"HAM" Radio Licensing

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When tshtf who's goinng to care if you have a license? For that matter, will there be power to run the radio?

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Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God.---Thomas Jefferson
 
My radio can operate directly from a battery - for months.

There's more to ham radio operating than buying a radio...after having considered just picking up a radio for when the SHTF...and deciding to get a license...I suggest getting a license and learn how to operate proficiently BEFORE SHTF!

That would be like learning to play golf while playing in your first tournament...

Licensing is for YOUR (the end user) benefit...not for the FCC.
 
thats f-ed up, having to be licensed, freedom of speech doesnt come into play hu? or having to have permission to use air wave thats as natural as the air we breath? as if it wernt bad enough having to spend all that money on a ham radio to begin with!

Ham Radio isn't really "free speech" it is regulated globally more or less by the ITU. You could say that about all spectrum communications but there is a reason it exists. Radio signals are not confined to political boundaries. If it wasn't regulated someone would plop down a megawatt transmitter and no one would have access to the air. Also use by people who arn't trained can endanger emergency communications, air traffic systems, police, fire and other sorts of communications, much like pirate radio.

This is why the certifications exist, in Canada it is completely free more or less. However the rules are there for a reason, and that is to keep it an open, free, and friendly medium of communication, that is non offensive, and non interfering in other types of communications such as commercial radio, television, utility services, drive throughs, medical equipment, etc..

The rules are there for a reason. While all do not apply in all circumstances, they can apply in some circumstances. Most importantly people need to know how to share the air, as well as how to respond to emergency and distress calls. The system also insure Ham Radio isn't commercialized which is exactly why Ham exists today.

If you can find any rule that doesn't have a reason to exist mention it but I have a hunch it is all there for a reason, atleast that is the case in Canada.
 
Been discussing with my neighbour regaring HAM radio today. he is on daily and love it. In the long run it will probably be the wisest solution at least in Norway (with all the mountains and and all for the signals to cross). But I do not have the time to get the lisence and do not have the money neither.
So either CB radio or walkie talkie. The problem is I do not know/understand the difference between the two.
Please help :oops:
 
Been discussing with my neighbour regaring HAM radio today. he is on daily and love it. In the long run it will probably be the wisest solution at least in Norway (with all the mountains and and all for the signals to cross). But I do not have the time to get the lisence and do not have the money neither.
So either CB radio or walkie talkie. The problem is I do not know/understand the difference between the two.
Please help :oops:


CB is ~28 mhz it is usually AM but also FM/SSB

walkie talkies vary however generally they are often single band (one spectrum) or dual band (two spectrums)
Spectrum is a way of saying a group of frequencies that exhibit similar properties since radio waves depending on their frequency will interact differently with matter.
The electromagnetic spectrum is not only radio waves but extends to ifrared, visible light, ultraviolet light (beyond most humans recognition range), and things such as xrays and gamma rays. You might recognize things like gamma rays also called cosmic rays from nuclear explosion explanations. It is physics if you know radio sicence then you will understand.

To make a long story short though CB an acronym for Citizen Band in its traditional spectrum is a much longer radiowave than VHF (the same that commercial TV and Radio broadcast in TV is all over the place and commercial radio is generally about 75-108 mhz, although generally starts higher in America.

Getting your license can be done in a month with casual reading and practice testing, getting the most advanced licenses may require slightly longer, I took nearly a year before I took my advanced, but I figure about 4 months of casual studying should be enough if you have a high school background in physics, and even less time with a background in electronics. (I got 96% but I think I had an easy version of the test)

UHF is even smaller radio waves.

Now the reason the size can matter is that when you get low enough, you can skip your radio waves off the atmosphere, and if you get even lower, below HF ranges to LF and more so ULF you can move the radiowaves along the surface of the planet or through water to a certain extent.

OK so what is the difference you ask. Well CB radio depending on the country may or may not require licensing, in most countries CB was licensed at one point but then it was opened up to be liccensed by rules of use as opposed to applying for a permit.

Usually VHF/UHF radios require a ham license.

Now traditional walkie talkies are usually more for tactical close communication if they are not dedicated radios, that is if they are services such as FRS.. FRS is limited by it output amount.

