From: Kirk.Smith@bbs.oit.unc.edu (Kirk Smith)
Subject: ham licensing - finally!
Organization: Extended Bulletin Board Service
Distribution: usa
Date: Tue, 15 Sep 1992 20:31:32 GMT

I just wanted to post a message to all the prospective hams out there.

I've been interested in radio for longer than I can remember.  From
listening to an old shortwave to playing with CBs and walkie-talkies as
a kid.  Within the past few years, I entered the field of Emergency
Services, and found my radio interests soaring, at which time I got into 
scanning and radio system design.  I've done consulting for municipal
agencies on what freqs to program into their radios (not licensing and
freq coordination, that's beyond my scope for now) and written the most
complete scanner list for my county available.

But still...I never got my ham license.  Oh sure, I always promised to.
Bought the book ("Tune in the World"), but complained about learning
code and didn't want to bother.  Then the code free Tech came along,
I bought "Now Your Talking", and still...couldn't get motivated.  I've
got my own business, do the radio stuff, emergency services stuff, and
am also a full-time student.  It was always so easy to say I didn't
have enough time.  Besides, I couldn't afford ham gear anyway, right?
Wrong.  I ended up buying a UHF handheld for EMS work, and will likely
be getting a VHF handheld from an employer within a month or so for
personal and business/emergency use.  Everything ready to get on the
air except the ticket.

I've been reading this newsgroup for several years now, and have picked
up on most of the flame-wars here (ie: I know that if I swear on 2m while
ordering a pizza on the autopatch from an airplane, the lights on the
Sheriff's antenna must be lit or even the ham club gets fined, even if
their batteries arn't sitting on concrete :-).  This helped a lot with
rules and regulations, and I've learned lots of good tech tips here.

So tonight I start an amateur radio licensing class offered through
a local radio club.  It meets every week, and I conned a friend into
going with me.  I'm pretty excited.  I'll FINALLY be getting a ham
license and be on-the-air.

I really encourage all of you lurkers to go out and find a club to
help you out.  I know how hard it is to get motivated to read the books
and find an exam location when you've got a zillion other things going on
in your life.  I'm really looking forward to getting involved locally,
and ragchewing on the local repeaters.  As I get cash, I'd love to
experiment with packet and ATV.  It's so frustrating to listen to
the hams talking on the repeater, and have them asking each other a
radio question that I know the answer to, but can't reply!  (usually
public safety radio stuff).

So go out and get licensed.  Sorry about the soapbox, but as you can see,
I'm pretty excited about finally doing something towards a ham license.

-Kirk J. Smith, EMT-P, MD2B, [Watch this space for a ham call!]

--
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