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Amateur Radio

Ham Radio

"When we arrived and walked into his den, I noticed that the radio he had was no ordinary radio. A few moments after he hooked his radio equipment up and turned it on, I heard the crackling sounds of static coming from the speaker. Shortly after, there was a voice on the other end. It was his grandfather, he lived several states away"

Many of you may be asking yourself right now what is Amateur radio? That is the first question I get asked when telling people what my hobbies are. The Amateur Radio Service provides an opportunity for you to learn the art of communications and electronics. With our radios we can communicate across town, across the country, and even to the astronauts aboard the International Space Station. Ham operators provide assistance in situations when other communications have failed. From 9-11, Hurricane Katrina, to your local tornado, amateur radio operators were there assisting fire departments, police department, hospitals, and red cross with communications till there systems could be repaired.

Ok so you may be asking how this is different than say CB and FRS radios. Well for one thing those radio services are not monitored and have a limited number of operating frequencies. With Amateur Radio, our communications are carried out in a professional manner. The Amateur Service has more frequency spectrum space available. Another thing you that will be available to you are different operating modes. You may choose how you wish to communicate from such modes as Voice, Morse code, and Digital. The reason why we have more spectrum and features available to us is because it requires you to take simple beginners license. When you earn what us "HAM" radio operators call a ticket, you will have the access to these advanced features, as well to begin your journey in the art of radio communications.

Were can I find more information?

If your looking for more information regarding Amateur Radio you can Contact Me or please visit ARRL's Hello! it has much more information about this great hobby than what I provided you here. Also it will show you how and were to obtain your Amateur Radio License.

If you wanna just cut to the study material you may obtain the beginner technician class licence manual from ARRL catalog

My Journy with Amateur Radio

My first interest in radio was when I was about a sophomore in high school. My father always had CB's in the garage that he had since the CB boom. I was always curious about them. We had everything for them to set up a couple stations. So eventually we set up a base station at home as well as a mobile station in our old truck. For many years I played around with CB. I’ve had my share of good and bad experiences with it. Shortly after, I started to become interested in Scanner Radio's. We would always listen to the Amateur Radio operators. We always wanted to know how to become one but knew nothing about it or how to get started. This usually what held us back from going any farther. We didn’t know where to go to for information. Luckily during my senior year in High School I was introduced to my best friend Alan. One day during our TV/ Radio club we were talking and his watch started to beep. He then told me he had to get home to talk to his grandfather on the radio. That is when he told me he was an Amateur Radio operator. So after finding this out I tagged along with him and went to his house to check out his station. When I walked into his den I noticed his radio was no ordinary radio. A few movements after he hooked his radio equipment up and turned it on I heard the crackling sound of static coming from the speaker. After a short while he made contact with his grandfather who lived several states away. After he made contact with his grandfather and showed me some of cool things about Amateur Radio I was sold. That’s when my spark for Amateur Radio began. During my freshman year in college I finished my study material and took my exam. Eager to get on the air as soon as I received my call sign from the FCC I instantly went outside and grabbed the handy talky and made my first contact. Since then I’ve enjoyed the hobby thoroughly. I helped my Father, brother, and a co-worker to get there license. In 2002 I studied for my General Class and Morse code training and successfully passed. Currently I am a General Class radio operator. For the last several years I have been trying to work on my Extra class. This is the highest license class available. However due to school and work I kept getting distracted from my studying. Finally wanting to get my Extra class for so long. My buddy Bob and I studied very hard. We made the time to study. In December of 2006, Bob and I passed our Extras. We are now proud have achieved the highest level in Amateur Radio. This completes my journey. I am looking forward to all the opportunities that the being an extra class brings. Hopefully you will begin your journey soon, and I hope to hear you on the air sometime...