“Ten things to do, with a handheld radio”

August 2018
K Barnsdale ZL3KB

Recently we have been generating quite a few new hams through our HamCram system inthe Christchurch Amateur Radio Club [NZART Branch 05], and once they have their license they nearly all buy a dual band handheld for their first radio, usually of the Baofeng FM variety. To make a better job of supporting them in their first steps into the amateur radio world, we have been running one off tutorials at the clubrooms, covering standard operating hints and procedures. These aim to help the newbies overcome their mic shyness and get them talking on the radio for their first fifty contacts. To support these efforts, we have also created a series of articles with a global title of “Ten things to do, with a handheld radio”. These focus on the activities for which an FM radio can be used, and address subjects such as repeaters, external antennas, propagation & DX, amplifiers, SSTV, awards, satellites, international repeaters, hellschreiber and emergency communications. Each article is intentionally short, about two pages long with links to further info, and links to the complete set can be found below:

pdf downloads…

Ten things to do with a handheld radio.

  1. Repeaters
  2. External antenna
  3. Propagation experiments
  4. Amplifiers
  5. Slow Scan Television
  6. Contests and awards
  7. Satellites
  8. International repeaters
  9. Hellschreiber
  10. Emergency communications