Amateur Radio

Howdy, in the Amateur Radio world I am known as K0ZOL (Kilo Zero Zulu Oscar Lima). This is another hobby that has totally sucked me into its expensive death grip.

Everyone I have talked to, thus far, have been extraordinarily nice people. It has been a very nice experience. People are so friendly and helpful.

With that being said, I'm always looking for an Elmer, so if you want to take someone under your wing, feel free to hit me up. You can reach me at

Who Am I

Callsign: K0ZOL
Current Class: General
Current Operating Zone: 7 Most Common Repeater Network: AB7F

Opinions About The Art

Thus far, I only have one complaint about amateur radio. I am generally a 'learn by doing' sort of individual and this is a case where you very much have to learn and prove you've learned prior to even being able to dip your toes into the water.

I'm likely going to make it to General without a huge amount of problems, but going to Extra without having a chance to play around with stuff first is going to be a bit painful.

Information Dump

I'm working on the General test currently and I also learn by writing things down. With that in mind I'm making this Amateur Radio Cheat Sheet. Hopefully it will be a useful reference to others.

Zolan's Radios

I am fairly new to all of this and have yet to really settle into a nice high-end transceiver.

Thankfully, shortly after we passed our Technician exam, my step son-in-law (K7LQM) bought me some HT (Handheld Transceivers) so we could play around with the new hobby. I hope to soon fill this out with a ridiculous amount of tech. We'll see.

Radioddity GA-510

This is my primary and I spend all of my spare time listening for people and occasionally chiming in.

Being my experience with transceivers is very little I can't give you a good comparison but this transceiver seems to work extraordinarily well even for being an HT. I have a comically large antenna I use (also provided by K7LQM) that helps me get any kind of signal at home.

I have no external antennas set up yet and I live in a very wooded area so I don't get the best of signals yet. This radio still gets the job done and lets me be in contact with other enthusiasts.

Until I know better I'm going to give it a 4 out of 5 stars. The reason for the lacking star may very well be total ignorance on my behalf but it is capable of monitoring two frequencies at once however, when one of the bands is scanning the other band doesn't appear to receive. It would seem to me this is a flaw in the design but perhaps an Elmer out there can let me know if there is a scientific reason this is difficult to accomplish.

Baofeng UV-5R

I've been told that I shouldn't admit to owning one but it also seems like everyone has one.

I can honestly say I've never transmitted with it so I do not believe I have broken any laws. It doesn't seem to pick up as well as the Radioddity but I can still have it scanning for conversations while I'm doing something else with my Radioddity. It is not a terrible Receiver at the very least.

For those that don't know, the Baefeng UV-5R does not have an FCC Part 95 certification and is therefore illegal to use for GMRS/FMRS/Amateur Radio. At least for transmitting. As far as I know, there are no restrictions on receiving. This was given to me mainly because it is a 'no one admits to having them but everyone owns one' sort of joke.

Still, if I were in an emergency situation, I would use it without any hesitation. I do not think that the FCC would be tracking me down and killing my first born son for using it. At the same time I'm one of those guys that follows the rules to an ANNOYING level so receive only for me.