Most UHF/VHF and more or less CB's use LINE OF SIGHT meaning if you can't see it you may not be able to talk to it... not 100% true but a rule of thumb. Now most ham radios can do usually 1watt low and 5 watt high but this varies for HT (handhelds) meanwhile the repeaters are used to transfer messages with more radiated power. Mobile ham radios ones that go in cars usually have even more power perhaps 40-100 watts which increases their transmission range. While base stations may have even more. Some radio stations have Kilowatts or Megawatts output.. remember they are also in the FM VHF range usually about 87.5-108mhz in America. But they output often with a lot more power up on 100 foot towers or ontop of tall buildings.

The type of walkie talkie does matter. In most cases if you do hot have a 4/5 watt capacity your range will not be useful for anything but communicating with a group that is within a few hunred meters of you. If it has 4/5 watt capacity you may have the ability to hit a repeater. Public CB repeaters are not very common
however you may find uhf/vhf repeaters because it is a ham band and there may be ham clubs or government agencies that use them. Or private hams that have set them up.

I'm not familiar with Norway I suggest contacting http://www.cept.org/cept/about-cept to get more information. you can also read http://www.erodocdb.dk/Docs/doc98/official/pdf/ercrep025.pdf

which may provide you with more understanding on your legal abilities.


What i see is that CEPT allocates the CB allocation in North America approx as amateur (ham) use.

It seems most CBs in europe require a license.

Also note

"26.965 - 27.405 FM 40 channels, same frequencies as USA, and 4W max power.
If you travel to another CEPT-conforming country, you may use your CB under the terms of your license from your own country. Be aware that only FM is CEPT-approved so AM and SSB may not be legal to use once you cross the border."
source: http://www.cbtricks.com/members/kd6tas/cbfaq2.htm
 
Perfect and thanks :)
Lots of help indeed. Can I from this say CB radio would be best if I want a radio that gets further than the other? And therefore be in a situation if shtf to reach more people/help if need be.
CB radio in Norway does not require lisence. But as you write it will change if I cross border to other European countries.
And thanks for the links!!
 
Perfect and thanks :)
Lots of help indeed. Can I from this say CB radio would be best if I want a radio that gets further than the other? And therefore be in a situation if shtf to reach more people/help if need be.
CB radio in Norway does not require lisence. But as you write it will change if I cross border to other European countries.
And thanks for the links!!
No. You want HF ham setes. CB is FM UHF, or perhaps around 10 meter band. It is better than say UHF HT's that are 136mhz to 176 mhz commonly, or much better than 400 to 500mhz and much better than tactical radios in the 800mhz range. However often 800 mhz system are used for cellular such as CDMA 800mhz or 1600mhz etc.. which have much shorter ranges.

The issue is howver that once you leave line of sight communications, radio science gets involved, you need to learn the ham skills like how antennas work, how weather, time of day, time of year, solar conditions and stuff will effect your radio transmission, how much power to use and at what angle and why position you want your antenna. HF radios tend to cost much more, the CB is the most economical radio often in the sub 30 meter band, ideally though you want something about half that wavelenght or less about 2mhz to 15 mhz in what is called skywave or NVIS. You thus want 20 meter band or better, this link will show you some examples of bonifide NVIS ham radio bands. Thing is they cost more. However I know where you can pick up HF radio transmitters for $100-300 that are SSB/CW capable.

http://www.hamuniverse.com/hfbands.html


If money is an issue a CB radio is probably the first thing to get in terms of pricing and potential to learn, but it will take some work. You may need to adjust your radio though, and that might require proper licencing. However you will have a lot to learn to get it to work, it isn't as easy as turning on a cell phone and dialing.
 
No. You want HF ham setes. CB is FM UHF, or perhaps around 10 meter band. It is better than say UHF HT's that are 136mhz to 176 mhz commonly, or much better than 400 to 500mhz and much better than tactical radios in the 800mhz range. However often 800 mhz system are used for cellular such as CDMA 800mhz or 1600mhz etc.. which have much shorter ranges.

