Foundations Of Amateur Radio

Foundations of Amateur Radio A recurring question for people who are not yet, or newly licensed is something along the lines of: I have a friend who is 400 kilometres away, can I talk to them on my hand-held 2m radio? This particular question arrives in different forms, but generally along the lines of attempting to communicate between point A and point B at some or other distance. The responses, on social media at least, less so on-air, are often very technical, or offer the advice to get a license, or to get a clue, or the question is ignored or dismissed. That's not helpful, or fair. The person asking the question has expressed an interest in our hobby and is looking for help. As a basic set of answers, if you're both standing on the ground, you'll generally be able to talk about 5km using your hand-held. Stuff between you like buildings and hills will lower that distance. If you both stand on a hill, you can talk further away. As an aside, you can talk to the International Space Station with a 2m, 144