Posted on: October 27th, 2020

Do you want to be a ham?

Maybe you are interested in knowing what is going on during an emergency and want to help out during disasters. Or maybe you want to just enjoy learning something new and talk to astronauts on the space station!

Think you need to be a technical genius to do this? Not true. Join a friendly bunch of mountain folk who have created a local community of hams.

In case you aren’t aware, the Gold Hill AirLink Repeater is off-grid and robust. This is the equipment that allows amateur radio operators (hams) to communicate, even with inexpensive handheld radios, over a wide area covering most of Boulder County and extending into the surrounding counties. The AirLink group is an official part of the team working directly with the Office of Emergency Management to provide eyes-on-the-ground information during emergencies.

Even if the power, internet, landlines, and cell phones all go out, the amateur radio system will work.

If you are interested in learning more, check out the AirLink web site at https://airlinkradio.org/

Getting licensed can now be done online. Below are a few links for study purposes as well as a link for signing up to take the exam. (I suggest you sign up for the exam first and then work toward that goal.)

The first one is a recommendation from George Weber, known to a lot of people in the mountain community since, in normal times, he teaches in-person classes to help people prepare for the exam.

Dina (KD0YYT)
dina.elder@nullgmail.com

———
Dave Cesler – KEØOG is a ham on the western slope. He has a website I still find very helpful even after 40+ years of being a ham radio operator myself.
Have fun, George Weber – KAØBSA, Broomfield, CO ka0bsa@nullgmail.com

Ham Radio Answers: https://www.youtube.com/user/davecasler

Technician Class License: http://dcasler.com/ham-radio/training/
General Class License: http://dcasler.com/ham-radio/general/
Amateur Extra Class License: http://dcasler.com/ham-radio/extra/

Other online options that I’ve seen recommended that have study guides as well as practice exams:
https://hamstudy.org/
https://study.hamradioprep.com/

There are several good books. The one I used which has a complementary web site for practice tests:

The link to sign up for the the online exam in Colorado:
http://w5yi-vec.org/exam_locations_ama.php?vec_state=CO