Amateur radio

What does one do with amateur radio?

Amateur radio operators enjoy personal two-way communications with friends, family members, and complete strangers, all of whom must also be licensed. They support the larger public community with emergency and disaster communications. Increasing a person's knowledge of electronics and radio theory as well as radio contesting are also popular aspects of amateur radio.

Related Topics:
Two-way communication - Emergency - Disaster - Electronics - Radio - Theory

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A good way to get started in amateur radio is to find a club in your area to answer your questions and provide information on getting licensed and then getting on the air.

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Radio amateurs use a variety of modes of transmission to communicate with one another. Voice transmissions are the most common way hams communicate with one another, with some types of emission such as frequency modulation (FM) offering high quality audio for local operation where signals are strong, and others such as single side band (SSB) offering more reliable communications when signals are marginal and using smaller amounts of bandwith.

Related Topics:
Frequency modulation - Single side band

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Radiotelegraphy using Morse code remains surprisingly popular, particularly on the shortwave bands and for experimental work on the microwave bands, with its inherent signal-to-noise ratio advantages. Morse, using internationally agreed code groups, can also facilitate communications between amateurs who do not share a common language. Radiotelegraphy is also popular with home constructors as CW-only transmitters are simple to construct when compared to voice transmitters.

Related Topics:
Signal-to-noise ratio - CW

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The explosion in personal computing power has led to a boom in digital modes such as radio teletype, which a generation ago required cumbersome and expensive specialist equipment. Hams led in the development of packet radio, which has since been superceded by more specialized modes such as PSK31 which is designed to facilitate real-time, low-power communications on the shortwave bands. Other modes, such as the WSJT suite, are aimed at extremely marginal propagation modes including meteor scatter and moonbounce.

Related Topics:
Digital - Radio teletype - Packet radio - PSK31 - WSJT - Propagation - Meteor scatter - Moonbounce

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Similarly, amateur television, once considered rather esoteric, has exploded in popularity thanks to cheap camcorders and good quality video cards in home computers. Because of the wide bandwidth and stable signals required, it is limited in range to at most 100 km (about 62 miles) in normal conditions.

Related Topics:
Amateur television - Home computers - Bandwidth

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Most of the modes noted above rely on the simplex communication mode, that is direct, radio-to-radio communication. On VHF and higher frequencies automated relay stations, or repeaters, are used to increase range. Repeaters are usually located on the top of a mountain or tall building. A repeater allows the radio amateur to communicate over hundreds of square miles using only a hand-held tranceiver. Repeaters can also be linked together, either by use of other amateur radio bands, by wireline, or, increasingly via the Internet.

Related Topics:
Simplex communication - Radio-to-radio - Repeater - Mountain - Building - Internet

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While many hams just enjoy talking to friends, others pursue interests such as providing communications for a community emergency response team; antenna theory; communication via amateur satellite ; disaster response; severe weather spotting; DX communication over thousands of miles using the ionosphere to refract radio waves; the Internet Radio Linking Project (IRLP) which is a composite network of radio and the Internet; Automatic Position Reporting System (APRS), which is a radio network that uses GPS; radiosport; or low-power operation.

Related Topics:
Community emergency response team - Antenna theory - Amateur satellite - Disaster response - Severe weather spotting - DX communication - Ionosphere - Radio wave - Internet Radio Linking Project - Automatic Position Reporting System - GPS - Radiosport - Low-power operation

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Most hams have a room or area in their home which is dedicated to their radio and ancillary test equipment, known as the "shack" in ham slang.

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Emergency communications

In times of crisis and natural disasters, ham radio is often the only surviving means of communication. It has been found all too often that both wire and cellular telephone systems either fail or are overloaded in times of crisis and radios dedicated to emergency services fare little better. Recent examples include the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center in Manhattan, the 2003 North America blackout and Hurricane Katrina in September, 2005, where amateur radio was used to coordinate disaster relief activities when other systems failed.

