Starting out in #amateurradio in AU #VK #hamradio

Hi, I am Andrew, VK2AWN. I got my Foundation Licence in Australia in late 2024. Here are my pre and post attainment workflows.

Learning

Take a look at what’s on offer in amateur radio with the Wireless Institute of Australia, here and here.
Understand what you need to learn about to get your licence at the government website (ACMA – Australian Communications and Media Authority).
While you are there, set up an ACMA account (you will need it later).
Consider getting this book – The Foundation Manual from the Wireless Institute of Australia.
Watch all of the tutorials in this YouTube Playlist.
Do a few test exams.

Find a local person to test you (officially) with a view to passing, getting licensed (it’s pretty quick), and getting on air.
If successful, your assessor will notify ACMA. ACMA will email you and ask you to pay the licence fee and soon after you will receive a “Recognition Certificate“. It’s all pretty quick and easy.
If you fail your test, your assessor will also advise ACMA and you won’t be able to sit again until the next round of exam papers are issued (it can be up to three months).
Now to the fun part of the process. If you pass, you can get a call sign assigned by ACMA or choose your own (for your state or territory). You can see what’s available at the ACMA site and choosing your own comes at an extra cost. You will receive a “Call sign certificate“. But put a bit of thought into your two or three letters. It’s who you are on air and what you will be known by. For example, I chose VK2AWN, which ‘aligns’ with my online brand – andrewwoodward dot net.
You’re done!

Consider doing this course by HamRadioDX, Hayden Honeywell, VK7HH from Tasmania.
Consider this book (Kindle AUD8).
Dig through these audio (podcast) explainers from the American Radio Relay League.
Take a look at these videos on YouTube by Ham Radio Prep.
Consider joining your local radio club.
Consider joining the Wireless Institute of Australia (and get your first year free).

VK Classifieds
Facebook Market: VK Ham Sales and Service
Facebook Market: VKHam swap,buy,sell
Facebook Marketplace, Gumtree, eBay, Amazon and AliExpress all have a lot of amateur radio gear
There are many, many retailers of new and used gear
My first local stop for bits and pieces is Jaycar

Your best friend in ham or amateur radio is YouTube. Start here for EVERYTHING! It’s quite incredible how much content there is.
Tip: When you search, do two searches – one for “amateur radio” and your subject, like “Apple” and the other for “ham radio” and your subject. They can throw up different results. For example, do a search for “Apple ham radio” and another for “Apple amateur radio”. Sometimes they deliver the same, but not always.
VK7HH – Hayden Honeywell from Tasmania. He’s an Aussie guy who explains things simply and in a nice way. He’s on the web and YouTube.
VK3YE – Peter Parker from Victoria on the web and YouTube.
There are many, many YouTubers (like thousands). These two are a good starting point.
Others I like and follow are: Ham Radio Tube (USA), HamTech (UK), Jonathan M0JSX (UK) and Tech Minds (UK).
I focus on Apple (HR and AR) Icom, HF, FT8, AMSAT, POTA, WSPR and D-Star feeds.

Sign up to QRZ (it’s the worldwide directory of operators) and set up a page (it’s clunky but it works) .
Get a QRZ XML logbook data subscription (this provides for syncing and access by many programs).
The above two points are enough to get you an online logbook that works. You can then explore the bottomless pool of apps and services, such as LOTW and eQSL. Both are clunky but functional. But you can’t live quite happily with just QRZ.
Here’s a good thought starter on logging and an overview of apps and services..

5 September 2025