Would the perfect title for the blog post I hope exists somewhere. I, like a few other posters, just grabbed one of these things. I also took the step of reading through a good chunk of Ham Radio For Dummies just to get a handle on the basics.
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What can I (legally) do with this thing without a license?
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Any pointers for learning the basics on this particular machine?
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I should read the manual cover to cover, right?
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Looks like it’s easier to program from a computer, any tips on that?
Is it terribly hard to get a license in your country?
Here (New Zealand) the exam is multi choice and the questions are all online, and local clubs will run “ham crams” to teach you the material over a weekend, at the end you sit your test. I had enough EE/RF knowledge that I crammed the rest in an evening and then passed the test :)
Also here, you can’t legally sell an “unrestricted two-way radio” like the UV-5R to anyone but a licensed ham, and you can’t import them without a special license (which is stupidly easy to get, you just need to be a ham and ask for one). Not that this stops randoms selling them on FB marketplace as “police scanners.”
In the U.S., at least, the experience is roughly the same. I took my exam many years ago, but I was planning on giving a Tech license (the first license level) course this Summer and did a bit of research on how to get licenses these days.
The bulk of them are done online now through our VE orgs. License classes are fairly easily available, and I’ve heard of crash courses given during hamfests and field day.