. Total cost was about $80. But it has let me actually program my radio with the local repeaters and start listening to folks chatting. I caught a net this morning that somehow spanned the entire east coast. I’m not sure how that works with an FM channel. Maybe the folks down in Florida were using an internet connected gateway? I dunno.

Tonight the local messaging service is having their net. I’m going to listen in and if I’m brave enough will report in.

73