As a community of communities, Amateur Radio can be whatever you want it to be. Whether you are looking for relaxation, excitement, enjoyment or a way to stretch your mental (and physical) horizons, Amateur Radio can provide it — even for those with time and money constraints. However it happens, communication between or among individuals is at the core of nearly all ham radio activities. In its most basic form, ham radio is two people saying “Hello!” to each other over the air, perhaps using inexpensive handheld transceivers or even homemade gear. In “Hamspeak,” a two-way, on-the-air communication is known as a “QSO” an old radiotelegraph, or Morse code, abbreviation often pronounced “CUE-so.” It’s nearly as simple for groups of hams with common interests to gather on the airwaves to share their thoughts and even pictures. These on-the-air get-togethers are called “nets” or “roundtables,” depending on their formality. When hams meet and engage in extended on-the-air conversations, they call it “ragchewing.”
Nets often provide an on-the-air venue to find other hams with similar interests both inside and outside of Amateur Radio. Topics may be as diverse as vintage radio, chess, gardening, rock climbing, railroads,computer programming, teaching or an interest in certain types of radio equipment. Religious groups and scattered friends and families may also organize nets. Nets form when like-minded hams gather on the air on a regular schedule. You can find your special interest in The ARRL Net Directory on the ARRLWeb.
With your ham radio license in hand, you can meet new friends, win awards, exchange “QSL cards” to confirm radio contacts by mail, challenge yourself and others, learn and educate, contribute to your community, travel, generate international goodwill and continue a century-old wireless communication tradition. Let’s take a closer look.
Hams at the Forefront
Over the years, the military and the electronics industry have often drawn on the ingenuity of radio amateurs to improve designs or solve problems. Hams provided the keystone for the development of modern military communication equipment, for example. In the 1950s, the Air Force needed to convert its long-range communication from Morse code to voice, and jet bombers had no room for skilled radio operators. At the time, hams already were experimenting with and discovering the advantages of single sideband (SSB) voice equipment. With SSB, hams were greatly extending the distances they could transmit. Air Force Generals Curtis LeMay and Francis “Butch” Griswold, both radio amateurs, hatched an experiment that used ham radio equipment at the Strategic Air Command headquarters. Using an SSB station in an aircraft flying around the world, LeMay and Griswold were able to stay in touch with Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska from around the globe. The easy modification of this ham radio equipment to meet military requirements saved the government millions of dollars in research costs.
More recent technological experimentation has focused on such techniques as software defined radio (SDR). This amazing approach enables electronic circuit designers to employ software to replace more costly — and bulkier — hardware components. It’s no coincidence or surprise that radio amateurs have been among those investigators doing the ground-level research and experimentation to bring this technology from the laboratory to the marketplace. Transceivers built on the SDR model now are making inroads within the Amateur Radio community and represent the likely wave of the future in equipment design. Affirming the relationship between Amateur Radio and cutting-edge technology, in 2009, Howard Schmidt, W7HAS, was appointed White House Cybersecurity Coordinator.
ARRL member Schmidt is one of the world’s leading authorities on computer security, with some 40 years of experience in government, business and law enforcement. Schmidt credits ham radio with helping him launch his career. “Building … computers to support my ham radio hobby gave me the technical skills that I need to … start doing computer crime investigations and work on the early stages of computer forensics, in turn enabling me to start working on cybersecurity issues.” Hams are often found in industry and the military as technology presses ahead.
More recent technological experimentation has focused on such techniques as software defined radio (SDR). This amazing approach enables electronic circuit designers to employ software to replace more costly — and bulkier — hardware components. It’s no coincidence or surprise that radio amateurs have been among those investigators doing the ground-level research and experimentation to bring this technology from the laboratory to the marketplace. Transceivers built on the SDR model now are making inroads within the Amateur Radio community and represent the likely wave of the future in equipment design. Affirming the relationship between Amateur Radio and cutting-edge technology, in 2009, Howard Schmidt, W7HAS, was appointed White House Cybersecurity Coordinator.
ARRL member Schmidt is one of the world’s leading authorities on computer security, with some 40 years of experience in government, business and law enforcement. Schmidt credits ham radio with helping him launch his career. “Building … computers to support my ham radio hobby gave me the technical skills that I need to … start doing computer crime investigations and work on the early stages of computer forensics, in turn enabling me to start working on cybersecurity issues.” Hams are often found in industry and the military as technology presses ahead.
HAMS ARE EVERYWHERE!
Amateur Radio is open and accessible to everyone. Hams are mothers, fathers, sons and daughters of all ages, ethnic backgrounds and physical abilities who are part of a unique worldwide community of licensed radio hobbyists. These individuals come from all walks of life. Some are even well-known celebrities. They have one thing in common, however.
All find joy and excitement by experiencing radio communication and electronics on a very personal level.
Fig 1.1 — Sue Cook, AI6YL enjoys operating RTTY. She is shown here as P4ØYL, operating from the island of Aruba in the 2010 ARRL RTTY Roundup contest. (AI6YL photo)
How can you spot a radio amateur? Sometimes it’s easy. The driver of that car in front of you sporting an “odd-looking” antenna may be a ham who’s equipped his vehicle for mobile operation. Your neighbor on the next block with the wires strung between trees or, perhaps, a tower supporting what looks like a very large television antenna probably is one too.
Modern technology continues to make ham radio more accessible to all, including those on a tight budget or confronting physical challenges. People who are not as mobile as they’d like to be find the world of Amateur Radio a rewarding place to make friends — on the next block or around the globe. It’s possible for a ham to control a transmitting and receiving station via the Internet using a laptop computer, even if that station is thousands of miles distant.
