I am afraid I wouldn't be using it for the same reason, though reaching someone in Europe would be more interesting. I wanted the handheld mostly for tracking. I don't know much about the actual HAM hobby, the study guide book to prepare for the exam is all know about radio so far.
I'm Canadian, our test has 100 multiple choice questions. A result of 70% gives you your basic license which is equivalent to your tech license. During the same test, if you do well and score 80%, you get the advanced license.Well ... this OM likes talking to new or younger hams. The 6 meter band is a hoot. Used radios that include 6M are relatively inexpensive and a 6M Moxon antenna is very easy to build. Ignore the old pharts and explore the limits of the Technician license i.e. satellites, moon bounce or meteor scatter.
For the OP, getting the Tech license is fairly easy, but as the first reply said finding a testing event might be very hard right now. There needs to be a minimum of 3 certified testers to administer the exam. While studying read up on the General as well. If you pass the Tech exam you will be offered the General exam for no additional cost if taken at the same session. The General info is not that much more difficult just different. However, the bands available to a General cover parts of nearly all ham bands. Cost is about $15. Drop me a PM if you want to know more. BTW I’m a 70 year old old phart. Enjoy the airwaves!
Thanks for the information! That's a good read!I think ham radio is a fun addition to hobby rocketry. I just did a talk at NARCON about this. Take a look at https://kw4wz.com/aprs/ for some links. And the NARCON talk slides should get published on the https://www.nar.org/site/narcon-2020/ page at some point. I'll try to write it up for SpRocketry.
OK, so I have a HAM license (got it for APRS - and it is kinda cool) but the Featherweight tracker will track to 100k+ feet and is FCC certified without a Ham license. I still renew my HAM license every 10 years, but just because it is cheap (and kinda cool)....
Has anyone actually used the Featherweight to 100,000'? Is there a current record for rocket flights?
Hey Kevin,
did it have good GPS data at apogee? That would be worth putting on the website.
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