Beginner’s Corner October 2014
For the past several months, I have been writing about the Baofeng radios. I have made quite a bit of progress on getting mine up and running, but I felt it might be nice to change the subject for a bit.
When you get your license and set up your first radio, there is the challenge of getting on the air for the first time. “Mic Fright” it is called. How do we get over that? Assuming that you have several simplex and repeater frequencies programmed into your radio, I have a couple of suggestions. First, get on one of the simplex frequencies, key your mike and say something like, “This is KM4XX testing.” Of course, you will be giving your own call sign. Chances are that no one else is listening. Try it a couple of times if you need to. When you are comfortable with that, try doing it on a repeater like the GARS VHF repeater. When you announce that you are testing, someone may or may not come back to you. Many operators will just allow you to get on with your test. When you feel comfortable doing this, then try this: Give your call sign and say that you are monitoring the frequency.
What if someone comes back to me? This happened when I had my first HT programmed and was testing my radio to see if I got a beep tone back from the repeater. Now, I had been on an FM broadcasting station for a short time. I was also on the radio numerous times in my twenty years in the Air Force. Yet, it was a daunting experience when someone came back to me as a new Ham Radio operator. When someone comes back to you, tell them that you are a brand new ham and this is your first QSO (contact). Why say that? Well, no matter how long they have been on the radio, every ham has had a first QSO. In my experience with new hams, 99 percent of new hams report beck that their first QSO bent over backwards to help them. Nearly all hams are understanding and will help put you at ease.
I remember my first QSO. When he came back to me with his call sign, my thoughts were, “What will I do next!” I did just as I had talked about. He was very helpful. I gave him my location. He was mobile and came to my house. It turned out that he lived only about half a mile away!
Now, what if a third ham joins the QSO? You then have what is called a “group”. Custom says that everyone takes a turn in order. That happened on my first QSO. The third person dropped out after a few minutes, but while he was there, we did a rotation.
It is a good idea if you are not mobile to have some paper and a pen or pencil handy. Jot down the call signs and the first names of your QSO(s). It really makes other hams happy when you remember their call sign. They don’t have to know that you have just written it down. However, don’t try this if you are driving! If you can’t remember the other ham’s call signs, just tell them so! Just remind them you are mobile and could not recall their call sign.
Ham Radio is a lot of fun. Your first QSO will be one of your most memorable experiences.
Do what you can to overcome mic fright and enjoy!
73,
David Harden, KJ4CMY
[Note: Mic is shortcut for microphone. Ed]