For many radio amateurs, a relaxing evening at home is having a two-way radio conversation with a friend in Frankfort, Kentucky — or even Frankfurt, Germany. Unlike any other hobby, Amateur Radio recognizes no international or political boundaries, and it brings the world together as good friends.
All find joy and excitement by experiencing radio communication and electronics on a very personal level.
Fig 1.1 — Sue Cook, AI6YL enjoys operating RTTY. She is shown here as P4ØYL, operating from the island of Aruba in the 2010 ARRL RTTY Roundup contest. (AI6YL photo)
How can you spot a radio amateur? Sometimes it’s easy. The driver of that car in front of you sporting an “odd-looking” antenna may be a ham who’s equipped his vehicle for mobile operation. Your neighbor on the next block with the wires strung between trees or, perhaps, a tower supporting what looks like a very large television antenna probably is one too.
Modern technology continues to make ham radio more accessible to all, including those on a tight budget or confronting physical challenges. People who are not as mobile as they’d like to be find the world of Amateur Radio a rewarding place to make friends — on the next block or around the globe. It’s possible for a ham to control a transmitting and receiving station via the Internet using a laptop computer, even if that station is thousands of miles distant.
Fig 1.2 — Ham radio contests or “radiosport” cross borders around the world. Here, David Hodge, XE1/N6AN and Ramon Santiago V, XE1KK operate during the IARU HF World Championships, held every year in July. (XE1KK photo)
For many radio amateurs, a relaxing evening at home is having a two-way radio conversation with a friend in Frankfort, Kentucky — or even Frankfurt, Germany. Unlike any other hobby, Amateur Radio recognizes no international or political boundaries, and it brings the world together as good friends.
1.1.1 Something for Everyone
Amateur Radio offers such a wide range of activities that everyone can find a favorite niche. As one of the few truly international hobbies, ham radio offers the ability to communicate with other similarly licensed aficionados all over the world. The competition of “radiosport” — just to pick one activity many hams enjoy — helps operators to improve their skills and stations. Further, ham radio offers opportunities to serve the public by supporting communication in disasters and emergencies, and it’s a platform for scientific experimentation.
Ham radio has extended its horizon into space. The International Space Station boasts a ham radio station, and most ISS crew members are Amateur Radio licensees. Thanks to the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program, properly equipped hams can talk directly with NASA astronauts in space. Hams contact each other through Earth-orbiting satellites designed and built by other radio amateurs, and they even bounce radio signals off the moon and to other hams back on Earth.
Hams talk with one another from cars, while hiking or biking in the mountains, from remote campsites or while boating. Through a plethora of activities, hams learn a lot, establish lifelong friendships and, perhaps most important, have a lot of fun. Along the way, radio amateurs often contribute some of the genius behind the latest technological innovations. In all likelihood, you’re already a ham or at least have experimented with radio and electronics yourself and are thinking about becoming one. This Handbook is an invaluable resource that reveals and explains the “mysteries” governing electronics in general and in radio — or wireless — communication in particular, especially as it pertains to Amateur Radio.
Ham radio has extended its horizon into space. The International Space Station boasts a ham radio station, and most ISS crew members are Amateur Radio licensees. Thanks to the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program, properly equipped hams can talk directly with NASA astronauts in space. Hams contact each other through Earth-orbiting satellites designed and built by other radio amateurs, and they even bounce radio signals off the moon and to other hams back on Earth.
Hams talk with one another from cars, while hiking or biking in the mountains, from remote campsites or while boating. Through a plethora of activities, hams learn a lot, establish lifelong friendships and, perhaps most important, have a lot of fun. Along the way, radio amateurs often contribute some of the genius behind the latest technological innovations. In all likelihood, you’re already a ham or at least have experimented with radio and electronics yourself and are thinking about becoming one. This Handbook is an invaluable resource that reveals and explains the “mysteries” governing electronics in general and in radio — or wireless — communication in particular, especially as it pertains to Amateur Radio.
1.1 Do-It-Yourself Wireless
Ever evolving, Amateur Radio has always been what its participants bring to it and what they make of it. “Make” is a key word in ham radio, since many enthusiasts still enjoy building their own radio communication equipment and electronics. It is in such “hands-on” activities that this Handbook often comes into play.
Hams also “make” contact with each other using equipment they’ve bought or built, or a combination of the two, over a wide range of the radio spectrum, without the need for any external infrastructure — such as the wired or cellular telephone network or the Internet.
The methods hams use to keep in touch range from the venerable Morse code — no longer a licensing requirement, by the way — to modern digital modes and television. The marriage between Amateur Radio and computer technology grows stronger by the day as hams invent ever more creative ways to make computers and the Internet essential station components. The wonder of software defined radio (SDR) techniques has even made it possible to create virtual radio communication gear. SDRs require a minimum of physical components; sophisticated computer software does the heavy lifting!
Hams also “make” contact with each other using equipment they’ve bought or built, or a combination of the two, over a wide range of the radio spectrum, without the need for any external infrastructure — such as the wired or cellular telephone network or the Internet.
The methods hams use to keep in touch range from the venerable Morse code — no longer a licensing requirement, by the way — to modern digital modes and television. The marriage between Amateur Radio and computer technology grows stronger by the day as hams invent ever more creative ways to make computers and the Internet essential station components. The wonder of software defined radio (SDR) techniques has even made it possible to create virtual radio communication gear. SDRs require a minimum of physical components; sophisticated computer software does the heavy lifting!
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