I recently co-instructed a technician class (one of four or five sessions) and this is a few resources for the students as well as any new ham. I am going to try to keep this up-to-date.
First off, I think all new hams should read this article by Chris Seright KE5ZRT. He does a great job of what you should do now that you have a license.
Second off, the stuff below is a laundry-list of clubs, emergency groups, nets, and other items of interest to new hams. It is specific to Clermont County and the Cincinnati region. This is not all-inclusive!
Local Cincinnati Clubs
Milford Amateur Radio Club (we’re teaching this, so they get the plug!) (Facebook) (Twitter)
Other Cincinnati Clubs (Courtesy of WARN)
Local Cincinnati Emergency Groups
Clermont Amateur Radio Emergency Service
Weather Amateur Radio Network (Twitter) (Facebook)
Traffic Networks
Other Local Nets
Milford Amateur Radio Club Weekly Net – 9:00PM Local Sunday 147.345
OH-KY-IN Tech Talk Net – 9:00 PM Local Wednesdays 146.67
Ham Twit Net (Ham Radio Operators on Twitter) – Echolink W5RAW-R #387265 0100 UTC Thursdays
(in Cincinnati, winter 8:00 PM, summer 9:00 PM)
Maps and Band Plans
ARRL Band Plan (the legal band plan)
ARRL Band Plans (the Gentlemen’s Agreements)
Grid Square Map – Google Maps – PDF – printed copies available at most ham radio retailers
CQ Zone Map – ITU Zone Map – better printed copies available for free at most ham radio retailers
Podcasts
The Practical Amateur Radio Podcast – great operating resources, the author talks about different ways to have fun with radio
Amateur Radio Newsline – Amateur Radio News
Ham Nation – weekly feature show on the TWIT network featuring Bob Heil and Gordon West
Linux in the Hamshack Podcast – for those interested in Linux
Major National Clubs
Other Web Resources
QRZ – call lookup for QSL info, bios, etc. Also forums, other related.
eHam.net – Forums, news articles
Local Ham Radio Retailers
R&L Electronics – Hamilton
Universal Radio – Reynoldsburg (near Columbus)
AES – Cleveland
DX Engineering – Akron
Note: there are several others that ship and take ordering over the Internet – Google is your friend here, as is QST or CQ magazine.
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