[HN Gopher] Ask HN: How many of you hold an amateur radio licens...
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Ask HN: How many of you hold an amateur radio license in your
country?
I am VE3HWO. I hold a basic with honours and advanced
qualifications in Canada. Hoping to connect with other hams on HN.
73
Author : ToddWBurgess
Score : 60 points
Date : 2026-03-03 13:34 UTC (3 days ago)
| PaulHoule wrote:
| Kc2zzq
| wglb wrote:
| W8LVN. Licensed in 1961.
| ProllyInfamous wrote:
| Was _dropping the morse code requirement_ a mistake?
| mikewarot wrote:
| KA9DGX since 1979
| giantg2 wrote:
| I do. I'm not sure I like exposing my home address by providing
| my callsign with my HN account (something to think about for
| other posters).
| mitchbob wrote:
| Ditto for me.
| zikduruqe wrote:
| I hold an Extra Class license... the old 20 wpm kind. The
| cool thing is, I got my extra back when I was 19 years old
| and it set me up for a great tech career since I understood
| RF.
|
| Not going to dox myself here putting my callsign in a post.
| ProllyInfamous wrote:
| AD0NIS -- that you?
| zikduruqe wrote:
| Heh. I mean you are kinda close.
|
| My callsign is a 2x1 call.
| ProllyInfamous wrote:
| That's why I use a PO Box -- still not sharing callsign though
| =P
| GJim wrote:
| > I'm not sure I like exposing my home address by providing my
| callsign with my HN account
|
| Please explain. Surely one simply opts out of having ones
| address published in your countries call book?
| Jtsummers wrote:
| In the US it's a public database, and you don't get to opt
| out of providing your name and a mailing address ( _mailing_
| , needs to be valid but doesn't need to be your home address,
| PO Boxes work).
|
| https://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/UlsSearch/searchLicense.jsp
| GJim wrote:
| Wow!
|
| I know American data protection law is pretty poor, but
| that really is shocking; such data should not be made
| public without the users explicit opt-in consent.
| Jtsummers wrote:
| A lot of information is out there for a lot of people in
| the US. Here you can find salary information for GA state
| employees by name:
| https://open.ga.gov/openga/salaryTravel/index. If you
| don't know their name, you can search by organization and
| get a big list of people and how much they make each
| year.
| akerl_ wrote:
| They have opt-in consent: it's a known part of the US ham
| licensing process that the database is public and
| searchable, and nobody is forced to get a ham license.
|
| In fact, several of the questions on the ham test involve
| the fact that you can look up operator info online.
| singleshot_ wrote:
| Your amateur radio license is only active when:
| Temporary_31337 wrote:
| My father was pretty serious about this as a hobby - SP7DRV - had
| shortware CW and voice connections with pretty much all the
| coutries, remote islands (when there was an expeditions) and some
| countries that do not exist anymore so his tally was more
| countries than there are in the world. Personally I prefer the
| convenience of fibre connection + TCP/IP but I get that in a time
| of hypothetical crisis or war this could prove useful. War in
| Ukraine shows it's more Starlink + Internet rather than HAM radio
| but there's still a use case.
| technothrasher wrote:
| My father, W1HDX, similarly was so into HAM that it was a large
| part of my childhood, even though I never got my license. I
| very much remember his explorations of packet radio in the very
| late 1970s. And when he put up a couple of large dish antennas
| in the yard to start receiving weather satellite transmissions,
| the entirely ignorant neighbors complained that he was
| "irradiating the neighborhood" and the other local kids thought
| he was talking to space aliens. These days he's into mapping
| the radio emissions of H1 regions.
| fidotron wrote:
| Did he (or anyone here) get to talk to King Hussein of Jordan?
|
| https://www.dx-world.net/the-ham-radio-operation-that-made-h...
| TomMasz wrote:
| KC2TCK since 2007.
| francis_lewis wrote:
| I do in the UK, only foundation though
| subscribed wrote:
| There's a very little difference between foundation and
| intermediate, but a lot of bands and privileges.
