Beginners guide

Well here goes, my beginners guide.

I hope the information provided on here will be helpful and also a good reference point for the future.

Amateur Radio is now an extremely easy hobby to get into following all the changes that have taken and that are going to take place, no longer do you need to sit through 6 months worth of college classes for 2.5 hours a time and then take a big 2 or 1 paper exam that last almost 3 hours (The RAE). No now all you need to do is find a ham club that has tutors for the foundation licence course.

It's pretty hard deciding where to start, so I will start by saying read a few things regarding this amazing hobby things like Foundation Radio Amateur Licence - Syllabus and Intermediate Radio Amateur Licence - Syllabus and also The syllabus for the new Advanced Radio Communications Examination, on the Ofcom Web Site, buy a Receiver if you don't already have one, it doesn't need to be an all singing and dancing modern one, look on Ebay for some cheap old receivers they will do what you want.

The whole point of buying a receiver is to get you used to operating procedures and terminology as well as getting you used to tuning round the bands and getting used to call signs.

Join a club that runs the courses that are now needed to become a Licensed Radio Amateur.

I also Recommend you buy and read the following books to help you on your way, these are available from the RSGB Bookshop. The book are as follows.

Also read and digest the relevant Terms, Provisions and Limitations booklet for the licence you are studying for. Theses are BR68-F for Foundation Licence, BR68-I for Intermediate and BR68 for Advanced (Full).

Don't be put off if it all seems a bit complicated, your course tutor will explain all that you need to know and then you will understand, if you don't say so, no one will mind.

Look at the Follow Power point presentations. These where created by the Chelmsford Amateur Radio Society (CARS).

Before proceeding please read the following Terms and Conditions of use for these excellent presentations. If you do not agree with the agreement then please do use or download these presentations.

Terms and Conditions.

Chelmsford Amateur Radio Society (CARS) and its Authors retain all Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) including Copyright on the material on this website.

The material is provided as is, without warranty. CARS will not accept liability for errors or omissions, or for its future maintenance.

Material may be downloaded, copied and redistributed provided that it remains unmodified and its source (CARS) is acknowledged.

Any third party redistribution must be on a non profit basis, and include a copy of these terms and conditions.

BY DISTRIBUTING THE MATERIAL (OR ANY WORK BASED ON THIS MATERIAL), YOU INDICATE YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF THIS LICENSE TO DO SO, AND ALL ITS TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR COPYING, DISTRIBUTING THE MATERAL OR WORKS BASED ON IT. NOTHING OTHER THAN THIS LICENSE GRANTS YOU PERMISSION TO MODIFY OR DISTRIBUTE THE MATERIAL OR ITS DERIVATIVE WORKS.

IF YOU DO NOT ACCEPT THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS, DO NOT DOWNLOAD, OR DISTRIBUTE THE MATERIAL.

Please Refer to the Handouts for additional material on Operating Practice and Assessments.

Handouts

Intermediate Projects

Formula Sheet

Foundation Licence Slides

Nature of Amateur Radio