More stuff:
Once you pass the first test and get your license, you have, in effect, a radio station. You will get your own call sign, that will sound vaguely like any other radio station–KPCC, WNYU, etc. My only radios are in my Jeep, and a very small handheld mobile that can go anywhere really. So wherever I am is where my station is.
The Tech class license does not permit broadcasting on what is commonly referred to as shortwave, except in CW (morse code) in a couple of very narrow bands. In the radio world, most people refer to SW bands by wavelength: 40 meters, 20 meters, even as long as 160 meters. Weirdly, the “short” in shortwave can be a bit confusing I suppose, as the more commonly used frequencies are not in fact in the shortwave spectrum, but in the VHF and UHF spectra, 6 meters, 2 meters, and 70cm being the most common. There is amateur use above those, but they tend to get more specialized.
All of this said, there is a small degree of unruliness that is present on amateur radio. You quickly figure out which frequencies carry that. Supposedly, there are even some pirate repeaters (radio towers on high points that in effect act as relays for VHF/UHF frequencies, which cannot bounce off the ionosphere like shortwave can; VHF/UHF is line-of-sight) that are tolerated by the FCC; the idea being, it keeps the profanity and insanity contained…but the FCC would never admit to it I imagine.
If you’re doing some sort of sporadic transmissions without a repeater with agreed-upon participants (operating in what’s called simplex, vs. duplex, which involves paired frequencies and repeaters), you should be fine.
Yikes! TMI!
