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My husband has always been interested in amateur radio, and about 13 years ago he first got licensed. He quickly progressed through the ranks of Technician, General, and finally Extra all in about a years time. While he was studying for his General license, he convinced me to get my Technician class license. I studied for about two weeks, and then sat for and passed the exam.
Since Steve has his own ham shack set up in our home, the children see all of the cool stuff you can do with radio, and are interested in getting their own licenses. Each October, we participate in Jamboree on the Air with scouts and attend the local event at the Delaware Valley Radio Association. It has been a lot of fun and is a great way to introduce our children, as well as those in our troop/den, to the amateur radio hobby.
Gifts for Amateur Radio Operators
This is by no means a comprehensive list, but it does cover several of the items that have been on my husband’s (and our children’s) wish lists for some time.
ARRL Ham Radio License Manual. If you are not yet an amateur radio operator, you need to study up to be one. We prefer the ARRL license manuals. There are separate volumes to help you study for the Technician, General, and Extra license exams.
Kenwood TH-F6A a handheld radio for portable use. My husband has had one of these for over a decade and it is a solid radio that covers 2-meter, 220, and 440 MHz bands.
Kenwood TS-2000 works well as a home radio station and covers most amateur radio bands between 1.8 MHz and 450 MHz. This is our home unit and has gotten almost daily use for the last 12 years, initially just for voice contacts on the local 2m repeater, but more recently FT8 and JT65 which are digital modes.
Buddipole Antenna is a portable antenna that you can set up and get on the air in a matter of minutes. This antenna is great for emergency communications situations, as well as for hams to take with them when they are traveling. This antenna covers 9 bands within the 2-40 meter range.
ARRL Membership The ARRL is the only national organization representing amateur radio in the United States. Check out their website for a full list of member benefits.
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