Amateur Radio New Hobby For Winter ?

[Mike Watterson]

Hi Bob
The first step is to study for the Foundation license go to Essex Ham and do their course it's by far the best.
Don't spend out on a new transceiver, if you are serious then look out for a older radio that covers HF from Yaesu or ICOM.


2 meters FM (145.200-145.550Mhz ) may be fairly busy in your area so again a cheap 2 meter radio is what to look out for this will give a far better feel of the hobby, while the SDR Play receivers are good you don't get the feel of amateur radio transceivers. Do Not be tempted to press the PTT button.
For 2 meters you need a suitable antenna, you could make a Slim Jim or a J pole or buy a Diamond X30 as an entry antenna, put up as high as you can and use 50 ohm coax, no old TV coax as it's lossy and 75 ohm.
For HF a long wire will do in the meantime.
If you need help give me a ring.

PS id not recommend the ELAD if you are serious, you'll get a brand new Xiegu G90 for the same price and it's power output is within the Foundation License conditions. Remember you will need a resonant antenna when you pass and start to transmit, power supplies, SWR meter and many other things

All very good advice.

The local 2m will only need FM. Check if the local repeaters need CTSS for access, as some otherwise good 2m rigs don't have it, though it can be added, even by a box between mic and radio.

I used an FT101ZD from about 2004 to 2021 (actually changed from Mk1 to MkIII at one staqe, but at about 80W maybe not allowed on beginner licence. They vary in exact number of bands, but are very robust. The Irish Licence system is different.

Any HF receiver or rig can do Digital Modes and CW via a laptop. PSK31 can even work holding mic near laptop speaker and laptop mic picking up rig speaker.