About HamStart
HamStart is a free, tool-first reference site for beginner US ham radio operators. Our mission is to help newcomers get licensed, choose gear, and get on the air using practical calculators and honest guides, not marketing hype. We publish no fake reviews, prices, or star ratings, and our recommendations stay independent of any advertiser or affiliate program.
Our mission
Getting into ham radio should not require wading through hype, affiliate spam, and outdated forum threads. HamStart exists to give brand-new and newly licensed US hams a straight answer: what to study, what to buy, how to put up an antenna, and how to stay legal and safe.
We are tool-first. Whenever a question can be answered with a calculator or a side-by-side comparison, we build that tool and let you check the numbers yourself. The writing exists to explain the tools and fill in the context, not to sell you a headline.
What we will and won't do
- We won't publish fabricated reviews, star ratings, prices, or availability claims.
- We won't repeat marketing range claims. A typical handheld does roughly 1 to 5 miles simplex line-of-sight, much farther through a repeater — not the "36 miles" printed on some boxes.
- We won't make medical, legal, or safety promises we can't back up.
- We will tell you when gear is only "good enough," and when a cheaper option is genuinely fine.
- We will point you to primary sources — the FCC, ARRL, and HamStudy.org — so you can verify anything important.
How our content is made and reviewed
Every guide starts from primary sources: FCC Part 97 rules, the current published question pools, manufacturer specifications, and hands-on experience with the gear categories we cover. We favor claims we can verify and formulas you can reproduce.
Time-sensitive material is dated and revisited when the facts change. For example, the US Technician question pool rotates on a four-year cycle, so study content is checked against the pool that is currently in effect and updated when a new pool takes over. Where a number depends on your specific setup — antenna length, coax loss, SWR — we give you a calculator and tell you to confirm with a meter rather than trusting a single printed figure.
Editorial independence
HamStart is supported by advertising and by affiliate programs such as Amazon Associates. Those relationships pay for hosting and time; they do not buy placement. We choose what to recommend before considering whether a link earns anything, and we do not accept payment to feature or rank a product.
Advertising is kept clearly separate from editorial recommendations, and ads are labeled. For the full picture, see our affiliate disclosure, privacy policy, and terms of use. Questions or corrections are always welcome — see the contact page.