I walk by the driveway of a house and notice a car with a “Radio Operator” license plate. Years ago, I heard a little about “ham” radio operators, amateurs who were able to talk to people all over the world with special equipment. It always sounds like an exciting and mystical hobby. I imagine myself as a “Radar O’Reilly” type, ringing up people in foreign lands and getting to know them personally.
There are 9,021 people in Texas who have a Radio Operator license plate. They must hold an amateur radio station license issued by the Federal Communications Commission and operate receiving and transmitting mobile amateur radio equipment. They pay no fee. This type of license plate has been available since 1954 in Texas.
According to Wikipedia, amateur radio — also known as ham radio — is the use of radio frequency spectrum for purposes of non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, private recreation, radiosport, contesting and emergency communication. The term "amateur" is used to specify "a duly authorized person interested in radioelectric practice with a purely personal aim and without pecuniary interest" — either direct monetary or other similar reward — and to differentiate it from commercial broadcasting, public safety (such as police and fire) or professional two-way radio services (such as maritime, aviation, taxis, etc.).
The amateur radio service — amateur service and amateur-satellite service — is established by the International Telecommunication Union through radio regulations. National governments regulate technical and operational characteristics of transmissions and issue individual stations licenses with a unique identifying call sign, which must be used in all transmissions. Amateur operators must hold an amateur radio license which is obtained by passing a government test demonstrating adequate technical radio knowledge and legal knowledge of the host government's radio regulations.
The international amateur radio symbol in the photo above shows a diamond which holds a circuit diagram featuring components common to every radio: an antenna, inductor and ground.
Radio amateurs are limited to the use of small frequency bands — the amateur radio bands — allocated throughout the radio spectrum, but within these bands are allowed to transmit on any frequency using a variety of voice, text, image and data communications modes. This enables communication across a city, region, country, continent, the world or even into space. In many countries, amateur radio operators may also send, receive or relay radio communications between computers or transceivers connected to secure virtual private networks on the internet.
Amateur radio is officially represented and coordinated by the International Amateur Radio Union, which is organized in three regions and has as its members the national amateur radio societies which exist in most countries. According to an estimate made in 2011 by the American Radio Relay League, two million people throughout the world are regularly involved with amateur radio. About 830,000 amateur radio stations are located in the Americas followed by South and East Asia and the Pacific Ocean with about 750,000 stations. A significantly smaller number, about 400,000, are located in Europe, Middle East, post-Soviet republics in Eurasia and Africa.
History
The origins of amateur radio can be traced to the late 19th century, but amateur radio as practiced today began in the early 20th century. The “First Annual Official Wireless Blue Book of the Wireless Association of America,” produced in 1909, contains a list of amateur radio stations. This radio callbook lists wireless telegraph stations in Canada and the United States, including 89 amateur radio stations. As with radio in general, amateur radio was associated with various amateur experimenters and hobbyists. Amateur radio enthusiasts have significantly contributed to science, engineering, industry and social services. Research by amateur operators has founded new industries, built economies, empowered nations and saved lives in times of emergency. Ham radio can also be used in the classroom to teach English, map skills, geography, math, science and computer skills.
Ham radio
The term "ham" was first a pejorative term used in professional wired telegraphy during the 19th century, to mock operators with poor Morse code-sending skills — "ham-fisted". This term continued to be used after the invention of radio and the proliferation of amateur experimentation with wireless telegraphy; among land- and sea-based professional radio operators, "ham" amateurs were considered a nuisance. The use of "ham" meaning "amateurish or unskilled" survives today sparsely in other disciplines e.g., "ham actor."
The amateur radio community subsequently began to reclaim the word as a label of pride, and by the mid-20th century, it had lost its pejorative meaning. Although not an acronym, it is often mistakenly written as a backronym, with "HAM" in capital letters. A backronym, or bacronym, is an acronym that is assigned to a word that existed prior to the invention of the backronym. Unlike a typical acronym, in which a new word is constructed from a phrase, the phrase corresponding to the backronym is selected to fit an already existing word. Backronyms may be invented with either serious or humorous intent, or they may be a type of false etymology or folk etymology. A well-known example of an acronym is the word radar, constructed from "radio detection and ranging." By contrast, an example of a backronym is the United States Department of Justice’s Amber Alert program was named after Amber Hagerman — a 9-year-old abducted and murdered in 1996 — but officials later publicized the backronym "America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response."
