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New Extra advice

G

gaucho

Member
Jan 7, 2009
18
0
11
49
Hey everybody,

This weekend I just passed all 3 elements and earned an Amateur Extra license. Let me give a little background... I had the goal right before Christmas to finally go and get a HAM license. I have a friend who is and Extra and loaned me his ARRL license manual for tech that his wife had just got done with. I took the book and just soaked it in and really got into it. It took only a couple days and I was passing practice tests. I still had a month to go until the next testing session. My elmer said why not go for the general and even extra and gave me his books for those. So for the next month I drove my wife nuts studying every second to do this but I really enjoyed it. I was in need of a personal challenge and went for it.

So, after passing all three tests, I got some congratulations, and some oohs and ahhs from the other test takers and VEC's. The head VEC also invited me to a little club that is out in the area that him and I happen to live. At the same time, I felt a little awkward and that I had done something that doesn't happen too often and that it may have come too easy. Not to mention I am kind of a young looking 34 year old. I know that a lot of Extra's have had to do more that they have to now to earn it. But I did what I had to to earn it as it is currently stated. I still felt a lot of personal accomplishment.

Now I am a little nervous to get out and transmit. My question is what would be a good way to first transmit? If I get out on a local repeater and give my new call sign I am afraid to get flamed for be a newbie especially with an Extra license. I don't want to step on any toes, I know that I know very little compared to probably the majority of technicians out there. Currently I only have an HT radio (vx-8r) and I don't have any immediate plans to go HF so I don't plan on using any of the Extra freqs right of the bat.

FYI, If I could pass the Extra test, anybody on this forum has the aptitude to do so also. Like I said, I just studied my tail of for a month straight. I guess I am just feeling a little apprehensive now.

Thanks for the ear and any responses and tips will be greatly appreciated!
 

First off....Congrats dude....that's one hell of a task......(y)

Just take it one step at a time. Spend some time on the UHF / VHF repeaters, listen to see how the other HAMs conduct themselves, check into the area repeater nets. Most areas have Emergency Management nets, Sky-Warn nets, plain old fun nets with various featured topics of discussion. You can always just check-in by giving your call sign, first name, location, followed by "No Traffic"....then sit back and listen. After you get to know a few more of the active HAMs in your area, you'll become a lot more comfortable checking in and chatting
.
Nets aren't the only time to chat away on a repeater, key up, announce your call sign, followed by "Listening".....
Example:...Our club's repeater is 146.985, I'll key up and say N2ITH Listening 985. if someone else is also listening, they'll usually come back to you and strike up a QSO.....

With that HT you have, you've got access to both 2m and 70cm repeaters, plenty of space to find people who are willing to chat with you, and if you feel funny about letting people know you hold an Extra class ticket, you don't have to tell them. On the VHF / UHF repeaters, 99.9% of the HAMs are not likely to ask anyway.
You may in your travels run into an oldtimer who resents newer HAMs that didn't have to qualify in code, ignore them and eventually they will go away.
Sooner or later you'll get the bug to check out the HF bands, and when you do the entire spectrum will be at your disposal. Again just start off slowly, do a lot of listening, and eventually you'll feel confident enough to key up and call out CQ, CQ.....(y)

Just beware of radio contests, they bring out a lot of rude operators who are only interested in getting your call sign and a signal report, then get out of their way. You'll learn more about that as you go along....

Again....congrats, and welcome to the fun world of amateur radio......
 
I say just start talking. Jump into an existing conversation by giving your call sign. Others will let you in. As Master Chief said, listen for a bit and you'll get the feel for how it goes. Another thing is every group is different. Some people are completely anal about going in a specific order, others just talk and let each other get in. Don't be bashful and let the others know you just got your ticket. They'll congratulate you and welcome you in. If they don't, move onto another frequency and find friendlier people :)

Congrats, BTW...that's a pretty good accomplishment. Don't forget...ham radio is a hobby, so HAVE FUN!
 
Congrats from me too.
Enjoy the full spectrum your allowed by the FCC, do not worry about public opinion. You don't have to prove yourself to others, your license allows you to transmit within established parameters.
If your techie callsign intimidates you from xmiting, change it. Thats another entitlement. Use the vanity prog if you must.
Congrats again.
Lex

Advice:
I'd advise you to learn the code if you don't know it. I haven't done the math for percentages, but you should print a spectrum chart and take a pair of scissors to it. Hack out the areas that are code only. Those are the "holes" in your license if your Morse challenged.
The most embarrased young man I ever saw was at a Field Day event. He was the only "ham" who didn't laugh when a joke came over the air in CW, naturally every eye was upon him.
 
I concur with the above posts. Listen across the spectrum and get a feel for how some things work. Don't worry about your status a new Amateur Extra. As said before this is a HOBBY and consider this a continuous learning environment. Another good read in addition to the manuals which you are already familiar with is the ARRL Operating Manual. It will give some other pointers which are not expanded upon in the license manuals.