The issue is howver that once you leave line of sight communications, radio science gets involved, you need to learn the ham skills like how antennas work, how weather, time of day, time of year, solar conditions and stuff will effect your radio transmission, how much power to use and at what angle and why position you want your antenna. HF radios tend to cost much more, the CB is the most economical radio often in the sub 30 meter band, ideally though you want something about half that wavelenght or less about 2mhz to 15 mhz in what is called skywave or NVIS. You thus want 20 meter band or better, this link will show you some examples of bonifide NVIS ham radio bands. Thing is they cost more. However I know where you can pick up HF radio transmitters for $100-300 that are SSB/CW capable.

http://www.hamuniverse.com/hfbands.html


If money is an issue a CB radio is probably the first thing to get in terms of pricing and potential to learn, but it will take some work. You may need to adjust your radio though, and that might require proper licencing. However you will have a lot to learn to get it to work, it isn't as easy as turning on a cell phone and dialing.
Many of the Ham bands Common VHF/UHF FM Simplex Frequencies are;
2 meter, 1.25 meter, 70 cm, 33 cm, 23 cm. you can read more at http://www.hamuniverse.com/simplexoperating.html
Here is all of the bands per the ARRL, and who can use which ones.
 

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Clyde, back to something you said at the beginning of this thread:

Many believe when evrything goes south this may well be your only method of communications with the rest of the Country/World.

I can tell you first hand about that. I was a Red Cross Disaster Action Team member way back when, and all of our teams had ham operators on them. In one of the floods, the city's Emergency Operations Center flooded early on. Fire and Police dispatch was down, phones were down, but we were UP. We sent a ham operator to the makeshift EOC as they were setting it up, and we had full communications between our headquarters, our shelters, and the new EOC when even the government had no communications.

My daughter is studying Electrical Engineering, and I think I have convinced her to get her license. I tried once long ago, but that was when coding was still required and that was my Achilles Heel. I now want to try again.
 
You can get good handheld HAMs for around $100, believe it or not.
Granted, we'll have a bigger unit at the ranch, with a huge antenna, but for the trucks or going around, the handhelds are fine.
I'll likely be the only one getting the license though...then, if the SHTF, I'll teach the others.
 
My daughter is studying Electrical Engineering, and I think I have convinced her to get her license.
I think I have gotten my wife on board for hr getting at least the technician level license.
I tried once long ago, but that was when coding was still required and that was my Achilles Heel. I now want to try again.
I too wanted to get a license long ago, but that damn code test stopped me as well.
 
Hey Clyde, we are getting a lot from your site. We think a lot of what you are doing. We are talking about a Ham License and radio, even though on our comm list, we are behind. Many years ago looked into and morse code was part of the test, is it still today?

Thanks for putting this out there for us to see.
 
Hey Clyde, we are getting a lot from your site. We think a lot of what you are doing. We are talking about a Ham License and radio, even though on our comm list, we are behind. Many years ago looked into and morse code was part of the test, is it still today?

Thanks for putting this out there for us to see.
No. Morse was removed from all three levels of testing.
 
Thanks, always like good news. maybe now we will stop procrastinating on that and "getter done"
 
Thanks, always like good news. maybe now we will stop procrastinating on that and "getter done"
That's why I waited. Me and that whole Morse Code thing didn't get along.
 
LOL! I started at "A" tried to memorize my way though the alphabet. By the time I got to "L" I had already forgotten "A". It seems that for every new letter I learned, I forgot another one. My brain could only keep so many letters at a time.
 
What's ridiculous, is that who wouldn't have a simple cheat sheet showing the code and corresponding letters by their HAM anyhow? I mean really?
 
I took and passed my technician license test last night (Wednesday September 25, 2013). Now I just have to wait for the FCC to post my call sign on their site so I can start transmitting.
 
Not to be a downer, but I was considering getting a Ham license until I discovered that anyone can hop online and look up your full name and home address in the database, even if they only know the general vicinity you live in.
 
Not to be a downer, but I was considering getting a Ham license until I discovered that anyone can hop online and look up your full name and home address in the database, even if they only know the general vicinity you live in.
Kind of like being in the phone book.
 
Outstanding !!
Welcome to the club !
 
Well I finally got my Call Sign. It was delayed for 2 weeks due to the "shutdown."
 
Not to be a downer, but I was considering getting a Ham license until I discovered that anyone can hop online and look up your full name and home address in the database, even if they only know the general vicinity you live in.
Yes, this I found a bit disturbing, however, You can use a po box or the like. It is just so the FCC has an address to send you stuff.
 
Well I finally got my Call Sign. It was delayed for 2 weeks due to the "shutdown."
Took me 2 weeks to post mine without a shutdown a few years ago.
 

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