Well, I have finished all 8 chapters of hambook.org and have gone through at least 4 instances of all of the flashcards in the app! I think my next step is to take a practice test tonight. If I do well (aka > 85% correct) then I will sign up to take the test on Friday. I will likely take a practice test each day before then and possibly work through the flash cards a couple more times.

None of the content is particularly difficult, the challenge lies in simple memorization of facts. Thankfully I am pretty good at that!

A First Radio

To help with motivation, I’ve been reading reviews and watching videos about good beginner Ham handsets (HTs). It actually is a really interesting market. Apparently the US and then Japan were the big players in the space until 5-10 years ago when some companies from China got into the game. They basically made the cheapest possible handsets undercutting the previous “low-end” by over 75%! The problem is that the sets had awful quality, would fail FCC certification, and had the cheapest possible RF hardware. But the price point was so good that people bought them in massive quantity. Now there are versions that are much better quality (and are even FCC certified!) so the traditional companies are all starting to build devices centered around these “radios-on-a-chip”.

Since I want to get into emergency response/management with my system, I’ve narrowed it down to two devices, both from Yaesu (one of those traditional Japanese companies). The VX-6R (approx $250) and the FT-60R (approx $150). They have the same basic guts (a 20 year old RF design) but the VX-6R is a higher quality enclosure with an IP rating as well as Li-ion batteries as opposed to a NiMH battery. I’m not convinced that deserves a $100 markup, but who knows, maybe it will be a gift at some point!