Foundations of Amateur Radio

In my day to day activities as a radio amateur I come in contact with people across all parts of their amateur journey. Some who don't yet know that they're amateurs, through to those who've just passed their test and are waiting for their callsign. Then there are those who have been amateurs for a while, experimented a bit and have settled down into the comfort of being a member of an active community. Stretch that further and I also spend regular quality time with amateurs who have been licensed longer than I've been alive.

Recently I received an email from a freshly minted amateur. Just like me, still pretty much wet behind the ears, keen as mustard, trying very hard to figure out what to do next and where to go.

The basic gist of the email from this amateur was that they didn't know what kind of antenna they could erect at their home and failing that, couldn't decide on what radio to acquire to match the antenna that they hadn't decided on, not to mention that the antenna needed to match the radio that didn't yet exist.

If you've been around this community for a while you might recognise the chicken and the egg, which comes first, the antenna or the radio?

The answer is obvious, hidden in plain sight, easy to deduce, simple to understand, and completely useless.

Let me help you with the answer: It depends.

If that didn't test your patience, even if you've been an amateur for longer than my parents have been alive, you'll know that this is an unanswerable question.

So how do you break the egg and get started?

Easy.

Start somewhere.

As it happens I have a recommendation. It's cheap, simple and it will get your feet wet sooner rather than later. My recommendation is neither, or both, depending on your perspective. I promise, I'll get to the point shortly. The reason I'm making it last and savouring the point, some might say, belabouring it, is because it's one that happens over and over again, day in, day out, year in, year out.

My recommendation is that you spend $25 on an RTL-SDR dongle and hunt around your home for a piece of wire. That's it.

If you're not familiar with an RTL-SDR dongle, it's essentially a USB thumb-drive sized device that plugs into the nearest computer and paired with the correct software it has access to many if not all of the frequencies that you as an amateur are allowed to play with.

Given that it's a receiver, the antenna doesn't really matter all that much, at least not initially, so any piece of conductive wire will suit. Most dongles even come with an antenna of sorts, so you can get started straight away.

Resources associated with this podcast are on the vk6flab.com website where I've also collected a few links under F-troop to get you on your way with an RTL-SDR dongle.

The purist radio amateurs will likely arc up at this point and mention that this isn't real amateur radio, to which I can only say: Bah Humbug. Radio is about receiving as much as it is about transmitting. Any fool with two bits of wire can transmit, but it takes finesse to receive, so start there.

There are other benefits from going this way. Other than ease of entry, that's another way of saying - cheap - you can easily spot where and when there is activity. You can use all the traditional modes like CW, SSB, AM and FM, but you can also play with all of the new modes like WSPR, FT8, JT65 and investigate some of the other modes like RTTY, PSK31, Olivia, SSTV and others.

All this will help you have a better idea of the landscape you're stepping into without a major purchase.

To really set a cat among the pigeons, I'm also looking into a Raspberry Pi based transmitter, rpitx by Evariste F5OEO. When that bears fruit I'll let you know. In the mean time, play, learn, listen, experiment. No need to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars while you're still unsure.

Even if you already have a lovely amateur station, an RTL-SDR dongle is worth every cent and then some.

I'm Onno VK6FLAB