Hi from Nova Scotia

[Riverside Rhodes]

Hi folks. Old guy from Nova Scotia, Canada here. Finally have some time to sit down and explore the site a bit. I saw a reference to "the Survivalist Series" on another site I belong to and after determining that it wasn't referring to the series by the late Jerry Ahern, I started on Going Home and was immediately hooked on the adventures of Morgan and company. Been a prepper and survivalist since way back before the media made both into pejorative terms. Always kept a "get home bag" in the car, initially because most of my early cars were beaters and the chances of getting stranded due to mechanical meltdown far outweighed the odds of societal meltdown, but one never knew back in the bad old days of the cold war. Been wanting to get into ham radio for decades, and given it's pivotal position in the first books in the series has given me the extra nudge to make it a pre-retirement priority to get licensed and on the air.

Looking forward to getting to know you all better over the years. From what little i've had a chance to see so far, it looks like there's a ton of useful info to be had here.

Have a good'un,

Riverside (aka Richard)

[kickstand]

Hi Riverside, welcome to the forum from southern New Mexico. I'm glad you like the series. I'd be willing to bet that many of us now wished that we had carried a GHB in our cars as younger folks.

I'm curious, what are the Ham Radio license levels there in Canada? Here we have Technician (mostly VHF/ UHF), General (all bands & modes) and Amateur Extra, which widens the usable frequency range. What's your system like?

[Riverside Rhodes]

Hey Kickstand:
Here we have three levels of quals for amateur radio as follows:

Basic, with a 100 question exam, which gives you the following:
access all amateur bands above 30 MHz
use a maximum of 250 watts DC transmitter input power
build and operate all station equipment, except for "home-made" transmitters
Basic with honours (80% or above score) - access to all amateur bands below 30 MHz
There is no Morse code requirement on this test.

Advanced with 50 question exam:
access all amateur bands below 30 MHz
use maximum transmitter power of 1000 watts DC input
build and operate transmitting equipment
establish repeaters and club stations
remotely control fixed stations, including the use of radio links
There is no Morse code requirement on this test.

Morse Code (5 wpm with Basic or Basic and Advanced Certificate):
access to all amateur bands below 30 MHz

We also have specific marine and air licensing certs for marine and aircraft radio telephony with separate exams for each.

I'm aiming for Basic w/ honors which will give me access to the bands that I'm mainly interested in.

Rgds,

Riverside

[kickstand]

We used to have a 5 tiered system. I originally got my General Class license in the early 1990s (yes, with 13wpm of Morse Code). At that time, you had to be able to copy 20wpm code for Extra, a feat that was and is beyind my capabilities . However , in 2000, the FCC, the Governing Body that handles radio licences, eliminated all Morse Code requirements for Amateur Radio licensing. So, to keep from accidentally transmitting outside of my frequency privileges, I stepped up to Extra.
Many of our members are hams. Angery American just recently got his General license. If any of us can help you with anything , don't hesitate to ask, though we won't likely know any of the Canadian rules (such as the requirement to say "Eh" at the end of every transmission). You can also swing by www.preparedham.com They're good people.

[Riverside Rhodes]

Thanks man. I tried the Industry Canada practice exam and scored 64% by just applying common sense and my limited knowledge of electrical theory. The areas I need to bone up on are the ones dealing with electric/electronics and antenna theory. I'd like to get Morse certs too at some point just to say I did it, if nothing else. Wouldn't even contemplate it if the requirement here was 20wpm but I might make it with the 5wpm requirement.

Yeah, that echo-hotel at the end of each transmission is a pain, but at least it's an easy send in Morse . .... LOL.