Hi Makers,
Anyone here with experience in the ham radio space? I don’t have a license and at first only want to listen in on Thames radio VHF 14. Which I understood I’m allowed to do as long as I only receive and don’t transmit.
Can you recommend an affordable brand that doesn’t leave me stranded when I want to have a license in the future?
Cheers
@0atman has a licence
I went under prepared for the exam and failed miserably, retaking soon…
I have tris’ old Baofeng that works great. I can listen to all sorts out there with relatively good clarity. The baofengs are cheap! From what I heard is that once you get a licence, you spend your children’s inheritance on bigger antennas and receivers so be careful.
What did you fall down on?
I’ve got a usb software receiver (SDR, software defined radio), very flexible, might be useful if we can arrange a half decent arial.
Petra’s exactly right, everyone’s first radio is the VHF baofeng UV-5R for good reason! And I also like my RTL-SDR usb dongle for wide-band receive - you can get either for $25 on amazon!
I’d love to run a ham radio introduction session, I wonder how many would attend?
I’ve produced an intro to amateur radio introduction video, if anyone’s interested, and would probably talk about similar topics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcF6tvepRlg
Nice video.
Excellent video thx for shareing
Yeh, I’ve been trying to make a YouTube explainer video for 2 years and haven’t even finalised the script 🤦. Great video.
I have used hamsphere, it’s a simulation and you can choose from a range of virtual antenna gives the feel of real radio to practice your communication skills before applying for a licence 
It connects you with global members and sounds and works just like ham radio
Always wanted to play with sdr
@Christian, I have an old radio scanner laying around if it’s any good to you? I’ve had it since I was small. It’s a GRE PSR-282. I know very little about the enthusiast radio space to be super honest so no idea if it’s considered entry level or what. Someone wrote a review about it which divulges some details: GRE PSR-282 Handheld Scanner Review (written in 2005).
From the information I can find online it should be suitable for the VHS 14 frequency you asked about. If you’re interested, I’m happy to long term loan it so you can see if it fits your needs.
Thank you all for advise and sharing knowledge!! Much appreciated.
@danielbenton Thanks a lot but I did already go for the Baofeng recommended by Tris. Maybe useful for someone else here?
I’m recently interested in ham radio too. I’d attend any intro sessions for sure. Also I’d like to listen in with an SDR setup, I have an RTL dongle too, which hasn’t had much use so far. (I was inspired to get it after a talk on SDR at EMF Camp last summer)
Didn’t know certain abbreviations, if I had 1 more point I’d passed.
I would love to talk to folks in London on SSB, I’m on VHF, UHF, down to 6m. Really interested to see how far VHF SSB can get.