I keep promising (threatening) to write about Amateur Radio and since I cannot complete some of the other articles I’m writing for one reason or another, it’s time.
Amateur Radio has attracted curious minds for nearly a century. It is really a disservice to call it a hobby; it’s more like several hundred hobbies under a single banner. There’s always something new to try and new aspects always being added to the hobby.
Amateur Radio operators are often called “hams” and if the truth be known, no one truly knows why. One theory is that it was a pejorative term by professional radio operators toward the hobbyists. Another theory is that in the early days of radio, people merely made up their own call signs, and someone chose “HAM.” A third is that it is a corruption of a cockney accent saying “Hamateur.” However it started, the name stuck. All male hams, regardless of age are called “Old Man” while all female hams are referred to as “Young Ladies.”
It’s called “Amateur Radio” because hams are not permitted to accept any payment for providing communications. The only exception is a school teacher who uses ham radio as part of his or her teaching.
Amateur Radio operators are licensed by the federal government after successfully passing a test. Currently there are three levels of license, with the knowledge required and the privileges available increasing with each level. A candidate must prepare for the exam, but young children have been known to pass all three levels. For many years the exam included proof of the ability to send and receive Morse code, but that is no longer required since Morse is only one of many modes that hams can use. The test includes regulations, electronics theory, safety and concepts of proper operation. The exam both requires and encourages an understanding of math and science.
Hams are allocated hundreds of frequencies spread across the radio frequency spectrum. There are several reasons specified in the US Code for the existence of the Amateur Radio Service, including providing communications in an emergency. Hams are frequently called upon during an emergency to provide additional communications for police and fire departments or social service agencies such as the America Red Cross or the Salvation Army. Telephone and cellular service can fail during a disaster either because of equipment damage or because the circuits become overloaded because so many people try to use them at the same time. By having a wide range of frequencies available, emergency communications can be maintained by hams under a wide range of circumstances.
Another reason the government specifically states for the existence of Amateur Radio is for “advancing skills in both the communications and technical phases of the art.” This is another reason that hams must pass an exam – they can design and build their own equipment. Hams have developed many new techniques for communicating. In the past, a lot of this was based on the physical construction of radio equipment. As technology has advanced much of this development now is accomplished through software, and computers connected to ham radios are able to discern digital messages under conditions in which humans would hear only noise.
Some hams have weather stations that transmit weather data; this data is picked up by the internet and may provide additional data for the National Weather Service. Others participate in SkyWarn; hams act as weather spotters and report their observations to the Weather Service. This allows meteorologists to augment their radar and other data with someone actually at the site of the weather.
Why do I believe that it is really so many hobbies, rather than a single one? You can talk to people almost anywhere on the globe. You can communicate by voice, by computer, by television or yes, even Morse code. Amateur radio is used by many of the small experimental satellites that are piggybacked on commercial launches. There are over 30 satellites currently in space that utilize amateur radio. There are several amateur radio stations on the International Space Station (ISS) and it is common for astronauts to get their ham licenses before they launch. The stations on the ISS are often used to conduct scheduled communications with school children to encourage an interest in math and science. It also provides additional communications for astronauts to talk with family as well as an emergency backup to regular communications. Call signs used on the ISS reflect its international status and have included US, Russian, German and Belgian calls.
Some hams like fox-hunting in which a radio beacon is hidden and teams compete to see who can locate it first. Others like to communicate by more challenging means such as bouncing a signal off the moon in order to reach another ham on earth. Some use high power to make as many contacts as possible while others use a few microwatts and may operate with a radio that is built in a breath mint tin. There literally is something for everybody.
There are many famous people who enjoy Amateur Radio including entertainers like Joe Walsh, Ronnie Milsap and Patty Loveless. The Peggy Sue Buddy Holly sang about (Peggy Sue Gerron-Rackham), New York Governor Pataki and aircraft designer Dick Rutan are all hams. Hams who are now “Silent Keys” include Marlon Brando, Arthur Godfrey and Walter Cronkite. Amateur Radio even has its own patron saint – St. Maximillan Kolbe who was a ham before being martyred at Auschwitz.
That wasn’t too painful, was it? For more information, go to http://www.arrl.org.
As always, for questions, comments or ideas for an article, write me at steve@sfnowak.com.
Copyright 2011 SF Nowak – All Rights Reserved
