New Ham Resources

“I have my license… now what?”

Congratulations! You’ve joined a community of thousands in the South Mountain region and millions worldwide. Here is your quick-start guide to sounding like a pro and staying within your new privileges. Before you get on the air visit our Getting Started page for a quick run down of some tips and tricks.

1. Your First VHF/UHF HT

Most of us who are new to the hobby start out with a simple HT, typically a Baofeng or something similar. If you’re joining us from one of our classes and you passed the test, you’ll be getting a Baofeng UV-5R (or equivalent) and training on how to use it. Below are some additional resources on this radio and how to use the programming software.

Programing a Baofeng HT Radio

CHIRP Software
Baofeng UV-5R Manual
YouTube Walk-through – Ham Radio Crash Course
Quick walk-through – How to Program Your New Baofeng for SMRA Repeaters

2. Technician Band Plan (Where You Can Play)

As a Technician, you have full privileges on all frequencies above 30 MHz (VHF/UHF), plus some limited “long-distance” (HF) access.

Primary Technician Bands:

  • 2 Meters (144–148 MHz): The “Workhorse” band. This is where the SMRA 145.430 Repeater lives.
  • 70 Centimeters (420–450 MHz): Great for local and handheld use. Home to our 443.300 Repeater.
  • 6 Meters (50–54 MHz): Known as the “Magic Band”—it can act like a local band one minute and skip across the country or the world the next.

Limited HF Privileges (Long Distance):

  • 10 Meters (28.300–28.500 MHz): You have Voice privileges here! This is your best chance to talk to other states or countries without a General license.
  • 80, 40, and 15 Meters: You can use CW (Morse Code) in specific segments of these bands.

When in doubt double check the Band Plans published by ARRL.

3. Quick Etiquette: Your First Contact

  • Listen First: Monitor a frequency for at least 30 seconds before talking to ensure you aren’t interrupting.
  • The “Key” Delay: After pressing the PTT (Push-to-Talk) button, wait a second before speaking. Digital repeaters especially need a moment to “wake up.”
  • Plain English: Avoid “Q-codes” (like QSL or QRZ) on FM repeaters. Just speak naturally, like you’re on a telephone.
  • Identify Correctly: You must give your callsign at the end of every conversation and at least once every 10 minutes during a transmission.

4. Things you can do!

As a Technician Class operator, you have a surprisingly wide playground. While many people think of it as just “the walkie-talkie license.” There’s plenty to do with a Technician license.

Line-of-Sight & Local Communication

Simplex (Point-to-Point)

This is the purest form of radio. You talk directly from your antenna to another person’s antenna without any infrastructure.

  • VHF (2 meters): Great for local neighborhoods or emergency prep.
  • UHF (70 centimeters): Excellent for “penetrating” buildings and urban environments.
  • The Challenge: Your range is limited by the “radio horizon” (usually 5–10 miles with a handheld, more with a base station).
  • Repeaters: Not Simplex, but still uses your radio to connect to others in your area using the repeaters near you to extend your signal greatly. Check out sites like Repeaterbook to get repeater information, especially if you’re traveling outside your local area.

ARES/RACES/EMCOMM (Emergency Communications

EMCOMM is an important function of amateur radio. So long as we have a power source, a radio, and an antenna, we can communicate. This is all the more important during a natural disaster or other event, where cell phones are inoperable. It’s important to know what to do and how to communicate before these events happen. Learn more about EMCOMM by attending one of our meetings!

Space & High-Altitude Comm: Talking to Satellites

Technicians have full access to “OSCAR” (Orbiting Satellite Carrying Amateur Radio) satellites.

  • FM Birds: You can use a simple dual-band handheld and a handheld Yagi antenna (like an Arrow antenna) to talk through a satellite as it passes overhead.
  • The ISS: You can occasionally talk to astronauts on the International Space Station or use the ISS digipeater to bounce text packets across the continent. Check out the presentation on the ISS HERE.

Data & Specialized Modes

  • APRS (Automatic Packet Reporting System): Send your GPS location, short text messages, or weather data via radio.
  • Fox Hunting: Use directional antennas to find hidden transmitters in a competitive “hide and seek” game.
  • Mesh Networking (AREDN): Build high-speed data networks using repurposed Wi-Fi gear on amateur frequencies.
  • Digital Voice (DV): If you have a digital-capable radio (D-STAR, DMR, or System Fusion), you can join “talk groups” with thousands of users worldwide.
  • SSTV (Slow-Scan TV)
    • SSTV allows you to transmit and receive still images over the air. Since it’s essentially just audio tones, any radio that can do voice (FM or SSB) can do SSTV.
    • VHF/UHF Simplex: You can send images to local friends on 2 meters or 70 centimeters. Because FM is so clear, the pictures often come out looking “HD” compared to HF.
    • The ISS (International Space Station): Several times a year, the ISS transmits SSTV images down to Earth on 145.800 MHz. As a Technician, you can receive these with just a handheld radio and an app on your phone (like Robot36 for Android or SSTV Slow Scan TV for iOS). If you decode them, you can often apply for a commemorative certificate!
    • Check out the MMSSTV presentation HERE.

5. Get your General and Extra Licenses.

While there is a lot to do as a Technician, the fun really starts when you get your General license. You can use the majority of the HF band privelges and talk all over the world. It opens up new things like FT8, EME (Moon bounce), Contesting, DX-peditions, and more! Check out what your Life after HT has to offer!