License that is.
It's actually quite easy and you can get a great radio for a surprisingly low price.
I've got a little handheld that I've made direct contacts of 15 miles. Connect to a repeater and the range is HUGE. Or, go with a mobile (vehicle mounted) radio, mine has 10x the watts of my handheld, I've talked to somebody 80 miles away over a mountain range. From my driveway, I've talked, via repeaters, to people in Northern California.
The test is easy and the best part is, all the questions are public knowledge, available online or on easy to use smartphone apps, designed to help you study for the test.
Take a look at this post on ExPo about getting your ham and consider working on that over the winter.
http://www.expeditionportal.com/expedition-gear/accessories/1470-practical-ham.html
It's actually quite easy and you can get a great radio for a surprisingly low price.
I've got a little handheld that I've made direct contacts of 15 miles. Connect to a repeater and the range is HUGE. Or, go with a mobile (vehicle mounted) radio, mine has 10x the watts of my handheld, I've talked to somebody 80 miles away over a mountain range. From my driveway, I've talked, via repeaters, to people in Northern California.
The test is easy and the best part is, all the questions are public knowledge, available online or on easy to use smartphone apps, designed to help you study for the test.
Take a look at this post on ExPo about getting your ham and consider working on that over the winter.
http://www.expeditionportal.com/expedition-gear/accessories/1470-practical-ham.html