Congratulations and Welcome to the World of Amateur Radio!

It takes a lot of study, effort, and persistence to become a licensed ham, but you did it, and you should be proud of your accomplishment. You've just joined one of the most interesting lifelong hobbies around. Amateur radio can be local or worldwide, technical or social, practical or experimental; sometimes all in one afternoon.

Whether you want to talk through local repeaters, build antennas, explore emergency communications, or just learn how radio actually works, there is always something new to discover with amateur radio. The carefully curated list below contains helpful and worthwhile sites that may be useful to new hams and experienced operators alike.

Getting Started

ARRL New Ham Resources — A friendly starting point from the national association for amateur radio, with beginner information, licensing help, and “what’s next?” guidance.

ARRL: Newly Licensed? — A useful next-step page for new operators who have passed the test and are ready to get on the air.

HamStudy.org — Excellent free study tools, flashcards, question pools, and practice exams for Technician, General, and Amateur Extra license classes.

HamExam.org — Another long-running free practice exam site for amateur radio license preparation.

Ham Radio Workbench — Indepth podcasts covering a range of amateur radio topics.

Callsign and License Tools

FCC Universal Licensing System — The official FCC system for managing amateur radio licenses, renewals, applications, and call sign records.

ARRL FCC License Data Search — A convenient way to search FCC amateur radio license data by call sign, name, city, ZIP code, or license class.

QRZ.com Callsign Database — One of the most widely used ham radio callsign lookup sites.

ARRL Vanity Call Sign Information — Explains what vanity call signs are and how the process works.

ARRL: Applying for a Vanity Call — Step-by-step guidance for applying through the FCC License Manager.

RadioQTH Vanity Callsign Search — Helpful for searching available vanity call signs and filtering possible choices.

Repeaters and Getting On the Air

RepeaterBook — A worldwide amateur radio repeater directory with searchable local repeater information.

ARRL Repeater Directory — The ARRL repeater directory is now powered by RepeaterBook data.

Calculators, Antennas, and Technical Tools

73QRZ Ham Radio Tools & Calculators — Includes antenna calculators, band plan tools, filter calculators, satellite tools, and other practical ham resources.

N6ACH Antenna Tools — Free antenna calculators for dipoles, J-poles, verticals, quad antennas, and other common ham projects.

Hintlink RF Exposure Calculator — Useful for estimating RF exposure compliance around an amateur radio station.

Popular Ham Radio Retailers

The following retailers are popular sources for radios, antennas, coax, power supplies, connectors, test equipment, and station accessories. WVARA does not endorse any specific vendor, but these are common names new hams will encounter.

Ham Radio Outlet — One of the best-known amateur radio retailers in the United States.

DX Engineering — Large selection of ham radio equipment, antennas, station accessories, and technical parts.

GigaParts — Amateur radio, electronics, computer, astronomy, and hobby equipment.

R&L Electronics — Longtime amateur radio and electronics retailer.

The Antenna Farm — Antennas, mounts, coax, connectors, and mobile radio installation parts.

Powerwerx — Power supplies, Anderson Powerpole accessories, DC distribution, batteries, and radio power products.

Signal Stuff — Popular antennas and accessories, especially for handheld radios.

Engage with the Amateur Radio Community

Amateur radio is a lifelong learning experience. Start simple. Program a few local repeaters, make your first contact, join a net, ask questions, and meet other operators. There are plenty of generous hams who really enjoy helping newcomers get comfortable on the air.

Welcome to the hobby! We're happy you are here!