Subj : Re: Getting Started
To   : Warpslide
From : Andre
Date : Sun Aug 16 2020 20:34:24

On 16 Aug 2020, Warpslide said the following...
 
 Wa> On 17 Aug 2020, alterego said the following...
 Wa>  
 Wa>  al> Like you, I'd like to play with the ham stuff, but at the moment it
 Wa>  al> looks like a mountain to climb... (And I'm too busy playing with my
 Wa>  al> ANSItex/Videotex...)
 Wa> 
 Wa> It does seem like a pretty scary mountain.  Right now I'm trying to
 Wa> figure out why it's called the 2 metre band & the 70cm band, it doesn't
 Wa> seem to be because of antenna lengths...

I just checked out the Canadian basic exam. It's a little more practical than
the US tech and general exams, but not by much. All three contain fairly
useless knowledge for getting started. Use hamstudy.org to memorize the
questions and pass, then just keep learning as you need to know things.
Definitely find a good club to join... If they're dicks, find a different
club. The ham community is very similar to the old BBS community, and they'll
respect people who try to figure something out on their own before asking for
help.

Advanced and Extra exams are a different animal. Much more interesting
material, but won't be useful for a couple years at least. 

Personally, I wouldn't bother with a course. But finding a good elmer/mentor
who builds thier own antennas and operates a lot is crucial. A lot of hams
think they know what they're doing but don't have a clue... You'll have to
shop around a bit to find the right ham friends.


- Andre, WT9X

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A45 2020/02/18 (Raspberry Pi/32)
 * Origin: Runaan BBS (21:3/117)

.