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• What can you do with a ham radio license?
  • Disaster Communication
    • ARES
      • Public Service
      • Good excuse to play with weird forms of operation
    • Internet-free communications
      • No encryption, but digital modes all over
      • Insane propagation: moonbounce, greyline, tropospheric ducting
• Good first things to do when you get your license
  • Get a radio
    • Nearly any one will do at the beginning
    • If you're tech, no point in getting an HF rig, because you can't use it
    • Get an HT, because you might actually bring it with you (e.g., to cons)
    • One really cheap good one: Baofeng (also moddable, link to pages)
    • You don't need all the accessories. A rubber duck antenna is just fine to start.
      • OK, maybe just one: for con use, an acoustic tube headset is nice for comfort / not annoying others
  • Connect to your local ham community
    • Mostly older, but at least get on a repeater
    • How to find repeaters in your area
      • Note: some repeaters will be inactive. Think of them like forums that no one uses.
  • Connect to your local ARES team
    • Not least because these tend to be younger, more tech-savvy people
• Neat projects made possible with a ham license
  • Kristin (nee Chris) Paget - RFID long-range
  • Michael Ossmann - Fucking everything (but link to HackRF preso somewhere)
  • Ultra-range WiFi (find a project of this)