|
| Jump between intermediate and full is more challenging, but IMO
| intermediate is well worth it (with minimal effort).
|
| Go for it.
| BoredPositron wrote:
| Since 1991.
| tamimio wrote:
| I have an ROC-A
| srean wrote:
| I find the technical side of the hobby very interesting but the
| thought that it requires having a conversation with strangers and
| that too synchronously, is a personal deterrent.
|
| I don't know if there are others like me.
|
| EDIT: Glad to see that there are others around. Happy to meet
| you. Async acks are great. So is the joy of engaging with
| something intellectually challenging.
| montroser wrote:
| There are dozens of us, friend. I got my license for the
| challenge and learning that came with. Tuned in to signals near
| and far but never sent my own voice over the air.
| olorton wrote:
| I've been licensed for a couple of years. All my QSOs are short
| and sweet, mostly activating and hunting POTA/SOTA contacts,
| where the activator prefers to have short QSOs in order to
| activate the park/summit. I have no interest in having a
| conversation with the other amateur, at most I would exchange
| what gear I'm using and what power I'm running. That is it.
|
| I like building kits, QRP, CW, and building my own antennas. I
| only make contact with other people to be able to improve my
| skills and validate my gear.
|
| My father has been licensed for nearly 50 years, he loves the
| technical side of the hobby, I've made more contacts over the
| last 2 years than he has in 15 years. There are others like
| you.
|
| Oliver, M7OCL
| EL_Loco wrote:
| Humans can be so different, it's fascinating and awesome. I'm
| quite the opposite. Where I wanted to talk to people from
| around the world and have some interesting conversations about
| everything, the fact that they are mostly "Hello, I'm calling
| from x, using radio y, and your signal is z. 73" is a big let
| down for me. I somewhat like the technical sid of it, but just
| calling to say "Hello, x, y, z, bye." ends up feeling like a
| waste of time to me (in the sense that I could be using this
| time for other, more interesting things. I still find it
| somewhat interesting though). But, if you enjoy the technical
| aspect of it, then I think it's fine, you can focus more on cw,
| or the digital modes where the contacts are automated.
|
| edit: I know there are ragchews all the time, but it's still
| mostly about equipment.
| srean wrote:
| Oh I love meeting and knowing people from different parts of
| the world, have curiosity about their human stories, about
| how they think, what they find funny, their food, their
| music, their culture, their interests. Oh yes their food,
| music and humor.
|
| That's one reason I love New York so much.
|
| However my pace is much slower. I take my time.
|
| On the technical side, the added attraction is to do some
| homebrewed amateur radio astronomy.
| Tzela wrote:
| Totally the same. I got my license 7 years ago just for fun. I
| challenge myself to have at least one QSO per year which always
| takes an hour of prepping myself mentally. But I love the
| technical side and am always happy to join practical meetups.
| scarecrowbob wrote:
| I've made all of a single contact via CQ. The tech has taught
| me a lot and continues to teach, but listening to folks rag
| chew doesn't stay interesting for very long.
| implements wrote:
| Yeah, I've got a UK Foundation licence but have never actually
| made a call - it was more of a "have transceiver might as well
| be legal to use it" thing.
|
| (Also, HF antennas - just didn't anticipate how difficult they
| were to set up properly)
| pjdkoch wrote:
| I intend to get one in Portugal!
| logotype wrote:
| Just a OFCOM basic business radio license (UK)
| DrAwdeOccarim wrote:
| QSL! Boston, MA
| spants wrote:
| I have a G6 uk licence that I took after being almost busted for
| CBs (in the old days) and all my radios have been packed up and
| in the garage for decades. Computers/BBS/Internet took over. I
| enjoyed the tech side of the hobby rather than the convo.
| ngvrnd wrote:
| General class in USA, not currently active. More interested in
| tech/building than conversation/contesting although POTA and SOTA
| hold some interest, as does field day. Perhaps when I retire
| those might become a thing I do.
