I was issued my amateur radio Technician license and callsign on 10/22/2024. So, hello from KE9BPH!

A big shout-out to the remote testing offered by the Tennessee Valley Exam Team (sign up at Hamstudy.org). It operated like a well-oiled machine while being friendly and encouraging. When the time comes to get my General license, I’ll be looking to do so with them.

Why?

I’ve been asked a few times now about why, and after giving it some thought, I’ve realized there are four main reasons.

1. Personal Experiences

I have had a GMRS license (WRHV579) for several years now. I have a set of radios which my family and I use whever we are going hiking or camping, to facilitate quick contact and give the kids some freedom while still giving us peace of mind.

These radios have worked fine for our needs. But this this summer we were hiking on some trails in Utah when we came upon a hiker needing legitimate help: they were unable to walk on their own; it was over 100 degrees; and there was no cellular service available. I tried like heck to get ahold of someone with our GMRS radios but was met with dead air. In the end this person did get the assistance they needed, but it left me with a very bad feeling about the whole ordeal – my backup communication was worthless and I didn’t like it.

2. Travel Communications

We do a fair bit of traveling, and have often found ourselves in fairly remote, unfamiliar areas without cellular service. We’ve never run into any problems, but the what if is always in the back of my mind.

3. Emergency Situations

I’ve often heard of ham radio’s utility when it comes to widespread emergencies, and this was brought to the forefont with the recent hurricane which destroyed many North Carolina communities. I know if my family were in any such situation, getting information in and out would be such an important capabilitiy – and not having that ability, again, makes me nervous.

4. Curiousity

In case you cannot tell by some of the other content of this blog, I’m a pretty curious person. I’ve recently come to realization that the best things come when I allow myself to investigate my curiousities and see where they lead and what I can learn. From early computer use in the 1990s, to the internet, to programming, to photography, to woodworking – I learn the most when I follow my curiousity. So here I am with radios.

How?

Everyone learns differently. Myself, I learn best progressing from reading books to immersing myself in related content from as many avenus as possible. For example, some heavy reading followed by diving into Youtube videos, podcasts, and blog posts.

I must say, for the Technician license, this was a little frustring. There are many great resources for studying for the test, but I couldn’t find a definitive reference to learn from; rather, it seemed that most sites just wanted guide you through rote memorization in order to pass the exam. I ended up buying the ARRL study guide, which was sort of what I was looking for, but was still hyper focused on the test itself (for good and bad).

Don’t get me wrong, this book, combined with the excellent Hamstudy.org, had me passing the test in almost exactly a week of studying. I just don’t feel like I gained much of any underlying understanding of how all of this stuff works, and that bugs me.

What’s Next?

Now that I have my license, I have a pair of cheap HTs (Baofeng UV-21R) and a few small antennas to start participating in the local community. There’s such a broad array of topics to learn in the hobby, far more than I ever imagined when I looked at it from the outside. My plan is to ultimately get my General license, but only after I’ve gotten a real fundamental grasp of the underlying principles. To that end, I’ve started reading Radio Theory Handbook – Beginner to Advanced. I’m hoping this gives me what I’m looking for (at 25% through, it is) – a foundation to learn and remember this stuff.

Then there’s the plethora of new acronyms and terms to gradually pick up from just listening. And of course I have my eyes on a couple of other radios to help me explore in ways HTs don’t allow. Antennas will follow, but I’m not letting myself down that rabbit hole until I get a better gasp on how they actually work. An software, lots of software and tools which get cobbled together like the old days. Good stuff.

The community I’ve encountered thus far has been welcoming and more than willing to help in any way possible. It’s reminiscient of the comraderie I encountered years ago with fellow BBSers and early computer hobbiests – everyone is just trying to figure out how things behave and what they can get out of these little machines. It’s fun to be back at ground zero, searching for answers in a field in which I have zero experience and knowledge.