Start with the antenna
Use an antenna intended for the band you are transmitting on and connect it before transmitting. A better antenna can often improve a station more than another menu setting or more transmitter power.
You passed the exam
I Passed — Now What?
Passing the test gives you the license. Now comes the part you were studying for: actually using Amateur Radio. This page walks through the first practical steps—from seeing your call sign in the FCC database to programming a repeater, making a first contact, logging it, and finding the parts of the hobby you want to explore next.
Step 1
Find your FCC grant and call sign.
After you pass, the Volunteer Examiner team sends the result through its VEC and the application works its way into the FCC system. For a new U.S. license, the moment you have been waiting for is when the FCC grants the license and assigns your call sign.
Check the FCC Universal Licensing System (ULS) for your grant. Once the license has been granted and your call sign appears there, you can operate within the privileges of your license class. Write the call sign down somewhere handy—you will be using it a lot.
You can also look yourself up on sites such as QRZ after their databases update, but the FCC record is the official U.S. licensing record.
Step 2
Get one radio working before you try to master every menu.
A dual-band VHF/UHF handheld or mobile radio is a common first station. You do not need to understand every feature on day one. Learn the controls that get you listening and making a clean local contact.
Learn VFO and Memory
VFO mode lets you tune and experiment. Memory channels let you save a working repeater or simplex setup so you do not have to rebuild it each time.
Know the frequency
For simplex, both stations use the same frequency. For a repeater, your display normally shows the repeater's output frequency while the radio shifts your transmit frequency to the repeater input.
Set access correctly
An FM repeater may require a CTCSS tone or another access method. The repeater listing tells you the frequency, offset and access tone or code. Those three settings are the usual first things to verify when a repeater will not hear you.
Use sensible power
Use enough power for a reliable contact, not automatically the highest setting. If low or medium power reaches the repeater cleanly, that may be all you need.
Listen first
Spend a little time listening to the repeater or simplex frequency before transmitting. You will hear local habits, whether a net is in progress, and whether the frequency is already in use.
Programming a repeater
Frequency + offset + access tone. That is the basic recipe.
Menus differ from radio to radio, but the information you are putting into them is usually the same. A repeater directory or local club can provide the settings.
- Enter the repeater output frequency. This is normally the frequency you listen to and the one shown on the display.
- Set the transmit offset. The radio transmits above or below the displayed frequency by the specified amount so your signal reaches the repeater input.
- Set the access tone or code if required. For many analog FM repeaters this is a CTCSS tone. Some systems use other access methods.
- Listen, then make a brief test call. Give your call sign and say you are monitoring. If someone answers, you are on your way.
- Save the working setup to memory. Give the channel a useful name if your radio supports it.
A useful outside directory is RepeaterBook. Local club information is still worth checking because repeater settings and status can change.
Step 3
Make the first contact. It does not have to be a performance.
Most experienced operators remember being a little unsure before their first transmission. You do not need a speech. Listen first, use your call sign clearly, and talk like a person.
Listen
Make sure the frequency is not busy. On a repeater, leave a little space between transmissions so another station can break in if needed.
On a repeater
A simple “[your call sign], monitoring” or “[your call sign], listening” is enough to let people know you are there.
On simplex
You can call a specific station by call sign or make a general call. A traditional general call is “CQ,” followed by your call sign.
Have a normal conversation
Name, location, radio, antenna, signal quality and how long you have been licensed are all easy first-contact topics. Ask questions. Hams generally enjoy talking about radios.
Identify correctly
In the U.S., identify with your assigned call sign at the end of the communication and at least every 10 minutes during the contact.
Do it again
The first contact is the hardest only because it is the first. After a few QSOs, the controls, pauses and call-sign rhythm start feeling normal.
Nets & on-air habits
Learn the rhythm by listening to good operators.
Check into a net
Local nets are an easy way to get used to saying your call sign and passing simple information. Listen to a few check-ins, then follow the net control station's instructions.
Leave room
Do not key instantly after the other person unkeys. A short pause lets repeaters reset and gives another station a chance to enter the conversation.
Use plain language
You do not need to force Q-signals, jargon or phonetics into every sentence. Use them when they make communication clearer.
Ask for help
If you say you are newly licensed, most local operators will happily tell you if your audio is low, your signal is noisy, or you have a repeater setting wrong.
Step 4
Keep a log—and learn what QSL means.
A station log gives your contacts a history. It can be a paper notebook, a spreadsheet, a logging program, or an online log. A useful entry normally includes the other station's call sign, date and time (often UTC), band or frequency, mode, signal report and any notes you want to remember.
QSL means confirmation of a contact. Traditionally hams exchanged printed QSL cards. Paper cards are still very much alive, but electronic confirmation is common too.
Logbook of The World (LoTW) lets amateurs submit electronic logs and use matching contacts as confirmations for awards. QRZ also provides callsign information and online logging features. You do not have to chase awards to enjoy logging—it is simply fun to look back and see where your station has reached.
Do not do it alone
Find a club, a net, or an experienced ham.
Amateur Radio has a long tradition of experienced operators helping newcomers. Hams often call a mentor an Elmer. A good club or mentor can save hours of menu-diving, antenna guessing and wondering whether the radio is broken.
ARRL New Ham Resources
Beginner operating material, repeater information, club-finding help and other resources for getting on the air.
Where do you go next?
Follow whatever part of radio makes you want to turn it on again tomorrow.
There is no required order after the license. Try things. Keep what grabs you. Come back to the technical material when a real operating question gives you a reason to care about it.
Build or improve an antenna
Learn why a simple dipole works, how resonance and SWR fit together, and how antenna height and geometry affect the signal.
Open Antennas →Learn propagation
Start understanding why a band is dead one hour and full of signals the next—and why the right band matters more than brute-force power.
Open Propagation →Try another mode
Explore SSB, CW, FT8, APRS, RTTY, SSTV and the overlap between radios and computers.
Open Modes & Digital →Look upward
Work amateur satellites, receive telemetry and images, and see how far Amateur Radio can go beyond a local repeater.
Open Satellites & Space →Think about General
If HF and long-distance operating are calling you, General opens much larger portions of the HF bands and gives you another layer of radio to learn.
Explore General →Just explore
Go back to the Amateur Radio hub and follow whatever catches your attention. The point of the license is not to finish learning. It is to give you permission to start doing.
Amateur Radio Hub →