Getting Started
After You Pass
By OneShack Staff
What happens between passing your exam and your first contact: the FCC fee, your call sign in ULS, your FRN and CSCE, and good first steps.
Getting Started
4 articles on this topic.
Getting Started · Operating
How to Use a Repeater
By OneShack Staff
How repeaters work, how to find them, and how to make your first call with good habits, proper ID and room for emergency traffic.
Equipment · Getting Started
How to Program a Handheld Radio
By OneShack Staff
Load repeaters and simplex channels into a handheld, from the keypad or with free software, and save a backup before you start.
Getting Started · Operating
Nets and Net Control
By OneShack Staff
How directed and open nets work, how to check in, and what it takes to run a net as net control.
Getting Started · Operating
Your First Satellite Contact
By OneShack Staff
Work an FM satellite with a handheld and a small Yagi: find a pass, handle Doppler, and keep your first contact short and sweet.
Getting Started · Operating
Your First Contest
By OneShack Staff
What contests are, how the exchange works, how to log and send in your contacts, and where a beginner can start without pressure.
Antennas · Getting Started
Antennas When You Can’t Put One Up
By OneShack Staff
Covenants, a landlord or a small lot do not have to end it. What the FCC rules do and do not cover, and four antennas that work without announcing themselves.
Equipment · Getting Started
Inside a Working Shack
By OneShack Staff
A tour of one ham's station: what each box on the desk does, why it's there, and what a newcomer really needs from it.
Antennas · Equipment · Getting Started
Your SWR Meter Might Be Lying to You
By OneShack Staff
A low SWR reading at the radio doesn't always mean a good antenna. Here's why, and how to find out what's really happening.
Digital · Getting Started · Operating
Getting Started with FT8
By OneShack Staff
The digital mode that fills the HF bands. What it is, what you need, and how a contact actually goes.