Radio, Amateur, is a popular hobby in which individuals operate small, personal radio stations to communicate with other operators locally and throughout the world. Amateur radio is often called ham radio, and operators are frequently referred to as hams. Enthusiasts come from all backgrounds, professions, and age groups.
Amateur radio operators may transmit radio signals on designated groups of bands, or frequencies, within the radio spectrum. Frequencies are measured in hertz (cycles per second). The frequencies most often used for amateur radio are in the middle or high frequency ranges, often called short wave. Short wave is useful for long-distance international communication (see Short waves).
Amateur radio differs from a service called citizens band (CB) radio. The biggest difference is that, in most countries, amateur radio operation requires a federally approved license while CB is unlicensed. Citizens band also offers fewer frequencies than amateur radio and is more limited in power and range. For more information on CB, see Citizens band radio.
Many amateur radio operators enjoy talking to hams in faraway places. Hams send messages using voice and computer signals. Amateurs may use an internationally accepted set of three-letter signals called Q signals because they all begin with the letter Q. For example, the signal QTH? means “What is your location?” Q signals enable radio operators without a common language to understand each other.
Uses of amateur radio.
Hams have long provided voluntary communications in times of emergency. Fires, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, and other disasters can interrupt telephone service and other means of communication. Hams often work with national and international disaster relief organizations, as well as with local emergency officials. Organized amateur radio groups also routinely provide assistance during such community events as parades, marathons, and bicycle races.
Amateur radio communications use signals relayed via satellite to reach around the world. Many nations have allowed amateur radio satellites to “hitchhike” into orbit during the launch of other satellites. Most amateur radio satellites are called Oscars. The word Oscar comes from the term Orbiting Satellite Carrying Amateur Radio. Some schools tune in Oscars to provide students with firsthand experience in space science.
Some hams bounce their signals off the moon to communicate with hams on the other side of the world. Using a device called a radio modem, hams may transmit text messages from one computer to another. Some hams even send television pictures over amateur radio frequencies.
Equipment.
Some operators enjoy building their own radios from kits, while others purchase commercially manufactured equipment. A complete amateur radio station includes an antenna and a transceiver, which combines a transmitter and a receiver in a single unit. By purchasing used equipment, hams can assemble a station for only a few hundred dollars. Operators can also get “on the air” using an even cheaper handheld radio. Sophisticated stations may cost thousands of dollars.
Licenses.
Licenses. In the United States, amateur radio operators are required to earn a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) license. There are three levels of radio licenses: (1) Technician, (2) General, and (3) Amateur Extra. Starting with the Technician level, each license requires greater knowledge and abilities, and grants access to more frequencies.
The Technician class license
gives access to amateur radio frequencies above 30 megahertz (millions of hertz), enabling licensees to legally communicate within North America. To earn the license, an applicant must pass a written examination on radio theory, FCC regulations, and operating practices.
The General class license
grants some operating privileges on all amateur radio bands and the use of all operating modes. Licensees thus can legally communicate with hams throughout the world. To earn the license, an applicant must pass a written examination. Applicants must also have passed the Technician examination.
The Amateur Extra class license
grants all available United States amateur radio operating privileges. To earn the license, an applicant must pass a written examination. Licensees must also have passed all the Technician and General class examinations.
Many local clubs offer courses that prepare people to take the license examinations. Prospective hams may also prepare for the exams on their own using a variety of print and Internet-based study guides and tools.
In Canada, a government organization called Industry Canada issues a single license for amateur radio operators. The governments of many other countries offer similar licenses.
Amateur radio organizations.
Many amateur radio operators belong to local clubs or national organizations. These clubs and organizations sponsor contests and other events for operators. Many national organizations produce magazines, websites, and other publications related to amateur radio.
The International Amateur Radio Union, with headquarters in Newington, Connecticut, is a federation of amateur radio societies in many countries. Newington is also the headquarters of the national organization in the United States, the American Radio Relay League. The Canadian organization is Radio Amateurs of Canada, based in Ottawa, Ontario. The amateur radio society in the United Kingdom is the Radio Society of Great Britain, with headquarters in Bedford, England.
History.
In 1901, the Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi and his staff successfully sent and received radio signals across the Atlantic Ocean from England to Newfoundland. Marconi’s wireless feat encouraged many eager experimenters to set up their own radio stations and begin communicating with each other over the airwaves. Amateur radio regulation began in the United States when Congress, believing that a law was necessary to prevent radio interference, passed the Radio Act of 1912. Amateur radio operators were restricted to short-wave frequencies because experts thought those frequencies had little potential for development. But hams were soon sending messages from coast to coast, showing the value of short-wave radio for long-distance transmission.
Amateurs pioneered radio in many ways. In 1919, a ham named Frank Conrad used his station in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, to transmit recorded music for the entertainment of people in the area listening on small crystal radios. While transmitting music via amateur radio is not permitted today, this early use helped lead to commercial radio broadcasting. In the late 1930’s, a United States amateur radio operator named Grote Reber built the first radio telescope, a bowl-shaped antenna that collects radio waves, and received radio noise from outer space. In 1961, the first amateur radio satellite, Oscar 1, was launched. Oscar 1 was also the first nongovernmental, noncommercial satellite. The first direct satellite communication between the Soviet Union and the United States took place via the Oscar 4 amateur radio satellite in 1965.
See also Marconi, Guglielmo; Morse code; Radio; Short waves; Very high frequency waves.
