Welcome to Ham Radio.

A good place to start is to make friends with some Hams so they can show you how things work and explain things to you. A very handy resource if you have questions. This is a good place to make some friends also there are local radio clubs such as the Mt Diablo Radio club (www.mdarc.org/) in the East Bay and the San Francisco Amateur Radio Club (www.sfarc.org/) Those are just a couple, there are a lot in the Bay Area. Most clubs will always welcome new people even if they are not licensed yet. They will be able to help you with resources such as when training and testing sessions will be occurring (they usually do both.)

Also a great place to find information is at Ham Radio Outlet. There is one in Oakland and Sunnyvale. They have bulletin boards with flyers from local groups with info on training and testing as well as other events such as HAM fests and other gatherings. (www.hamradio.com)

I personally would recommend getting a book such as the ARRL's Ham Radio License Manual. (www.amazon.com/Arrl-Ham-R...pd_bbs_sr_1
This book will teach you everything you need to know to get started with explanations of repeaters, rules, etiquette, waves, etc. Everything you need is right there. You could read that and take a class as well. If you want to get on the air quickly you can also look into doing a HAM cram session to help with the testing. BUT you should still read the book so you know the laws and some other things.

The neat thing about Ham Radio Outlet (HRO) is that they have a lot of radios and stuff on display that you can see and they will gladly show you how anything works there as well as should be able to point you to a local group as well.

I hope this helps. I am attempting to keep this posting as non-technical as possible so you do not get too inundated with information.

I totally recommend joining one of the meetings of the local area ham radio groups. If you're more the type who wants to study on your own, I'd check out hamradioclass.org and go through their technician license podcast, and get a copy of the book they use, I believe it's "Now You're Talking". With that and just studying the online exams, you'll be able to pass the test and be on your way!

There are lot's of practice exam sites out there, you could try this out: www.qrz.com/ham/

When it comes to time to take your test, again check out the local clubs and their testing schedules, or if it's close enough, just head to the Silicon Valley Volunteer Examiner Group, here is there info:

www.pdarrl.org/vec/vecscv/

And most of all, welcome to Ham Radio!

--Dan Dawson (KI6ESH)

fantastic information y'all. i just ordered the book - i am taking the practice test and getting about 20% so far- i would say some study is in order :)

You should check out the Bay Area Educational Amateur Radio Society at baears.com . They have periodic Study Sessions followed by an exam. The class takes 8 hours on one day and emphasis is on passing the test.

A few members of the SF Amateur Radio Club offer a "ham cram" several times a year in the County Fair building in Golden Gate Park. For $20 you get a long list of test questions with the answers & key points in bold font. You read them at least five times & take the test. The answers just jump out at you. They have about a 95% pass rate. You get your license in the mail about two weeks later.

Do you learn? No. But then you go out & buy a radio. Then you really start learning & fast!