Getting started in Ham radio

Question

It's been quite a while since I heard about amateur (ham) radio. I think it's a good hobby to dabble into to develop an understanding of communication technology and electronics. But whatever research I have done to date turns up things that describe it for someone who buys ready made radios. I want to dive into the electronics and understand how all of it works, I don't want to think too abstractly.

Can anyone please guide me to some website or book which can guide a beginner to get started in radio technology but also provide at least a basic understanding of how everything works and how to get your hands dirty? I know I have to get a licence and I am preparing for the exam.

Answer 1

Look at free Crystal Sets To Sideband book, which gets you through building your own equipment. For more advanced stuff there is the excellent Experimental Methods in RF design book, which does the same with a lot more sophistication.

Answer 2

A book that meets your requirements would be the ARRL Handbook for Radio Communication. I haven't looked at this year's edition, but they typically have a section on electronics and radio theory, radio construction projects, antenna projects, and other side projects like power supplies. The projects run through the whole frequency range, though the HF projects are usually easier to build. The nice part is that not a lot of initial knowledge is assumed, and the theory sections are readable.

Answer 3

It's also a good idea to join your local amateur radio club. I'm on the committee of HERC, the Hastings Electronics and Radio Club, and we provide free training for all three levels of the UK Amateur Radio License. Students get free club membership! Most other clubs do the same.

Answer 4

The range and variety of interests within amateur radio is quite large, enough so that in a local club there may be a number of members each with their own unique interests, but as it has been a global hobby for over a century, there is large community of amateurs how may share an common sub-interest as yourself.

Two "sub-interests" that spring to mind are the QRP (low power) groups and members, including the QRP-L and qrp-l.org mailing lists, Northern California QRP Club, G-QRP club, and numerous others including Ashhar Farhan VU2ESE, who became a mini-celebrity with his BitX20 (affordable home made 20/40 meter dual band SSB transceiver). There are also numerous clubs and small to medium businesses selling QRP oriented kits. Because of the simplicity of not having large and complex power amplifiers, they often design and build simple CW (Morse code encoded on a C-ontinuous W-ave signal) transceivers, or even separate transmitter and receiver pairs. Many affordable (and a few not so affordable) QRP kits are available.

The other major area is in microwave frequency operation, as less amateur oriented equipment is available, so many adapt surplus commercial equipment or build their own gear to operate above 1GHz.

A few "big" references for amateur radio building are:

• ARRL Handbook, published annually by the US national amateur radio group, ARRL, and with a major revision every 5-10 years
• ARRL Antenna book, an fairly encyclopedic reference on antenna design and construction
• RSGB Radio Communication Handbook, published by the Great Britain national society, RSGB
• Experimental Methods in RF Design (aka EMRFD), is an excellent RF guide once you understand basic electricity and electronics.

Keep an eye out for used copies of the ARRL or RSGB Handbooks, either one makes a great technical (RF oriented) reference about many aspects in ham radio including learning electronics and building things.

Informally, I find that UK and Indian hams are more likely to build some or all of their equipment than US/Canadian hams. So they tend to have affordable approaches to getting on their air, and operating.

If you have a decent understanding of basic electronics (i.e. the basics of diodes, transistors, ICs, digital logic) then the EMRFD is an excellent starting point, which starts off in chapter 1 with a couple of simple and small projects to start with.

Another interesting reference is the ARRL published book and column in their monthly magazine, QST, both by Ward Silver. The latter is for members only. The book chapters, or magazine columns form a series of very short treatment of a single topic, typically 1-4 pages with a simple and quick experiment or two.

Answer 5

The Amateur Radio Relay League recommends, as do I, Ham Radio for Dummies. Easily the best guide I ever read to Ham radio. It prepares you on some level for all three exams. I went into my technician knowing more than I needed to, as did I with my General.

Answer 6

You might want to look into the ARRL QEX publication (http://www.arrl.org/qex). Aimed more at experimenters/builders. QST is also good, but is a balance between building and operating.