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Will the FCC mail me a license?
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by KJ4BNF on January 25, 2008
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I want to sign up for echolink, but you have to validate your call sign. Their site mentions scanning your license and emailing them a copy. Will the FCC mail me a hard copy of my license? How long does it usually take? Thanks
73
KJ4BNF
Grant
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RE: Will the FCC mail me a license?
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by KJ4BNF on January 26, 2008
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OK I got a letter from the FCC today and I thought it would be my license, but I don't know if it is or not. The envelope that the letter was in was severely torn and I was thinking that the actual license may have fallen out or become lost in the mail. What i got was a letter beginning with..
Ref: Manual Registration of CORES
As you requested we have registered you with CORES and granted you a FRN.......
The whole letter talks about my FRN and CORES and is signed the CORES Administrator.
I know this may sound stupid, but is this my license or what?? I don't think this is it, but I could be wrong!
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RE: Will the FCC mail me a license?
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by KB8YHV on January 26, 2008
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Grant, congratulations on your new license. You may just have to wait a few more days for your license to arrive. After you are licensed the FCC sends you two seperate things, your license, and a number that allows you to login to the FCC database to request administrative functions such as address changes.
Do this: goto www.qrz.com and search for your callsign, then click the link for "Detailed Info", click the link for "ULS Listing", then click the link at the top that says "Reference Copy". This is what your license will look like. The one generated there is a not an official copy, hence the big "REFERENCE" stamped across it.
As far as signing up for Echolink, yes, you can use it from your computer or link a radio to your computer to access the network from another radio. The best way to get started in using Echolink is to find a repeater or end link in your area that you can access via your radio. Tune to the repeater and key in the appropriate numbers and you can access any Echolink node you want. The Echolink website is not very clear on this. The website assumes that want to use Echolink via computer or setup your own node and gives very little info for the end user. I'd suggest that you see if there is an Echolink repeater in your area, introduce yourself, and ask the folks who use the repeater how the Echolink functions work.
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RE: Will the FCC mail me a license?
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by KB8YHV on January 26, 2008
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Grant, here are some notes from a message I wrote to our club mailing list on Echolink:
-----------------------------------------------------
Mike, my son, got a new Kenwood mobile for his birthday (Dec 22) and Christmas and installed it in his car today.
He was itching to talk to somebody, but couldn't roust much of anybody on the local repeaters. I suggested
he try to find a local Echolink or IRLP node and dial up a repeater in Alamogordo, NM, where we used to live,
to talk to a family friend and amateur we know there.
Besides the realization that there aren't any repeaters in the area currently capable of doing this, we really didn't
know how to use such a system, so we got on the internet and started reading. IRLP is pretty much straight
forward, key up your mic, dial the node number and you connect. We wanted to know if Echolink worked the
same way, in the back of my mind I was sure it did, but you'd never guess it by reading any of the info on
Echolink that you find on the internet. We started at www.echolink.org, their diagram on the home page
shows two mobiles talking to each other through two geographically separated repeaters that are connected
via VoIP. Great, just what we want to do, but could we find any instructions for doing this? No. Everything
I read there talked about installing the software, registering a callsign, and then either connecting via
PC or setting up a transceiver or repeater as an end link for mobile users. But how do you use this system
from a mobile? We kept digging. We came up with an article from QST that described Echolink. It's got to
be in the article somewhere, right? It turned out to be the same thing. It said you download the software,
register a callsign, and then went into hardware options for connecting the computer to xcvr/repeaters.
Nothing on how a mobile user actually uses it via RF.
Mike asks around on the local repeaters to see if anyone knows how to use it. The replies he got were either
that the person had never used it or that it could only be accessed from a PC, not a mobile...
After several hours of reading on the internet, I finally download the Echolink users manual. I read and read
and read about how to setup the software, tie it to the radios, and set all of the options available for the
installation. Finally on page 50 something, it gives a breakdown of the actual user commands. Along
with some proper etiquette that I've picked up in today's reading, I'll describe it:
1. Tune in your local Echolink repeater or simplex link
2. Listen
3. If not in use, PTT and key in the node number that you wish to connect to
4. Wait
5. The system will return a voice status "Connected" "Busy" "Unable to connect", etc.
6. If connected, listen for 30 seconds, you may have broken in on a QSO in progress
7. ID: "KB8YHV, Abilene, TX"
8. Converse as you would on a local repeater
9. Disconnect by sending #
10. Voice prompt: "Disconnected"
There are many other commands that are available by default, such as keying in a callsign instead of node number,
connecting to a random node, and others. There are also custom defined commands that will return node status,
weather, or "speed dialing" that can vary from node to node.
From what I understand the IRLP network works exactly the same except uses a "73" command to disconnect
and IRLP will not accept users from a PC, it is RF only on both ends.
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RE: Will the FCC mail me a license?
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by K7RNV on February 4, 2008
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Hello from Reno Nv. the letter you got was your frn number and your password to get into you account with the fcc. your license will follow shortly...73 bob K7RNV
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RE: Will the FCC mail me a license?
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by KT4WO on March 27, 2008
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Just go open the "Corn Flake" box..its in there.
sorry... hee hee hee
KT4WO
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RE: Will the FCC mail me a license?
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by KR4WM on April 16, 2008
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Any particular reason you'd rather use commercial infrastructure to meet your amateur radio needs instead of buying a radio and an antenna and getting on the air? The whole point of becoming a ham is so you can transmit on a real radio. Anyone without a ham license can get on the internet and chat with people on the other side of our planet, but only a licensed ham has permission to use a radio and the airwaves to facilitate that. If upgrading to a general class so you can get on HF is the holdback, try 6 Meters and get your feet wet there. Summertime tropo is about to commence, and contacts out to 1500 miles will occur almost weekly. Passing the new general exam is a cakewalk. The questions are practically identical to the tech test you took. Jump in, the water's fine! -KR4WM
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RE: Will the FCC mail me a license?
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by KJ4BNF on April 16, 2008
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I totally agree with you on echolink. I've actually never used it, just have it set up on my comp. I would much rather be on the air and not the internet. Currently I have a decent 2m/440 setup. My antenna is up about 30 feet with very little loss. This summer I will begin setting up my HF rig and antennas. Don't worry I'm not the kind of person that would get their tech ticket and stop there and buy no rig. Usually when I start something I do it big and don't stop until I'm satisfied.
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RE: Will the FCC mail me a license?
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by KE5OKT on June 27, 2008
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Well, as a general that enjoys talking on HF, I will disagree with you on echolink. And I didn't get my liscense from a corn flakes box, nor did my 9 yr old son. In fact, he passed the test missing only 1 question, which was better than anyone in his test session that included a couple that were re-testing because they let their old ticket expire.
Anyway, since the purpose posted was that no one locally would answer (probably all disgruntled about the morse code), I can see why he wanted to try something else.
The downside of connecting to an echolink by radio is that the sysop that is controlling the computer can disable or change any of the codes. We had to change the one here since it conflicted with a control code on the repater it talks to.
As for "why?" Because it lets a simple, low power station talk to another that can be placed a long ways off. I've used it while in California assiting with fire damage, to talk to my son back in Oklahoma. I've used it while traveling. I've used it to talk to folks in NM from Oklahoma.
Sure I could use my HF rig, but it's unreliable where the signal will land, and Echolink just works.
But to answer the original question (and you probably already have this) yes, you will be mailed a certificate that includes a wallet-sized and one you can slap on the wall.
JimD
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