Getting your technician license for ham radio has quite a few application what it comes to any SHTF scenario, and that includes if the power grid goes down.

Getting your technicians license is only the first step, next you actually need to use the ham radio to understand how it works, otherwise you will have no idea how to use it when it really matters.

In an article I wrote when I first got my ham technician license a while back goes through what equipment I started out with, and how I studied for the technician test. In that article I said…

“Before I took my Test had no idea about ham radio and I didn’t even realize how little I knew until I started studying for my technician’s license. I didn’t let that stop me, and if you are interested in getting your ham radio technician license don’t let it stop you. Getting your ham radio license is not as hard as you think.”

It really is true, you can get started for about $70 with the equipment I mentioned in that article, and you can get your technicians license in a little as a week if you want to.

In this interview with Jeremiah we didn’t talk about getting your technicians license, we talked about what to do after you get it. It can be intimidating and confusing getting on the air for the first time, and if we want to be able to use our ham radios in a disaster situation we need to jump in the water and get started.

SPP114 Ham Radio for Preppers: First Contact & SHTF Applications

I also included a pdf guide at the end of this article with links and resources to help new ham operators out.

First Contact: After you get Your HAM License

In order to explain this better I am going to explain my story because I think it’s pretty common among new ham operators. Getting your technician’s license is just the first step, then you have to apply everything you learned, get on the air and figure out how and why everything works.

Getting your signal in and out: One of my major problems when I first started out was connecting with other hams and repeaters, I could hear other people talking, but they couldn’t hear me.

Come to find out I needed to upgrade my antenna because of my rural location. I also installed the antenna wrong (next to a metal pole) causing my signal to get disrupted before it even went anywhere.

Ham Radio Repeaters: A repeater receives a weak or low-level amateur radio signal and re transmits it at a higher level or higher power, so that the signal can cover longer distances without degradation. Many repeaters are located on hilltops or on tall buildings as the higher location increases their coverage area

Help from other hams: Jeremiah recently sent me a message using the national traffic system. Even though I was not actively using my ham radio, this helped me to get back into it. He sent a message through different ham operators which ended up with someone who lives a few blocks away from me.

This person was actually able to come and look at my setup and show me what was wrong. As helpful as these online groups are, sometimes it takes someone who can see your setup and be hands on with helping.

First Contact: We also talked about how intimidating it might be when you first get your signal out. I didn’t want to sound like the new kid on the block (even though I was) and come to find out I was making it a bigger deal than it was.

The best way to learn how to swim is just to dive in,