About Band Plan

Hi! It's me! (Who else would it be?)

Rich operating a Navy MARS station, 1977

Hi! My name's Rich Clingman, K0OZK in OZarK, Missouri, U.S.A.

The history of a Ham

I was first licensed as Technician Class Amateur Radio Operator in 1976. I'm guessing that I got one of the first "N" calls: N7AEK. I built a Heathkit QRP rig and got discouraged trying to do CW. License expired. Mostly unused.

Well, this photo is evidence that I wasn't totally without Hamming. I helped operated the Navy MARS (Military Affiliate Radio System) station aboard the USS Kitty Hawk (CV63) on 1977-78 WestPac deployment. Long before the days of Internet and email, the way sailors contacted family and friends was by mail (four to six weeks), or by message or phone patch with the help of volunteers at the shipboard MARS station. This photo was used in an article in the shipboard newspaper.

Stupid Morse Code!

While moving in 2011, I came across my old CW key and thought, "If only I didn't need to know Morse Code." (Insert sad face here.) After a little investigation, I found that code was no longer required! (Happy face.) I studied for Technician and felt confident. (I'd been an Avionics Tech in the Navy.) Then, I found out I could take multiple tests and so I took all three (Tech, General, Extra).

Extra almost. Extra!

I earned General. I missed Extra by one question--you know, that question where you say, "I know it's that answer, but I'm going to choose this answer. So, that week I studied more seriously and passed Extra. (Another happy face.) I used Ham Test Online to study. They're still around, and the website looks the same. Don't let that put you off. They still have one of the best exam prep services available.

With my local club in Ramona, California, I was Network Control for our weekly net, and I helped with some test prep and exams, but did little else.

I've been a "7", a "6", now a "0"

When, in 2019, I moved to Ozark, Missouri, I decided to get a local "0" callsign. I found that K0OZK was available and got that. But I still hadn't done anything with my license.

Hoping to do more

Now, in 2023, wanting to get back into using my Amateur Radio License a bit more, I joined the Nixa Amateur Radio Club and started looking into the Ham band plan (what frequencies are available and what emissions are allowed). There didn't seem to be an interactive app available for that, so I started working on this site.

So, on June 10, 2023, after investigating Ham and SDR band plans, I registered the bandplan.info domain and started on this website. I hope to make an app, too, once I figure out what's needed. June 23, 2023, I made this site "live" with the first features. I've also registered the bandplan.radio domain and will get it going soon, possibly with a more international flavour. (Did you see what I did there? "Flavour." I'm already working on internationalization. Or as we say in computer geek speek, "I18N".)

Coming Soon (I hope)

Be sure to check out the Coming Features page.