What do you need to get started?

In the 21st century, amateur radio is quite simple to get into. There are courses across the country that will enable you to get your licence.

There are three tiers of radio licence available in the hobby within the UK. These are:

- Foundation
- Intermediate
- Full

You must start off on the foundation course, which is about a 10 hour course (perfect use for 2 days at the weekend!) followed by a simple exam. This tests you on all you will have learnt through the course. The foundation course gives you the basics (hence foundation) of electronics theory, operating theory and other practical parts of amateur radio. Pass this course and you will be able to apply for an M3 callsign (i.e. M3MJH) and will be able to access a wide variety of frequency bands at a limited power of 10 watts.

The next step up the ladder that is amateur radio is the intermiediate licence. This builds on the 'foundations' of the foundation course. It is around a 30 hour course if I rememeber correctly (which is usually split over quite a number of weeks) This course is more in depth than the foundation course so covers the same things but in more detail. Pass this one and you will be able to apply for a 2e callsign (i.e. 2E1MJH) and will be able to access all bands at a very useable 'limit' of 50 watts.

At the very top of the amateur radio licence ladder is the Full licence. This is as far as you can go in the hobby. It is the most complex of licences to gain so has the most privilages. Again it is around a 30 hour course if I remember correctly. Pass this one and you will be able to apply for an M0 callsign (i.e. m0mjh - hopefully me when i pass the full exam!) to access the whole spectrum of frequencies available to UK radio amateur at a massive power 'limit' of up to 400 watts on certain bands!

Getting yourself started

Ok, so you're thinking you would like to get on a course and get on the first step of the ladder. "How do you do it?" I hear you say. Well, in the amateur radio world we have a great society called the RSGB (Radio Society of Great Britain) that deal with things like that. To go to their site visit the links page. On there you will be able to find out about clubs in your area running courses. Give them a ring and have a chat, they'll be glad to answer any questions you may have like how much it would cost you to get on the course, when they run etc.

After the exam comes the wait to know if you have passed the exam. With the foundation course this should only be a matter of about 1/2 an hour or so while the examiner marks your the papers as the foundation course is able to be marked internally. The Intermiediate and full exams have a little longer wait of up to a month! Once you know that you have passed the exam, and have received your certificates, you can start thinking about what your callsign will be. Many people (like myself) choose something that they will remember and that means something to them (like their initials). You will need to send your certificate and an application form to the licencing authorities for them to register your callsign to you. If you are under 21 or over 75 your licence fee is nothing! If you aren't it will be £15 a year which isn't really a lot of money if you think about it (I worked that to be about 4p a day!)

So, you have taken you exam, passed it, applied for your callsign... What now? Well there is one very important thing you need... A radio! (and of course other things to make that work) You need to decide first of all what kind of thing you want and, most importantly, what you can afford to buy. You may want to go for a simple setup to start you off, maybe a simple 2 metre setup with a omni-directional co-linear aerial for you to work locally or maybe you have a bit of money stashed away to afford an HF setup. Remember, it's not just a radio you need, power supply, aerial, coaxial cable to connect your radio to you aerial (to be honest, radios aren't much good without aerials!), an SWR meter if the rig hasn't got one inside it, an aerial tuner if you are going to be using HF and non tuned aerials. These all cost money so it's good to have a search round to get the best items at the best prices (as with everything).

There are many places you can buy radios from. There are shops throughout the UK selling new and used equipment (Martin Lynch, Waters and Stanton, Nevada... to name but a few). Most, if not all of them have websites where you can look at and buy radios and have them delivered to you. But, of course there is nothing better than actually going and having a play with the radios in real life. This is a good excuse to get out and take a drive to a radio shop. The people at these shops are always happy to chat to you about the rigs on sale there and find the best radio for what you need and want. You will also be able to have a go with the radios on show, helping you get a feel for a radio before you buy (buying a radio online is great and of course you get in sent to you by courier usually but its always best, especially if its your first rig, to go and have a play!).

Radio rallies are also a good place to buy radios on the cheap, but beware! Sometimes you can find things at radio rallies which you think are great value until you get them home! I myself was caught out a couple of years ago at a local radio rally, I saw a mobile aerial for 10m/6m/2m/70cm for a very low price but didn't find out until I got it home that it have been modified and wouldn't now tune up properly on any of the bands it was originally designed for! If you are not too sure whats what when you go take a radio amateur that you know and trust who knows what they are looking at and they will be able to look over the radio for you and tell you if it is worth the £XXX that it is marked up at, if they think it is a bit steep you can always try and knock the seller down a bit (they usually don't mind!) or of course leave well alone if it is not worth the cardboard box it came in!

Okay, so you have your radio, you have all the other bits you need to get your very own amateur radio station on the air. You have found a place for your radio to be kept and setup and it's all nicely layed out (trust me, it won't stay like that for long!). You have your logbook at the ready and your just itching to get talking on the air, your validation document (the bit with your callsign on it) came in the post a few days ago. You're ready to go now!

You turn on your radio and have a tune about the band which is bursting with activity. You decide to have a call on 2 metres FM (144-146mhz), tune to the calling frequency and call CQ (a general call for anyone who is listening to respond).
"cq cq cq this is M3XXX calling cq and standing by for any calls"
Someone responds to your call:
"m3xxx this is 2E1MJH calling you"
You must then move to a clear frequency on the band to continue you contact. Check that the frequency is not in use.
"Is this frequency in use please"
No reply
"2E1MJH this is M3XXX calling you"
"2E1MJH returning. Good afternoon. My name is Mark and my location is Clare in Suffolk. You must be new to the bands. May I welcome you to the hobby and hope you have as much fun in the hobby as I have!"
The contact continues...

There you go! You have now had your first amateur radio contact, and it wasn't as scary as you thought was it?!