HamWiki:Start here
New to ham radio? This page is a path through HamWiki in a sensible order, from first curiosity to your first contacts and beyond. Read the steps in order, or jump to wherever you are now. Each link opens a full article.
Step 1. Discover the hobby
- What is amateur radio? — what the hobby is and what you can do with it
- History of amateur radio — how it started and how it grew
- Shortwave listening and WebSDR — you can listen in before you have a license
- Ham radio clubs and Elmers — where to find people who will help you get started
Step 2. Get your license
- Getting licensed — the three US license classes and how the exam works
- Technician license — the entry-level license most people start with
- Question pools — where the exam questions come from, and how to practice
- Volunteer examiners — who runs the exam session
- Call signs — what your call sign will look like and what it means
- Part 97 — the FCC rules every ham operates under
Step 3. Your first radio
- Handheld transceiver — why most people begin with a handheld
- How to choose your first handheld radio — what to look for, and what it costs
- How to program a handheld radio — putting a repeater into memory, by keypad or with software
- 2-meter band and 70-centimeter band — the bands a first radio usually covers
- CHIRP — free software for programming many radios from a computer
- CTCSS and DCS — the tones many repeaters need before they will answer
Step 4. Your first contacts
- Repeaters — how to make a contact through a local repeater
- How to use a repeater — your first call, step by step, and what to check if no one hears you
- Simplex — talking radio to radio, without a repeater
- Station identification — when and how to give your call sign
- Nets — scheduled on-air meetings, and a friendly place to check in
- Operating etiquette — good habits on the air
Step 5. Learn the language
- Phonetic alphabet — spelling letters clearly on the air
- Q-codes and Prosigns — the shorthand everyone uses
- Signal reports — what "five nine" means
- UTC — the clock hams use for logs and schedules
- Glossary and Ham radio slang — terms you will hear on the air
Step 6. Go further: HF and the world
- General license — the upgrade that opens most of the HF bands
- HF and Radio propagation — how signals travel around the world
- HF transceiver — choosing a radio for the HF bands
- How to choose your first HF radio — types, features and budget for a first HF station
- How to get on the air from an apartment — antennas and options when you can't put up a tower
- Dipole antenna — the simple wire antenna many hams build first
- Coaxial cable and SWR — getting the signal from the radio to the antenna
- Band plan — where each mode lives on each band
Step 7. Things to try