Activities and practices
The many facets of amateur radio attract practitioners with a wide range of interests. Many amateurs begin with a fascination of radio communication and then combine other personal interests to make pursuit of the hobby rewarding. Some of the focal areas amateurs pursue include radio contesting, radio propagation study, public service communication, technical experimentation and computer networking.
Amateur radio operators use various modes of transmission to communicate. The two most common modes for voice transmissions are frequency modulation (FM) and single sideband (SSB). FM offers high-quality audio signals, while SSB is better at long distance communication when bandwith is restricted.
Radiotelegraphy using Morse code — also known as "CW" from "continuous wave" — is the wireless extension of landline or wired telegraphy developed by Samuel Morse and dates to the earliest days of radio. Although computer-based or digital modes and methods have largely replaced CW for commercial and military applications, many amateur radio operators still enjoy using the CW mode — particularly on the shortwave bands and for experimental work, such as Earth-Moon-Earth communication, because of its inherent signal-to-noise ratio advantages. Morse — using internationally agreed message encodings such as the Q code — enables communication between amateurs who speak different languages. It is also popular with homebrewers — slang term for those who use home-built, noncommercial radio equipment — and in particular with "QRP" or very-low-power enthusiasts, as CW-only transmitters are simpler to construct, and the human ear-brain signal processing system can pull weak CW signals out of the noise where voice signals would be totally inaudible. A similar "legacy" mode popular with home constructors is amplitude modulation (AM), pursued by many vintage amateur radio enthusiasts and aficionados of vacuum tube technology.
Demonstrating a proficiency in Morse code was for many years a requirement to obtain an amateur license to transmit on frequencies below 30 MHz. Following changes in international regulations in 2003, countries are no longer required to demand proficiency. The United States Federal Communications Commission, for example, phased out this requirement for all license classes on February 23, 2007.
Modern personal computers have encouraged the use of digital modes such as radioteletype or RTTY which previously required cumbersome mechanical equipment. Hams led the development of packet radio in the 1970s, which has employed protocols such as AX.25 and TCP/IP. Specialized digital modes such as PSK31 allow real-time, low-power communications on the shortwave bands.
Radio over IP or RoIP is similar to Voice over IP or VoIP but augments two-way radio communications rather than telephone calls. EchoLink using VoIP technology has enabled amateurs to communicate through local internet-connected repeaters and radio nodes, while the Internet Radio Linking Project or IRLP has allowed the linking of repeaters to provide greater coverage area.
Automatic link establishment has enabled continuous amateur radio networks to operate on the high frequency bands with global coverage. Other modes, such as FSK441 using software such as WSJT, are used for weak signal modes including meteor scatter and moonbounce communications. SNOTEL — as shown in the photo caption — is an automated system of snowpack and related climate sensors operated by the Natural Resources Conservation Service of the United States Department of Agriculture in the western United States.
Fast scan amateur television has gained popularity as hobbyists adapt inexpensive consumer video electronics like camcorders and video cards in PCs. Because of the wide bandwidth and stable signals required, amateur television is typically found in the 420–450 MHz frequency range, though there is also limited use on 902–928 MHz, 1240–1300 MHz and higher. These requirements also effectively limit the signal range to between 20 and 60 miles.
Linked repeater systems, however, can allow transmissions of VHF and higher frequencies across hundreds of miles. Repeaters are usually located on heights of land or tall structures and allow operators to communicate over hundreds of miles using hand-held or mobile transceivers. Repeaters can also be linked together by using other amateur radio bands, landline or the internet.
Amateur radio satellites can be accessed, some using a hand-held transceiver, even, at times, using the factory "rubber duck" antenna. Hams also use the moon, the aurora borealis and the ionized trails of meteors as reflectors of radio waves. Hams can also contact the International Space Station because many astronauts and cosmonauts are licensed as amateur radio operators.
Amateur radio satellites can be accessed, some using a hand-held transceiver, even, at times, using the factory "rubber duck" antenna. Hams also use the moon, the aurora borealis and the ionized trails of meteors as reflectors of radio waves. Hams can also contact the International Space Station because many astronauts and cosmonauts are licensed as amateur radio operators.
Amateur radio operators use their amateur radio stations to make contacts with individual hams, as well as participating in roundtable discussion groups or "rag chew sessions" on the air. Some join in regularly scheduled on-air meetings with other amateur radio operators, called "nets" — as in "networks" — which are moderated by a station referred to as "Net Control." Nets can allow operators to learn procedures for emergencies, be an informal round table or cover specific interests shared by a group.
