Setting yourself up on QRZ.com is probably one of the most important things you should do once you’ve got your callsign and you’re starting out on-air. You will use QRZ.com almost every time you make a contact on the air, and in fact, almost all HAM's use this site as well. There are competitors out there, of course, but QRZ.com is the largest and most used.

What is QRZ.com?

The short answer is simply, an on-line database to lookup callsigns in order to obtain more information about the callsign, their QTH location, and more information about the amateur operator themselves. If you would like to read more about the history of QRZ.com, check out their About QRZ page. It discusses the history on how this great website and database got started and is not a valuable tool for HAMS around the world.

Below is an interview with Tim Duffy (K3LR), DX Engineering and Fred Lloyd, (AA7BQ) the owner, and creator of QRZ.com

Creating your account and claiming your callsign

Once you receive your license, your callsign will probably show up within the QRZ.com database within a few days. Other HAMS will use this to look you up and find out more information, so it would make sense to setup your account and claim your callsign on their websites.

1. Connect to: https://ssl.qrz.com/reg?op=newacct
2. Enter your call sign and click continue.
3. Enter a valid e-mail address and click continue.
4. Answer the math question that they have for validation and click answer.
5. Verify your information, then click on register.
6. You will be sent a validation e-mail. Within that email will be a link to validate the account and a validation code. You will need this information to continue, so it is very important to use a valid email address to register.
7. When you click on the link to validate your account, you will be asked to enter a password. Enter your password twice, then click the submit button.
8. You will then be prompted to log into your account. Go ahead and try it out.

Snaz Up Your Bio Page

Once you get your QRZ account setup, you can then use some of the many functions on the site besides the callsign lookup. One thing you can do is "snaz up" your biography page. QRZ.com has a built-in web page editor that will allow you to make changes, post pictures, and add some cool things to the page. This is what other HAMS will see when they look you up, so it is a great way to provide more information about yourself or club.

The following video will give you a little tutorial on how you can "snaz up" your QRZ.com page.

Do you have questions or more information to share?