This document was created to help Tomesh members get their amateur radio license, but its information should be helpful to anyone in Canada trying to do the same.
How can we all take this exam?
- Felix's work friend
- He will talk to him and ask
- Central Toronto Amateur Radio Club (CENTOR) might run something
- They ran one in 2018
- They might do it again
- Cold calling/emailing examiners using the Canadian goverment search tool
- Possible YLab training
- Content for "Boy Scouts" program the ran link and they all passed
- Includes Tips, refrence materials,Slides and Quizes
- HINT: READ the hints they will help you memorize things
-
the material was covered in our accelerated, condensed class that went Friday evening, all day Saturday and most of the day Sunday . At 4 PM Sunday, we stopped the training and did the exam. We henceforth will refer to this program as the HAM CRAM.
- Unsure if they could run a course for us (maybe at a $$ fee?)
- They have licensed examiner
- Sent email to RJ @ ylab to see what is possible
- Said they will respond with answers to our questions in a day
- Said they will be running a course shortly
- Content for "Boy Scouts" program the ran link and they all passed
- Jeff
- Stopped by mesh meeting few months ago
- Really into HAM
- May be a licensed instructor (dont rememember)
Put CAD prices and links to buy beginner hardware here. Handhelds are the cheapest way to start.
https://radiotackle.com/best-ham-radio-for-beginners/
| Hardware | Price | Freq | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baofeng UV-82HP | ~$84 + import and shippings ($62.89 USD) | 65-108(Rx) 136-174(RxTx) 400-520(Rx/Tx) | Better than the UV-5R. FM Modulation |
| Baofeng UV-5R | ~$37 + import and shipping ($27.64 USD) | 136-174(Rx/Tx) 400-480(Rx/Tx) Chirp Update 130-175(RxTx??) 220-269(RxTx??) | Best radio for lowest price point. FM Modulation. TX Limit Issue with FCC Maybe Older units only |
| Baofeng USB programming cable | ~$27 + import and shipping ($20.46 USD) | See the cheaper one below - Needed for programming stations through your computer, see the Software Section | |
| Baofeng USB programming cable | CDN$ 11.14 + Shipping | From amazon.ca instead of US, cheaper | |
| Nagoya Antenna Upgrade | CAD17.99+ Shipping | 136-174, 400-520 Optimal Range: 140-150, 420-450 | Suggested upgrade for Baofeng |
- Baofeng equipment is not available on the Canadian Amazon, but will ship from US Amazon
- Baofeng has been criticized for being "cheap"
- I (@makeworld) would say that from what I've seen online, Baofeng is known to be starter equipment, so older hams with pricey stuff will scoff at it. But I haven't seen anything about it being poor-quality for what is advertised. It's seen a decent starter.
- Chirp
- Info
- Software for programming radios
- Open source
- Windows, Mac, Linux
- Adding stations and repeaters with labels, etc
- Much easier than doing it on the device itself
- Allows for more programming than the devices will on their own
- Instructions
- Check if your radio is supported, listed on the homepage. The Baofeng hardware above is supported.
- Get the correct USB cable for your radio. The Baofeng one is listed above. Beware of scam cables that have the right connectors but not the right chips inside.
- Download the daily build, not the much older release
- Info
- More software (for packet radio) TBA
Literature and software to use for studying for the test. Only Canadian content.
- Cold Lake Amateur Radio Society training videos
- Videos on all the content
- Covers all sections of the exam
- Topic videos
- 18 videos
- Videos that go through each question on the entire exam and answer them
- 30 videos
- Lots of excess background for each question, but it can be easily skipped or watched as needed
- Each video is a bit under 30 mins long
- Study guide PDF
- Slightly outdated, full featured though
-
It was like finding a gold mine! I studied that manual for three weeks plus doing the online test on the industry Canada website and I was able to finish my exam with a 87% - MTouesnard
- Bad organization of info, difficult to read
- 170 pages
- Government site
- All potential exam questions available
- Practice exams
- Canadian Amateur Radio Quiz android app
- Same as goverment questions above, but on your phone
- Works offline I think
- Hamstudy.com free section
- Only the Rules and Regulations section (out of 8) is available for free
- High quality
- Yellowknife Amateur Radio Society basic qualification course materials
- All the material YKARS uses for its course
- Annapolis Valley Amateur Radio Club basic course material
- PDFs of all their course materials
- Looks better than the YKARS one above at first glance
- Check out Alexander Keller VE3ZSH of UOIT’s on-line course here
- YLab Boy Scouts 3-day HAM CRAM material
- Toronto repeaters
- https://www.dummies.com/programming/ham-radio/
- Some basic information for dummies like you and me
- Not tailored to the exam
- Toronto Amateur Radio Emergency Service Group