Congrats on getting your ticket! Enjoy the priviledges of your grant and always remember if you run into an op who is rude to you just blow them off, sign, and turn the dial.

73

Wayne C.
 
gaucho,
Good for you! Not nearly as 'impossible' as you thought, was it, and a very nice feeling of accomplishment.
Some good advice so far, consider it. Probably some of the best good advice so far is to listen to what's going on. Just like you would with any group of people. What are they talking about, know anythiing about the subject, does it interest you? If so, join in. Maybe 'join in' sort of slowly, or conservatively, until people sort of get used to you? Nobody likes a loud mouthed party crasher, sort of. Maybe you have no idea what's being discussed, "what the @#$$ are they talking about?", kind'a thingy? So listen a while, if that doesn't work, ask them? Or if whatever it is doesn't interest you at all, move on. Just like any sort of large group of people.
Repeaters have timers. It's sort of not a good idea (not very polite) to 'time one out', talk too long, you know? Not a huge permanent mistake, just don't do it too often, means you're talking too much and not paying attention, in most cases. Happens more than you might think, you'll see what I mean.
The idea is to enjoy yourself, but not at the expense of someone else. You run across all kinds of people just like when you're not on the radio. Not really any absolute best way of handling that, so handle it like you would in other circumstances, sort of.
After all that, you are on your own. Make of it what you'd like. The whole point is to make it enjoyable... So enjoy yourself!
Absolute best advice is to punch that button -before- you start talking, and to turn loose of that button when you are finished. You'll see ;)
- 'Doc
 
Thanks for the replies. I will do just that. I have been monitoring quite a bit and hope to just mix in without mixing it up. Hopefully my call sign will show up in the next day or two.
 
Big congrats! I only studied up to General and still haven't passed the extra yet.

Listen, listen, listen, listen, listen, listen.

You may take some crap having an extra call and asking questions on the air....so what, ask anyway.

Let people know that you are a new ham. Being humble, letting the OFs feel important, will get you a lot of information and a warmer greeting.

In a way, it's a tougher road as I have a 2x3 call that looks like a tech, with General and will keep it even when I get the extra. Be careful of what you say, how you word it, with an extra call, there are people who will be waiting to 'catch you' in a mistake and shove it in your face out of resentment for not having passed extra themselves.

It's becoming much more frequent for people to test through to extra as their first ticket though so it won't be too bad I don't think.

If you can get a roof antenna for 2m/440 and a mobile radio for it, you will have enough signal for simplex use. I suggest this, as more laid back conversation goes on in my area on simplex and it's a place much more likely to find good information and casual advice.

Join a local club and get to know your locals...they will most likely be quite helpful when you are trying to figure things out.
 
Congrats - quite an accomplishment.

Follow all the advice already given here and most of all:

ENJOY THE HOBBY!
 
Congrats on your accomplishment. Certainly no small task to say the least.

I also agree LISTEN, LISTEN and LISTEN SOME MORE!

I challenge you learn and use CW. It can be used when every thing else has failed and it's too noisy or bad conditions to communicate.

Take if from someone who missed out on 20 years of hamming because " I couldn't learn the code", CW is the only way to go. I dismissed the code form grade school through 1977 when I got mad enough to learn and USE it.

Learn the code by sound and GET ON THE AIR. If you get on the air you learn faster because you work harder thinking that the other guy will think you are a "LID" when you mess up. You just work harder on the air. .

Again congrats and HAVE FUN !!

WD0BC "Covey"


PS: Their is nothing more revolting to me than hearing a repeater ID and an Extra class operator says "what was that noise?".

JMHO BUT IF YOU DON'T CW YOU AIN'T #$%& !
 
Last edited:
Thanks for all the advice. I just got my call sign: ae5ky. Am I being dumb, or does having a call sign that ends with KY sound weird? Does anybody else think of what I think when hearing it?

About CW, I am already practicing with some software. I just love hearing it and that it is like a foreign language, but not. I love listening to it for some reason.
 
You will run into the ham snobs that think no code hams are a sub breed, but you know what? There attitude makes them the real sub breed.

Congrats on the 3 at once feat. That is crazy good!
 
Congratulations.

As with most I too suggest listening to the local repeater for a bit, then jump in give your call sign, and see if someone comes back to you. Don't be surprised if its just silence. This hobby that is about communicating seems to have a lot of people that don't want to talk to anyone but there little group. At some point you will hear someone else give their call, jump in and answer. Think of the repeater as just talking to the guy behind you in line at the bank or supermarket, its really not that intimidating.

As for this class war thing that seems to be going on, every other ham should be happy that someone else is becoming a ham, because eventually if there aren't enough hams to keep our spectrum busy we will lose it. Who knows if you have code or not unless you tell them.

Enjoy and I'm sure in time you will meet all sorts of nice and helpful people through the hobby. Just remember what it like to be new and always go out of your way to answer that call on the repeater.
 

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