| astatine wrote:
| VU3BNZ restricted class license
| Aachen wrote:
| FYI, HN has polls (since you asked "how many of you"):
| https://news.ycombinator.com/newpoll
| any1 wrote:
| I did a course on antennae and wave propagation as part of my
| university studies. The professor told us that with just a bit of
| extra studying we'd be able to qualify for the license, given
| that we already knew the engineering and physics side of things.
| I got the license, but never did anything with it.
| opan wrote:
| I spent a couple months memorizing the test questions/answers
| with Anki, without learning the theory, and passed the second
| level test (the one below Extra, I forget the name). I got a
| cheap Chinese (ABBREE brand I think) radio but never learned how
| to use it, and am a bit worried about accidentally transmitting
| if I poke around on it, even if it is probably legal for me to do
| so (assuming I announce my callsign periodically and such). I'd
| been meaning to learn things properly once the test was out of
| the way but I kinda lost interest, I guess. I'll still renew my
| license if it's about to expire anyway. Might as well. Callsign
| not shared because I tied it to my real address and haven't
| gotten a P.O. box (also as previously stated I am not actually
| active).
| jtickle wrote:
| If you are interested, find and go to an amateur radio club
| meeting. The licensing test makes sure you know the regulations
| and some theory. It does not help introduce you to "ham
| culture" which is definitely a thing. I learned all the
| practical stuff from talking with local club members. They are
| usually overjoyed for new members; if not just go to the next
| club. Youtube and whatnot helps but it's better to be able to
| ask someone a stupid question, and believe me, if you want to
| be overwhelmed with information, ask a ham a question. In my
| experience there are some assholes but more genuinely kind
| people, mostly older folks who just want to connect with
| someone.
| ati wrote:
| Hi! I'm UB3AGB since 2013
| vighnesh_sawant wrote:
| Anyone from India? I was looking to apply for one but the site to
| apply is down and there seems to be no alternative. Do I just
| cycle up to the monitoring station? It's like 10km away from me.
| jkdkdkdkrkrkr wrote:
| We are all from India here sir
| shawn_w wrote:
| US General since... 2008? Don't really use it for anything these
| days though.
| pocketman wrote:
| I have been licensed since the 90's, but only rarely talk
| anymore. One day...
| yardie wrote:
| FCC Amateur Technician class and Marine Operator checking in.
|
| It's taken nearly 30 years, from buying the study guide in high
| school to finally sitting the test in my 40s. But glad I finally
| got it done.
| darreninthenet wrote:
| UK Foundation licence holder here, M7HUB
| kotaKat wrote:
| I hold both an amateur license and a conventional 'itinerant' LMR
| license good nationwide.
|
| The LMR license is more useful to me than my amateur license - I
| can just hand my friends my pile of cache radios and get yapping
| at an event. As a plus, we can run encryption and other fun
| things on the LMR license (within the bounds of our emissions)
| like APCO P25 (Project25) data transmissions.
| fidotron wrote:
| Similar.
|
| Experience of Canadian ham scene though is it's almost all just
| buying/selling equipment, to the point some channels were
| occupied by automated announcements of what people were buying
| and selling. APRS is fairly well used though, and by far the best
| way to find what is in the local area.
|
| For better or worse the more dynamic and technically interesting
| stuff now seems to be with SDR and Meshtastic/Meshcore. Even the
| people with envy inspiring antenna arrays are mainly on the mesh
| stuff.
| markus_zhang wrote:
| Also Canadian, and struggling to find a usage out of it. I
| don't even have a ham radio, yet. Maybe I'll just the
| connection to purchase some equipment, such as an oscilloscope.
| jtickle wrote:
| I don't have you in my log! Southeast US here. What aspects of
| ham radio are you into? Any HF nets you frequent? To be honest,
| life keeps me away from radio most of the time so there is
| nothing "regular" that I participate in outside the two Field
| Days, but if things ever slow down I will have the license and
| the equipment for it. I got in due to a general interest in
| technology but I like contesting, the occasional net, and someday
| I would like to practice CW (have "learned it" twice now but have
| been unable to dedicate the time to practice). I like digital
| modes and am not anti-FT8 but I wish there was more use of the
| "conversational" modes like RTTY or others in fldigi.
