Video credit – Radio Society of Great Britain

Amateur radio is the means of communication with others on equal terms….the amateur is not known by the clothes he (she) wears but by the signals he (she) emits. There are no century old class prejudices to impede his (her) progress.
– Dr. Raymond V. Bowers, Yale University

Licensing Classes
The TMRA can help you become a ham! We offer ham tests (referenced as VE Testing) as well as periodic education classes.

More information on becoming a ham – From the ARRL – The National Association for Amateur Radio

What is Ham Radio? by ARRL

New Hams
So you are a new ham… now what?

Join a club! Amateur radio clubs are the best way to learn about the hobby. They are filled with other members who can help you. Remember, if you took your test through a TMRA class, you get your first year of membership FOR FREE! For more information on TMRA membership, see the Membership page!

Other Area Clubs –
K8MAD Mad River Radio Club
K8BXQ Fulton County Amateur Radio Club

Set up your station
Knowing what equipment you need and how to set it up can be challenging questions for a new ham. TMRA is here to help you answer them.
The Club has equipment that you can borrow to learn new things. Please contact us to learn more about doing this.
The ARRL-Ohio Section has a Swap and Shop that can help with finding things.

Consider joining the ARRL!  ARRL, formerly an acronym for the American Radio Relay League, is now known as the National Association for Amateur Radio. For more information on the ARRL, please visit their website. Benefits to joining the ARRL include:

• Supporting the hobby. Hams aren’t guaranteed access to the radio spectrum. We have to constantly fight for it. Supporting the ARRL helps with that.
• The monthly magazine – QST. A wonderful publication always full of interesting information.
• The amateur e-mail forwarding service. All ARRL members enjoy the use and simplicity of having an e-mail address in the form of YOURCALL@ARRL.NET. Easy to remember, and easy for other hams to find you. All e-mails sent to this address are forwarded to your existing e-mail account (you configure this – it’s easy).
• And much more! Please visit their website for more information.

Meet other hams! The menu of this website has a section titled Events as well as a page for Nets. These pages list TMRA-related meetings, events, and on-air nets where you can meet other hams. Feel free to ask them questions!

Learn the lingo! To the layperson, hams tend to speak a foreign language filled with strange terms, jargon, and crazy acronyms.  Study up on these terms! Also, the ARRL monthly magazine QST has a section towards the back called Ham-Speak which often contains terms used in that issue of the magazine.

A-Z Reference – lots of great information about operating…..

Get on the air! The Repeaters page contains a list of area club repeaters where you can make contact with other local hams. You DO NOT need to be a member of a club to use a repeater, although all clubs appreciate membership as that is how they pay for the repeater equipment & maintenance.
The Nets page lists the local and regional weekly/monthly nets – by checking into nets, you can practice your new ham skills and meet new people.

Attend Field Day! Learn more about Field Day.

Attend Hamfest! A hamfest is an event, typically put on by a club, where hams come to buy and sell amateur radio equipment. It’s like an amateur radio flea market. Other types of things are typically available too… computers, electronics, etc… A hamfest is the best way to get ham gear locally at decent prices (unless you are fortunate enough to live close to a ham radio retail store!). Hams call these “toy stores”. Hamfests are also a great way to get odds and ends (parts, pieces, connectors, wire, etc…). These items typically cost more at a retail store, but can be usually be found at hamfests for cheaper. The TMRA puts on a hamfest in March, typically the weekend after St. Patricks Day, for more information check out the TMRA Hamfest page.

Attend the Dayton Hamvention! The Dayton Hamvention is the mother of all hamfests. Nearly -ALL- amateur radio equipment vendors are there. And fortunate for us here in Toledo, OH, we’re not that far away! The Dayton Hamvention takes place in Dayton, OH in May. The TMRA hosts a bus trip to and from Dayton, an all-day affair, on the Saturday of the Hamvention weekend. The Dayton Hamvention starts on a Friday and ends on a Sunday. Saturday is the longest day of the Hamvention. For more information, check out the Dayton Hamvention website!

Set up your QRZ.com account! Also known as The Zed, many hams use QRZ.com to find information on other amateurs they have either talked to or heard on the air. It’s a great way to find out the location/country of another ham. Hams can also write a little about themselves for other hams to see. QRZ.com is free and easy to use, but if you wish to add any details to your information, you must sign up for a free account.

Design your own QSL card! Many hams enjoy receiving, and sending, QSL cards. What’s a QSL card? It’s a postcard sent from one ham to another to verify that you’ve made an on-air contact. These cards can be used to win awards for amateur radio contests. For more information, click here.

Set up your eQSL.cc account! Traditionally QSL cards are sent through physical postal mail. However, many hams are turning to the Internet for instant QSL cards.  eQSL.cc is a popular site for doing so and is free and easy to use. Addiontally, eQSL offers a program called Authenticity Guaranteed which allows amateurs to verify they have a license and are who they say they are. For the purpose of contesting, only hams who have gone through the Authenticity Guaranteed process can get awards using eQSL records. For more information, click here.

Set up your ARRL Logbook of the World (LotW) account! Similar to the above item, this is an electronic way to send QSL information. However, unlike eQSL.cc, the ARRL LotW site is set up in such a fashion that records entered into this system DO COUNT for ARRL awards… just like a postal-mailed QSL card is. The ARRL LotW is FREE, and DOES NOT REQUIRE ARRL membership to participate. Postage rates aren’t getting any cheaper, and many hams around the world are turning to the ARRL LotW in order to save money. In fact, some countries are nearly impossible to get postal mail to, so the ARRL LotW helps here. There is a bit of setup involved in the ARRL LotW in order to verify you (similar to the above eQSL.cc Authenticity Guaranteed process, in fact, eQSL.cc honors ARRL LotW membership as one method of proof for Authenticity Guaranteed approval!). Additionally, there is specific software you must use to electronically “sign” ham radio contact log files. For more information, check out the ARRL Logbook of the World site!

Learn CW/Morse Code! Once upon a time learning CW / Morse Code was required for ham radio operators to receive an operating license. It has since been dropped from licensing requirements. However, CW is still alive and well. CW is very powerful because the signal can travel further and be heard by more when voice transmissions won’t make it or are unreadable. Here is a tip: if you get frustrated by using a straight key, don’t give up, try using a paddle!