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Question by Brian F: What do you say on ham radio?
So I got my licence and a radio, and I can hear people talking every now and then. What do you do? How do you start talking to people? What do you say?
Best answer:
Answer by Bob B
first contacts are always awkward!!!
I suggest that you listen for a while, learn who is who, this will give you something to talk about.
To find new friends, join a local club. If you cannot find a local club, contact the ARRL for information.
Other good sources would be the Red Cross, they have a ham club assocations, same with the Salvation Army and your county EMA.
Add your own answer in the comments!
Sadly, most contacts just consist of exchanging call sings , names, locations and signal reports. Very rarely a real conversation develops. But if it does, you’ll know what to say 😉
After you get your station and antenna ready tune the transmitter to a frequency on which you are permitted to operate. Remember that right now we are at the bottom of the sunspot cycle so most of the activity will be on 17M and below (20M, 30M, 40M, 75M and 160M). There will be sparce activity on 6M, 10M and 12M until more spots appear on the sun. Tune around the band where you are allowed to operate. Listen for someone calling CQ. When he finishes it is your turn to answer him. Call him by saying his call sign followed by your call. Like this: W5ABC this is KC5XYZ. If he answers you he will give you a signal report (5×7), his name and his QTH (location) then he will say, “KC5XYZ this is W5ABC go ahead.” It will then be your turn. You will reply something like: W5ABC this is KC5XYZ. Thanks for the nice report, Joe. Your signal is 59 here in Tomball, Texas and my name is Bill. Go ahead Joe.” He will then go on to start a conversation about something or if he is in a rare place or operating in a contest or has to go to work he may just say, “Thanks Bill and 73 from Tomball” and be on his way.
If your radio is for 2M then find a local repeater in the directory and listen on that repeater. Be sure to mind the subaudible tone requirements if there are any or you will never get to talk to anyone. The protocol is a bit different on 2M. If no one is on the repeater you can just say something like, “This is KC5XYZ listening. Is anyone around?” If someone wants to talk he might say, “KC5XYZ this is W5ABC mobile 5. Joe in Tombull. How are you?” You say, “Hello Joe. This is Bill near Woodlands.” Then go on to talk about something. If there are guys already talking you can just say your call. They will “pick you up” and let you join the conversation and “pass it around”.
Don’t be bashful. Jump in and join the fun. This gives you some idea how to do it. Pretty soon you will get the hang of it.
One little tip. You may hear someone say, “This is BY1AA listening up 5.” It means the station in China (BY is China) is not listening on his transmit frequency, he is listening “split” for calls up 5 KHz” If you call him on his transmit frequency you might get fussed at. To “work” him you have to figure out how to make your radio work, “split” so you can listen to him but call him up 5. Check your instruction manual.
Look for me on 20M. Don’t forget to learn CW if you haven’t already.
Good luck and have fun. – 73 from the Fisherman
I agree with the first answerer. If this is the first time, I would verify that your station is properly set up and ready to go on the air. I mean, tuned with minimal SWR with no chance to interfere with your neighbors. I will assume that your antenna is matched to your transceiver or transmitter to prevent any kind of damage to you unit. You didn’t mention what kind of a station you have. Like Bob B said, you have to listen to how most amateurs get on the band. You also have to maintain the frequency band that your license allows. It is a little nerve wracking to make that first call. After a few, it will be a piece of cake. Congratulations and all the best. 73’s.