Unique Experiences

Item Description

When disaster strikes and communications are down - be ready to keep in touch by obtaining your amateur radio license.  This auction entitles you to one seat in the Goodkin One Day Amateur Radio Class & Exam Session on either July 20, 2014, or October 19, 2014

The class and exam take place from 9am-4pm at the Lost Hills Sheriff Station, and includes a catered lunch. 

Your Extra Class instructors: K6YXH & WB6OHW

Who takes our classes? We have people interested in:

• Ham Radio (as a hobby)
• Emergency Communications Services - this includes the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES), the State of California’s Auxiliary Amateur Radio Service (ACS), Los Angeles County Disaster Communications Service (DCS), city disaster radio teams (often part of CERT), Arson Watch, and other volunteer organizations.
• Community Service - this includes groups needing a way to communicate if cell phones don’t work, such as Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT)
• Off-Roading - needing comms where cell phones don’t work – we had one of our new hams save a life in a remote area using ham radio!
• Boating – communicating offshore and on the high seas for safety
• Hiking, Running and Camping – needing to stay in touch with their groups and make contact with the outside world – some carry ham radio as a safety measure. See Trail Communications.
• Biking – keeping in touch on the road – motorcycles and bicycles, including the Santa Monica Mountains Bike Unit.
• High Altitude Rocketry - using real-time telemetry and tracking – keeping track of expensive rockets – see http://rocstock.org/ and http://www.bigredbee.com/.
• First Person View (FPV) Model Aircraft – if you’re going to fly past where you can see the model, you want to use ham radio frequencies and high power. FPV Radio Control
• Friendship - keeping in touch and making new friends via ham radio. QSL.net Intro

*Our “one-day” classes are actually three-days, but on the first day, you take the exam! Most pass the first time, but you can take the exam the next Sunday and the one after, just in case. With the exam behind you, you can concentrate on learning what you need to know to get a radio and get on the air! We do recommend that you do some reading before the class, just to get familiar with what’s on the exam.

On the next two Sundays, you’ll learn about what radios do, enough to choose a radio, and you’ll learn how to operate your radio, enough to get on the air and start talking to people. After that, you’ll be able to get on the air to participate in conversations and ask questions – you’ll continue your learning as a member of the world-wide amateur radio community. Hopefully, you’ll join a ham radio club or emergency service organization. See our page of Organizations and Websites.

http://hamclass.goodkin.net

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