Ham Radio @ Bay Anarchist Free School

We're teaching 3 workshops for the Bay Anarchist Free School's Jan-March 2025 session! In addition to our sessions, there are a lot of other interesting classes – please check out the full schedule!

If you have any questions, please email hello@partee4justice.org.

Intro to Ham Radio

The first session, Intro to Ham Radio already happened (sorry for being bad about updating web site; we'll try to do better!), but the presentation is available here.

Virtual Ham Cram

The next session is a virtual ham cram on Saturday, February 8, 9a - 1p Pacific. We wanted to provide a COVID-safe alternative to in-person ham crams, but you are also welcome to do those instead!

For those unfamiliar with ham crams, they were created because getting started with radio is a bit of conundrum because it's easier to learn if you have a radio, but you can't use a radio until you've been licensed. The ham crams helps people get licensed quickly (as opposed to learn all the material). It works by getting a group together to read all the possible questions and correct answers (the actual test will be a subset of the possible questions). People who are able to read through the questions and correct answers twice have a pretty high chance of passing the test because of short-term memory. And if you fail, you can take the test again.

Field training

Once you get licensed, you'll probably want to learn how to use a radio! Experienced hams are also welcome to come and share knowledge. Unlicensed folks can come, too, but our focus will be on newly licensed folks.

Come join us at Arrowhead Marsh on Saturday, February 22nd, from 1p to 4p. We will bring some visible sign for people to look for (probably Palestine and Pride flags), but we'll most likely be near the picnic tables. So that everyone can come, we ask that folks wear masks and test before. We'll also have masks and tests at the event.

You’ll get the most out of this if you bring your own radio, but we will also have a small number of radios on-hand if you don’t have one yet. Here are a couple of relative inexpensive options:

• Gigaparts QRZ Jumpstart (the discount package is available to newly licensed hams – within 6 months of getting license)
• Baofeng radio (e.g. UV-9R Pro). Inexpensive and probably less long-lasting radios than the more expensive higher-quality ones (which are also more expensive)
• Higher-end radios. We suggest consulting with an experienced ham when choosing something more expensive that might last a few years. You can also get some info from stores, but we'd suggest comparison shopping and doing additional research. Whatever radio you get, we suggest making sure it's compatible with CHIRP (a computer program that you can use to program your radio). There's a list of compatible radios on the CHIRP wiki.