You've Got Your Ham Radio Ticket

What to Expect and What to Do Following Passage of the Test

Oct 3, 2008

Leaving the exam session with the "Certificate of Successful Completion of Examination" is only the beginning. Here's some tips on what to expect next.

After the exam is completed, the examiners will hand the examinee what is called a CSCE, or Certificate of Successful Completion of Examination. This is not a license to operate for brand new licensees: instead it only provides proof of the passage of the test.

New hams must wait until their callsigns appear in the FCC’s database. A good place to check for this is the Daily FCC Report on amateur radio website QRZ, where the changes to the database appear alphabetically.

Once the new ham’s callsign is here, operation is permitted under FCC rules. The paper license may not appear for several weeks, but as long as the license has been issued the new ham can get on the air.

Listen First Before Talking

The most common mistake new hams make is being too eager to get on the air, and making mistakes that could have easily have been prevented with a little restraint. Before hitting that “push-to-talk” button, listen to the conversations of other hams. How are they conducting themselves?

Being a good listener can go far to getting accepted, so to speak. New hams who sound like they have “done their homework” generally seem to be welcomed with open arms. Those who don’t could have a harder time.

Such a suggestion seems to be especially important on VHF and UHF repeaters. Generally here the customs and courtesies may be quite different from machine to machine, thus even as an experienced ham it's always good to listen before one speaks.

Picking The First “Rig”

Hams call the transceivers they use to communicate “rigs.” Choosing the first one can be a intimidating process, as there are quite a few options available. Which one is best depends on a number of factors.

For those coming into the hobby as a Technician, it’s probably best to either choose a handheld unit (HT) or a mobile transceiver. If the ham is in a urban area, the HT should work well enough to get the ham into several local repeaters. If its a more rural area, a mobile unit combined with a power supply and external antenna may be needed.

By the same token, the new ham can install that mobile unit in the car if operation is going to primarily take place while on the road.

For those who may have earned their General class ticket, a rig with high-frequency capabilities is obviously necessary. Look for a unit that has both HF and VHF capabilities, which will allow for full use of all available frequency privileges.

Either way, stay away from the heavily-featured transceivers. These are always more expensive, and for most, the extra features are not going to be useful. It’s better to learn the basics at first, and later decide whether or not its necessary to move up.

Where to Find Repeaters and Nets

Now with all the equipment in place, the next question is where to find everyone. For those on the VHF and UHF bands, looking at sites listing repeaters such as ArtSciPub is probably a good bet. Not all of these may be active, so it may take some time to figure out what frequencies are best.

On HF, the ARRL's Net Directory is a good resource. While one will find people across the bands at just about any time, nets are a good place to find concentrations of activity.

The copyright of the article You've Got Your Ham Radio Ticket in Radio Technology is owned by Ed Oswald. Permission to republish You've Got Your Ham Radio Ticket in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.