| zhrvoj wrote:
| 73 DE 9A5AFV. 1983-1985 as a youngster active mostly on 40m band
| CW from Radio Club Zagreb (est.1924) ex.YU2ADE - now 9A1ADE.
| FT-277 / windom antenna.
| lb1lf wrote:
| LB1LF here - much to my dismay, I currently have no antennas at
| home, but I take part in the IARU Region 1 Field Day every year -
| some friends and I, alumni from the Norwegian University of
| Technology and Science in Trondheim, Norway created a ham radio
| club - LA1AFP - for the express purpose of having an excuse to
| meet up annually and have a good time.
|
| I have mostly worked HF phone, but in latter years I've
| (finally!) become reasonably proficient in CW, too.
|
| I enjoy the technical aspects of the hobby, being a radio
| frequency engineer - but also enjoy chatting to others,
| particularly to improve my language skills - Portuguese and
| Brazilian hams are an absolute delight and quite patient as I try
| to make myself understood in Portuguese!
|
| Oh, and chasing the occasional award - but I am not very good at
| sending in the paperwork, so I guess I had better do that soon
| and get some paperwork for my shack. I have a particular soft
| spot for the RSGB IOTA program, as I live on one - EU-079 -
| myself.
|
| I hope to be QRV from home again before long, though - I live on
| a farm, have lots of room, and I have a small mast and an almost
| finished wire beam in the barn, so with any luck I'll be able to
| put it all together and have a working station again sometime
| this spring!
| Simulacra wrote:
| Third generation Extra here!
| ProllyInfamous wrote:
| I am extremely saddened that USA began requiring email for all
| callsign updates ( _circa 2022_ ). This led to my vanity
| expiring, but I still carry it as my vehicle tag (state renews
| without checking active status).
|
| --73
| signaturefish wrote:
| Foundation licensee here in the UK, working on my Intermediate
| (and hoping to pass that exam this year). I manage the radio
| system for the UK Discworld Convention (every other year, next
| instance August 2026), and I spend a chunk of time on the VHF
| repeater near me, in the Cambridge area (mostly listening).
|
| 5 and 5, 73.
| pwinwood wrote:
| 73 from G8KIG. Licensed in 1974.
| luxpir wrote:
| Yep, did a speed run of foundation, intermediate and full in the
| UK back in 2016 (within the year). Full means I can build radios
| up to 400W, which is nice. Not sure I actually could though now,
| without a LOT of revision. At least if "the collapse" comes in my
| lifetime I might know which components to gather.
|
| Sold Yaesu portable unit at the height of COVID after some fun
| with it. Still mess with the HTs sometimes but looking for an
| opportunity (time wise) to get back into it.
|
| I'm part of a code club at the local school, and would love to
| show them radio too, spark that curiosity and imagination. I
| think it'll be out of scope for this year though.
| dgacmu wrote:
| AC3ME. Probably the most useless ham licensee ever. Wanted to be
| able to say hi on a local repeater for fun and testing a handheld
| I got, turns out it's not too hard to get US amateur extra when
| you already know most of the electronics theory and just need to
| memorize some rules and adapt to terminology, but I don't really
| use it very actively. But glad I have it - I have some beacon
| design projects in mind for the someday maybe pile, but basically
| everything I play with is in the ISM bands and I usually work a
| layer or three above physical.
| ferguess_k wrote:
| I do. But I haven't found a use of it, yet. I don't even have a
| ham radio. I guess I just impulsively got a license and that was
| it.
|
| For people who don't use radio for communication (chat), what do
| you do? I guess it's useful as an emergency measure, but I could
| simply purchase an ordianry radio or use my car's, not a ham
| radio.
| airbreather wrote:
| I am in Australia and got a US General class license because for
| some time the Australian licensing was in total chaos while
| changing over to new arrangements.
|
| I did it online thru the New York Radio Club (?).
|
| I did Novice then General in about 30 minutes. I studied for
| maybe 6 hours immediately prior.
