This episode of TPN Weekly is hosted by Jerry Taylor from the Practical Amateur Radio Podcast.

This is Jerry’s first time to host the TPN Weekly Podcast.  In this show Jerry explains what amateur radio (or ham radio) is all about and discusses briefly how you can get started in this challenging and rewarding hobby.    If you’re not currently licensed, the ARRL Field Day is coming up on June 27 – 28.  During the ARRL Field Day hams will setup stations all across the US to operate as many stations as they can and demonstrate being able to do so under abnormal situations in less than optimal conditions.  Many Field Day sites will operate GOTA (Get On The Air) stations where non-licensed individuals can spend a little time operating a ham radio.  To find a GOTA near you, please visit the ARRL website.

You can learn more about amateur radio and listen to the Practical Amateur Radio Podcast by visiting MyAmateurRadio.com. 

We’re sponsored by GoToAssist Express! Try it free for 30 days at GoToAssist.com/techpodcasts

Again, please visit MyAmateurRadio.com to find out more about amateur radio, how to get started in amateur radio and the Practical Amateur Radio Podcast  – Thank you!

73, (Best Regards)
Jerry (KD0BIK)

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This week it’s Mike Dell from the Extra Topics – The Ham Radio Podclass

John Martin, was unable to record today so Mike is flying solo.

The topic of today’s podcast is personal radio communications. Not a Cell phone, but other means of using radio technology for your personal communications.

*** Sorry, but this mostly applies to the United States. Rules and services available will differ form this in other locations.

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CB Radio 26 and 27mhz
- Limited to 40 channelized frequencies.
- Limited to 4watts AM and 12watts SSB.
- Used for short range communications.
- In the USA, 155 mile range rule

FRS – Family Radio Service – 462 and 467 Mhz
- Limited to 1/2 watt
- Limited to 14 channelized frequencies
- Can not have a removable antenna
- No license required

GMRS – General Mobile Radio Service
- License Required ($85 to the FCC)
- immediate family members can use your license
- 50 watts on GMRS frequencies (although 1 to 5 watts is more common)
- Detatchable antennas are allowed

MURS – Multi-use Radio service
- No licensee required
- 2 watts with detachable antennas allowed (4 times what is allowed on the FRS band)
- 5 channels in the VHF band (151mhz area)

Marine Radio VHF
- No license Required
- MUST be on the water to use this service
- Channel 16 (156.8 MHz) is the Emergency / Calling frequency
- US Coast Guard (in the USA)

Aviation Radio service (Air Band)
- VHF band between 108 MHz and 137 MHz
- UHF frequencies (225 – 400 MHz) which are not part of the airband and are Mostly Military.
- Licenses are required in some cases
- For more info on Listening to Aircraft, check out Mike’s Website – www.flightradio.com

Part 15 devices
- Baby Monitors
- Cordless Phones
- Intercom systems
- Anything that transmits
- R/C Cars and Planes

Ham Radio – The Amateur Radio Service
- License Required
- Lots of frequency bands from Short wave to Microwave
- 1500watts allow (with the right class license)
- No equipment or antenna restrictions
- Several Modes of operation

Thanks for listening! We will see you in Vegas at the Blogworld Expo Look for all of the RawVoice and Blubrry team at the Blubrry booth on the show floor.

You can find Mike Dell on the web at www.mikedell.com
You can find John Martin on the web at www.kf8kk.com

Happy New Month!

John Martin and Mike Dell here from the Extra Topics Ham Radio Podclass. We are very happy to bring you our version of the TPN Weekly podcast.

Sponsor: Go to Meeting – Get a free 30 day trial of Go To Meeting by going to www.gotomeeting.com/techpodcasts

Our podcast can be found at www.hamradioclass.org. Our main podcast is a class that teaches you what you need to know to pass the US Amateur Radio exams at an FCC sponsored Exam Session. In our archives at the site, you can download the Technician class (the First Ham Radio License) or the General Class (the Second level License). Extra Topics is the Extra Class (the Third and Last level of License) and will also be a continuing podcast about topics in ham radio that will be of interest to all Amateur radio operators.

Today we talk about Tech in ham radio and a bit of background on what ham radio is now as opposed to what it was back in the “good old days”.

We talked about Packet Radio, APRS (Automatic Position Reporting System), Ham Radio Satellites and Ham Radio’s Digital conversion.

We also talked about the US Television conversion to digital broadcasting which is only 12 days away (as of this posting).

Links mentioned in this podcast:

In addition to the ham radio podclass, you can find Mike on the web at www.mikedell.com. You can find John on the web at www.kf8kk.com.

Twitter Mike: twitter.com/mgdell
Twitter John: twitter.com/duckmeister