So passed both today. But I still feel like I have no idea what I'm doing. So what do I do now? What were everyone's first steps after passing tests?

Well, first of all, a big congrats to you, jonny4523  
Now's the fun part.  Helping you spend your money!  There are so many different areas you can explore.  What are your interests?  Making contacts locally, regionally, or around the world?  Tell us what you'd like to get out of this new hobby.  

Congrats!!!  Take a week or two and enjoy the new certs...  :)  Have you bought your new station equip yet or ?

First things first.

Congratulations!

Get a V/UHF handheld. Fairly good ones may be had for less than $75.00. Most of the Baofengs are well spoken of.

Get a HT, get a spare battery (if it'll take it), get a mag mount antenna for your vehicle. Learn the frequencies of the local repeater, and those several miles around your AO.

Learn about FM Satellites! and...

I can't help but brag about the antenna I designed. It's effective on VHF and UHF, and I've worked a few satellites with it. Finally, it's a fun weekend project!

Link

CONGRATS!




Here is my Where to Start Page

it'll take a few days for your ticket to show up; so Immerse yourself in these fine ham radio podcast to help pass the time Link

I have a few Baefongs that I use for weather stuff during storms. But really haven't bought anything nice. I don't think I want a wall full of equipment. I'd like to get something as universal as possible. But my extremely limited experience provides no help to what I should get. Looking at Yaesu FT-857D as it seems to be able to do a lot and could serve as both a mobile and home radio.

I think my end game is to gain experience so that it becomes another tool in my tool belt during an emergency. If phone networks were to go down, I could communicate with friends in the area to make sure everyone is safe.

Congrats!  


I skipped over the VHF/UHF handy talkies, and went straight to HF.

First I put in a decent grounding system, and ran a feed line (coax) for my attic antennas. Then I put up my  attic antenna (HOA restrictions).  Next I bought a desk and started setting up my spare bedroom "shack".  That included things like more grounding for the rigs, and surge suppressors for the power lines.  And last but not least, I bought a radio kit. And once I put it together, I finally managed to get on the air.  



Disclamer:  Even though I have only been licensed about four years, I have been exposed to amateur radio since the 1960s, because my dad was a ham when I was growing up.  I knew my interests were in HF, so that is where I started.  Getting into HF can be  a little expensive, so starting small and getting some exposure to the various areas of amateur radio (perhaps with a local club....if you can find a good one) might be a good way to find out where your interests lie.

I have one, and like it!

Don't go out and buy a bunch of crap..  Find a seasoned Ham and chew the fat with them and ask questions.   Most Elmers will help you learn and will keep you from going out and buying something you don't need.   I also recommend listening to the Fo time podcast/Hamradio360 podcast as it is very helpful.   I would recommend starting with episode 1 and work your way thru them.  There is so much out on the web, youtube, etc  but some things are not covered..  BTW  Congrats on the license,  feels good huh..  You already have step 1 covered as you are asking questions..   I technically am a new ham as well,  two years and I am amazed at how much I am learning.   Literally, as I type this I am about to make a contact on 40m on cw..   Rtty is all over the band but I can still make plenty of contacts while having a cold one..    Find an Elmer..  where do you live?

Prosise

Congratulations! You're about to enter a whole new world!

An inexpensive handy-talky (HT) is a good way to start. For use inside the house, a homemade omni-directional vertical is the way to go. DIY, or "homebrewing" as we called it is big in the world of ham radio so here are three antennas you can build, two for 2 Meters and one for 2 and 440. Where the activity is in your AO will determine which antenna is needed: 2 Meters, 440 MHz, or both. These can be mounted outside, in the attic, or maybe even in a room.
2 Meter ground plane: http://www.hamuniverse.com/kc0ynr2metergppvc.html
2 Meter "copper cactus: http://www.eham.net/articles/2418
2 Meter/440 "copper cactus": http://www.n7qvc.com/copper-cactus-dual-band-super-j-pole-antenna-project/
If the repeaters are fairly close in, you may be able to use the magnetic mount antenna mentioned earlier by placing it on top of any metallic surface, refrigerator, metal bookshelf, BBQ grill, etc.

HF is where the world-wide action is. There are several good radios that will get you started without having to spend a large fortune. The HF antenna you can easily make yourself as It's basically some wire, insulators, coax cable, rope, and a couple of points to hang it from.

The problem with that is that I LOVE new gear. It's a disease. It's hard not to go spend money right away.

I'm in Lafayette, IN.

Oh, well, in that case, here ya go! Ain't it purty?



Seriously, it's a very nice radio that gives you a lot of bang for your buck.

agree. I am using thr 7300 and very pleased with the radio.  Antenna is the most important thing to get..  repeat that 10 times...  A good antenna with a par radio kicks butt.  A good radio with a bad antenna is not going to work very well...

prosise

For HF, you'll probably "homebrew" your antenna, so here's a few types:
Simple half wave dipole: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQ4FRZ02uuA
Ladder-line fed dipole: http://www.arrl.org/random-length-multiband-dipoles
Multi-band fan dipole: http://www.hamuniverse.com/multidipole.html
Multi-band off-center-fed dipole: http://www.buxcomm.com/windom.htm
Dipole for limited space: http://www.k7mem.com/Electronic_Notebook/antennas/shortant.html
End-fed antenna: http://hamuniverse.com/kl7jrendfed.html
One source for materials: http://www.thewireman.com/.
MFJ Enterprises also has a good selection of wire, coax, insulators, and antenna kits.