|
| I grew up from age 5 in my Dads ham shack in NZ - every single
| thing he had made, transmitters, receivers, antennas, the feed
| wire, oscilloscope, signal gens, grid dip oscillator etc with
| many parts salvaged. In NZ in those days that is how most people
| did it, at least partially.
|
| I also have an Electrical Engineering degree.
|
| So sort of had a bit of background working knowledge, which meant
| I wasn't starting from scratch.
|
| KK7RBX
| doom2 wrote:
| Not sharing my call on HN, but I got my tech back in 2010 with my
| college club (W2SZ), upgraded to general a year later, and only
| in 2024 did I upgrade to Extra. I can't have a station at home
| currently, so mostly work QRP.
| tablarasa wrote:
| I got my license because I'm an offshore sailor. It is useful as
| safety and communication equipment (radio nets to keep track of
| other boats, their weather and fishing conditions :), and let
| your would-be-rescuers know your position and status), but also
| for sending and receiving data. It is my primary interface for
| weather info at sea using traditional weatherfax, but also more
| modern GRIB extraction. I can even update my blog using my SSB on
| HAM frequencies at sea. It's fun. Never had a shoreside station
| though.
| sand500 wrote:
| > Let your would-be-rescuers know your position and status
|
| Stupid question, do search and rescue services even have
| equipment that can tune into HAM frequencies, are they even
| listening on those frequencies, and do they regularly train on
| communicating with the HAM community?
|
| I'm sure there are more established ways of radioing for help
| in the maritime world(Aviation has the guard frequency)
| tablarasa wrote:
| Not a stupid question at all. But these aren't search and
| rescue services, they are just other sailors. I'm talking
| about locales that are far far outside of the realm of
| typical rescue services, and in no particular jurisdiction.
| Your best bet for rescue is your fellow sailors or commercial
| shipping traffic. Radio nets like the Pacific Seafarers Net
| allow you to make yourself known so that folks can keep tabs
| on you (and you them) in case something happens.
|
| EPIRB and other emergency beacons still use HF radio
| frequencies (not HAM of course) and countries like the U.S.,
| Australia, New Zealand and others I'm sure are monitoring
| those signals. But even then, they will first and foremost
| look to the seafaring community to actually render
| assistance, and that kind of call to action does often make
| its way through HAM radio nets, though I'm not sure exactly
| how, e.g., the U.S. Coast Guard makes that first outreach as
| the rescue coordinator.
| subscribed wrote:
| I do, also full (CEPT equivalent) licence.
|
| Poll would be better for that :p
| iamhamm wrote:
| I'm an amateur extra, US. Licensed since I was 12 years old back
| in 1992.
| ynac wrote:
| Newbie here! Still shopping for elements of my system. : )
| fullstick wrote:
| I do, general license in US.
| msylvest wrote:
| I had a VHF+UHF bands, no morse, in Denmark half a century ago.
| Dropped it after a few years.
| mindcrime wrote:
| Count me in. KM4VLN. USA.
| schlauerfox wrote:
| Yes, but it's doxxing to post a callsign with a US license.
| Hello!
| tagami wrote:
| I just renewed my 10-year. Use it almost exclusively with APRS to
| track student HAB projects
| scarecrowbob wrote:
| Yo. Tech here, who is between studying for general ticket and
| taking the exam. 73
| LeskoIam wrote:
| From Slovenia S58..
| lormayna wrote:
| I do, IU5RQT from Italy
| Pfhortune wrote:
| Taking my technician test tomorrow! Wish me luck!
|
| Not only am I pursuing this because I want long-range emergency
| comms in case cell networks go down (like what happened with
| Verizon recently), but also because I see a very notable
| contraction on what communication is allowed to be done on the
| internet, especially in the last year. Censorial regimes around
| the world seem to be accelerating and I don't want to be cut off
| from communications because I am not of an "accepted" identity.
|
| And yes, I'm aware that states police the amateur airwaves too.
| But I see it more like how getting a driver's license doesn't
| mean I can't flee a country with my car... Learning to drive, or
| operate a radio, is still a valuable skill to learn and practice.
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