Amateur Radio

[Elijoan]

Anyone into amateur radio, also called ham radio.

It is one of my hobbies that here recently I have got a little more serious about. Right now I only have a technician license so I don't have full privileges on the HF bands (160 meter, 80 meter, etc) but I do have full privileges on anything 30 MHz and up.

I'm an Extra (and a VE), but I haven't actually spent much time on the radio. I'm just good at taking tests. The material on the General exam isn't much different from the Technician, so you really ought to upgrade. I almost passed the General by only studying for the Tech. (As you might know, they usually offer the next test for free when you pass one.) My partner is a long-time ham, so I had some help with studying. The material for the Extra is much harder, especially if you aren't experienced in the technical bits.

Anyway, I'm not into it as a hobby, but it seemed like a good set of skills to have. I'm teaching myself CW now. The ringtones on my phone spell out the names for my frequent contacts.