There are also vertical antennas if your space is limited. Unless it's a single-band dipole hung vertically from a tree, you'll probably want to purchase one. Most of these are multi-band, but do require radials to operate efficiently. There are several manufacturers, so it pays to shop around.

Another thing to consider, the American Radio Radio League or ARRL, ham radio's version of the NRA. Some think it's not worth the cost, others (like me) do. Besides other activities, they are a lobbying group for legislation that will affect ham radio. With more and more wireless devices coming online every day, spectrum is becoming scarce and some consider our band allocations as low-hanging fruit ripe for the picking. Much of the electronic equipment available today can and does cause harmful interference, so another function is to try to make sure the FCC does its job to keep it at least partway under control.

Their monthly magazine, QST, is a good way to keep up with what's happening in amateur radio. There are also equipment reviews, construction projects and articles about the various contests and events that are going on.

If you're the outdoors type, you might enjoy taking ham radio along, or even going so far as taking it to the high peaks.
https://www.youtube.com/user/goathiker
Goats are optional

Additional info on dipoles:
Tuning the dipole: http://hamuniverse.com/easydipole.html  FWIW, the article lists three methods, I prefer the first one.
It also mentions wrapping and unwrapping, or cutting and splicing the wire. It's much easier if you get a couple of split bolt connectors to use while you're adjusting the antenna to the right length.



Most electrical supply houses and big box stores carry them. Get the smallest size. Once the antenna is resonant, wrap and solder the ends and save the connectors for the next project.

Send your credit card info to MidwestJ and we'll set you up right.

First, read Ethcis and Operating Procedures for the Radio Amateur.

Next, print out some copies of this band plan card so you know where you can play on the bands and in what way.

As suggested above, find a radio club near you and see if you can get some elmering for your new hobby.  Clubs also have the advantage of somehow knowing a bunch of people with great used equipment, especially for HF.

Finally, plan for where you will put HF antennas.  A $30 Baofeng is great as a beater radio for VHF and UHF, but there's lots more fun on HF.  Dipoles are best, but take this advice from when I was starting out:  do ANYTHING to put up any wire to get on the air that you can.  Even an end-fed random wire got me to Australia, and it can get you there too.

Welcome to amateur radio!

First, for both HF and VHF/UHF, forget the idea of moving the same rig in and out of the house, into the vehicle
and back.  It just doesn't work out.

HF is very difficult to get a signal out when operating mobile.  I would leave that until later and just leave the HF
rig in the house.

VHF/UHF, buy two identical rigs, program the same but for power output.  All mobile channels should be programmed
full power.  It is easy enough to reduce power if you know you are close to a repeater, but you want to start off full
power.  For your shack, where you know the range to various repeaters, you can program it such that close repeaters
are set to low power.  Also, it takes a lot less power for an antenna on your roof top or a mast than the antenna on
your vehicle for the same effective range.  I have a repeater in the next town set for 65 watts in my vehicle, but my
base rig, for that same repeater, 5 watts.  

You want to get used to operating the mobile rig without having to look things up in the manual.  And as much as
possible, without having to look at the rig.  Get used to its operation at home when you are not distracted by driving,
or more importantly, when operating the radio will not distract you from driving.  DO NOT, for now, install a rig in
your vehicle.  Learn to operate at home, both the radio, and you.  When you put a radio in the vehicle, buy an
identical radio for that purpose.

For an HF rig, buy a 100 w rig.  QRP (low power, under 5 watts) can be fun and all, backpacking, camping, but can
be frustrating, too.  For your base rig 100 watts.  

Power is less important for VHF/UHF.  Antenna height is a much bigger factor.  A 50 watt rig is more than enough
for mobile.

You need a tuner for your HF rig.  "You don't need a tuner, just a resonant antenna."  Good theory, like needing only
a single shot rifle if you are a good shot.  But you can operate on a lot of RF real estate where the antenna is less
resonant, or not resonant at all with a tuner.  Lack of tuner limits you, and a tuner does not "waste power" to a degree
where it makes any difference to the station called.  Automatic tuners are quick and effective, a manual tuner is no
more efficient.  My experience, if an LDG tuner won't find a tuning solution for a particular antenna and frequency, then
a manual tuner will not either.  I have both, and have used them side by side.  I prefer my LDG auto tuners.

"Shack-in-a-box" radios (HF/VHF/UHF) such as the FT-857, FT-897 don't do anything particularly well.  I found I really
did need two separate radios, one for HF, one for UHF/VHF.  They are used differently.  HF you dial around the bands,
look for a contact, etc.  VHF/UHF is channelized, and much operation on repeaters.  These radios are left on one
frequency to monitor, and many times you may be working on HF while monitoring a local VHF repeater with the other
rig.  An all-in-one radio can't do this.

Just a few thoughts and suggestions.

I have (2) 857D's...one in my car and one I use for SOTA/IOTA/alternate QTH locations.

They are great for shack in the box and portable (permanent install) but I feel they ahould be an alternate radio and not your primary QTH radio.

You need a good radio with modern IF filtering and 100W for your first rig at your house.

If I were starting over right now I would buy the IC-7300 without blinking.

Get an LDG tuner and make your own antennas and you are off to the races.

Need any wire for dipoles?

Step 1 - send your callsign and address to Piccolo in an IM.  Don't ask why, just do it.

This.

The IC-7300 has an internal automatic antenna tuner.

With a very limited range.

They must have downgraded their ATU quite a bit. My '98 vintage IC-746 will tune my 80/40 trap dipole on all bands but the upper end of 75 Meters.