A practical, what-you-need-to-know guide to getting started making amateur radio contacts via FM radios and satellites.

All that's required to begin is a good handheld radio, an inexpensive antenna, and a smartphone. Of course, you can get complicated (and expensive) in this area of the hobby, but we're going to keep it to the basics here.

Inside you'll find step-by-step tutorials on finding out where, when, and how to connect to the various "Amsat" satellites that can be accessed by amateur radio operators. The same information can be used to look up hundreds of other non-ham satellites that you can visually spot or listen to with a radio.

The sky has never been more accessible This short book gives you a simple step-by-step walkthrough of all the options to make long-distance contacts through an inexpensive Yagi antenna using mostly free software available on the Internet and includes many screenshots and examples. The whole process is detailed, from buying (or making) an antenna to programming your radio and adjusting for Doppler shift.

Once you know a few simple procedures, you can start making your first calls to individuals, ham repeaters, or world-wide talk groups.