Introduction of Ham Radio

What is Amateur Radio?

Amateur Radio is the wonderful hobby of experimentation and fun in the area of electronic communication. Almost every Government around the world have allocated frequencies for Radio Amateurs to use. Amateurs are very very skilled in operating in tough communicating conditions. When everything else fails, Amateur Radio works just fine. Testimonies are the services of Amateurs during the Sept-11 disaster, Hurricane Katrina, and the Indian Ocean Sunami, just to name a few. Amateurs (HAMs) are so called, not because they are not professionals at it, but because they don't do it to make money or not have any monetory interests in it.

Amateurs are usually the most knowledgable in the area of applied Communication and Electronics compared to even PhDs from an academic institutions when it comes to practice. If in doubt, ask a graduate engineer about radio antennas and about what frequency one should transmit during a particular period of an year. Ask same questions to an amateur and judge yourself. Hams practice, practice and experiment to make sure that Amateur Radio is there, and works...When All Else Fails!

People come into the hobby of amateur radio for different reasons. It can be for social reasons, for fun, for the thrill of communicating with hams in far off places (even on the International Space Station!). The become hams for a miriad of reasons. Many become interested in the hobby purely because of the technical enjoyment of it and for learning and advancing the radio art.

A lot of people who are interested in technology become ham radio operators. Ham radio can be very educational in a way the Internet can't touch: you can learn about analog electronics, and about the synthesis of analog and digital that is wireless data communications. You can build your own equipment from the ground up, while most computer folks only get to plug cards together. You can communicate around the world without an Internet - with nothing but air between you and the person you're talking to. You have the opportunity to communicate directly with astronauts and cosmonauts on board the International Space Station who are licensed Amateur Radio operators or can communicate through one of many orbiting satellites that hams have built and had launched as "hitch-hikers" along with commercial space payloads.

What Can Ham Radio Operators do?

Hams have fun with their hobby!Ham radio operators use two-way radio stations from their homes, cars, boats and outdoors to make hundreds of friends around town and around the world. They communicate with each other using voice, computers, and Morse code. Some hams bounce their signals off the upper regions of the atmosphere, so they can talk with hams on the other side of the world. Other hams use satellites. Many use hand-held radios that fit in their pockets.

Hams exchange pictures of each other using television. Some also like to work on electronic circuits, building their own radios and antennas. A few pioneers in Amateur Radio have even contributed to advances in technology that we all enjoy today. There are even ham-astronauts who take radios with them on the International Space Station and thrill thousands of hams on earth with a call from space!

Using even the simplest of radio setups and antennas, amateurs communicate with each other for fun, during emergencies, and even in contests. They handle messages for police and other public service organizations during all kinds of emergencies and events including, but in no way limited to:

o Earthquakes
o Tornadoes and floods
o Motorist accidents
o Fires and chemical spills
o Search and rescues
o Large public events such as marathons