Amateur radio operators, using battery- or generator-powered equipment, often provide essential communications services when regular channels are unavailable due to natural disaster or other disruptive events.
Many amateur radio operators participate in radio contests, during which an individual or team of operators typically seek to contact and exchange information with as many other amateur radio stations as possible in a given period of time. In addition to contests, many amateur radio operating award schemes exist, sometimes suffixed with "on the Air", such as Summits on the Air, Islands on the Air, Worked All States and Jamboree on the Air, an international Scouting and Guiding activity held annually.
Amateur radio operators may also act as citizen scientists for propagation research and atmospheric science.
Licensing
In most countries, an operator will be assigned a call sign with their license. In some countries, a separate "station license" is required for any station used by an amateur radio operator. Amateur radio licenses may also be granted to organizations or clubs. In some countries, hams were allowed to operate only club stations.
An amateur radio license is valid only in the country in which it is issued or in another country that has a reciprocal licensing agreement with the issuing country. Some countries, such as Syria and Cuba, restrict operation by foreigners to club stations only.
In some countries, an amateur radio license is necessary in order to purchase or possess amateur radio equipment.
Amateur radio licensing in the United States exemplifies the way in which some countries award different levels of amateur radio licenses based on technical knowledge: three sequential levels of licensing exams (Technician Class, General Class, and Amateur Extra Class) are currently offered, which allow operators who pass them access to larger portions of the amateur radio spectrum and more desirable (shorter) call signs. An exam, authorized by the Federal Communications Commission, is required for all levels of the Amateur Radio license. These exams are administered by Volunteer Examiners, accredited by the FCC-recognized Volunteer Examiner Coordinator system. The Technician Class and General Class exams consist of 35 multiple-choice questions, drawn randomly from a pool of at least 350. To pass, 26 of the 35 questions must be answered correctly. The Extra Class exam has 50 multiple choice questions (drawn randomly from a pool of at least 500), 37 of which must be answered correctly. The tests cover regulations, customs and technical knowledge, such as FCC provisions, operating practices, advanced electronics theory, radio equipment design and safety. Once the exam is passed, the FCC issues an amateur radio license which is valid for ten years. Studying for the exam is made easier because the entire question pools for all license classes are posted in advance. The question pools are updated every four years by the National Conference of VECs.
Newcomers
Many people start their involvement in amateur radio by finding a local club. Clubs often provide information about licensing, local operating practices, and technical advice. Newcomers also often study independently by purchasing books or other materials, sometimes with the help of a mentor, teacher or friend. Established amateurs who help newcomers are often referred to as "Elmers," as coined by Rodney Newkirk within the ham community. In addition, many countries have national amateur radio societies which encourage newcomers and work with government communications regulation authorities for the benefit of all radio amateurs. The oldest of these societies is the Wireless Institute of Australia, formed in 1910; other notable societies are the Radio Society of Great Britain, American Radio Relay League, Radio Amateurs of Canada, Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication, New Zealand Association of Radio Transmitters and South African Radio League.
Call signs
An amateur radio operator uses a call sign on the air to legally identify the operator or station. In some countries, the call sign assigned to the station must always be used, whereas in other countries, the call sign of either the operator or the station may be used. In certain jurisdictions, an operator may also select a "vanity" call sign although these must also conform to the issuing government's allocation and structure used for amateur radio call signs. Some jurisdictions require a fee to obtain such a vanity call sign; in others, such as the UK, a fee is not required and the vanity call sign may be selected when the license is applied for. The FCC in the U.S. discontinued its fee for vanity call sign applications in September 2015.
Call sign structure as prescribed by the International Telecommunication Union consists of three parts which break down as follows, using the call sign ZS1NAT as an example:
- ZS – Shows the country from which the call sign originates and may also indicate the license class. (This call sign is licensed in South Africa.)
- 1 – Gives the subdivision of the country or territory indicated in the first part (this one refers to the Western Cape).
- NAT – The final part is unique to the holder of the license, identifying that station specifically.
In the United States, for non-vanity licenses, the numeral indicates the geographical district the holder resided in when the license was first issued. Prior to 1978, US hams were required to obtain a new call sign if they moved out of their geographic district.
Online callbooks or callsign databases can be browsed or searched to find out who holds a specific call sign. An example of an online callbook is QRZ.com. Non-exhaustive lists of famous people who hold or have held amateur radio callsigns have also been compiled and published.
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