Related Topics:
Natural disasters - World Trade Center - Manhattan - 2003 North America blackout - Hurricane Katrina

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On September 2, 2004, ham radio was used to inform weather forecasters with information on Hurricane Frances live from the Bahamas. On December 26, 2004, an earthquake and resulting tsunami across the Indian Ocean wiped out all communications with the Andaman Islands, except for a DX-pedition that provided a critical link with the Indian mainland to coordinate relief efforts.

Related Topics:
September 2 - 2004 - Hurricane Frances - Bahama - December 26 - An earthquake and resulting tsunami - Indian Ocean - Andaman Islands - DX-pedition - Indian

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Amateur radio emergency activities are possible because, in the context of simplex communications, there is little or no fixed infrastructure that may be destroyed in a disaster.

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Hams are also very well-versed in improvising and restoring communications under the primitive conditions following a disaster. The national amateur societies in many countries organize operating events often called Field Day to give hams practice in establishing emergency stations using temporary antennas and emergency power. In some countries, such as the United States, these events are explicitly tied in with emergency preparedness.

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In the United States, there are two methods of organizing amateur radio emergency communications. The Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES), sponsored by the ARRL, and the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES), usually organized by municipal or county governments. RACES authorization comes from Part 97.407 of the FCC regulations.

Related Topics:
United States - Amateur Radio Emergency Service - Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service

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Typically a local radio club will have information on joining either or both. In areas where known disaster problems exist, amateur radio has a long-standing tradition of cooperation with local emergency services. Los Angeles County and the Disaster Communications Service exists as an example.

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In the United Kingdom, RAYNET, the Radio Amateur Emergency Network, and the RSGB, provide the organisational backbone of their amateur radio emergency communications groups.

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In New Zealand the New Zealand Association of Radio Transmitters (NZART) provides the AREC - Amateur Radio Emergency Communications (formerly Amateur Radio Emergency Corps) in the role. They won the New Zealand National Search and Rescue award in 2001 for their long commitment to Search and Rescue in NZ.

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Amateurs are often professionally involved in areas which compliment their hobby, such as electronics, emergency services, or aviation. This often sees hams as being at the forefront of the development of 'STSP' (Short Term Special Purpose) repeater systems and other complex radio linking systems able to easily be inserted by trampers or aircraft into a search area. Being able to provide VHF or UHF radio into an emergency or disaster area means that teams on the ground can use relatively common and portable handheld radios to liaise with base, or with other agencies. VHF-based communications supported by crossbanding or STSP repeaters are gradually replacing portable HF systems because of their flexibility, and the relative portability of their antenna and power systems.

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Associated with emergency communications are many public service exercises and events to which hams contribute. Motorsports, water sports, cycle races, marathons, and sporting events of all kinds. This gives them an excellent opportunity to drill their skills in message handling amd deploying, configuring and using their various radio technologies. An example is the input that hams have on the World Rally Championships. Radio amateurs deploy their emergency communications equipment across the Rally of New Zealand providing safety operators every 5 km of a special stage, plus liaison with rally headquarters and safety crews. For more information from an ham's perspective, refer here.

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DXing, QSL cards and awards

Many amateurs enjoy trying to contact stations in as many different parts of the world as they can on shortwave bands, or over as great a range as possible on the higher bands, a pursuit which is generally known as DXing.

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Traditionally radio amateurs exchange QSL cards with other stations, to provide written confirmation of the contact. These are required for many amateur operating awards, and many amateurs also enjoy collecting them simply for the pleasure of doing so. Although often cynically nicknamed "wallpaper", the advent of desktop publishing and low cost color printing means that QSL cards are of higher quality than ever before.

Related Topics:
QSL - Desktop publishing

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The number of operating awards available is literally in the thousands. The most popular awards are the Worked All States award, usually the first award amateurs in the United States aim for, the Worked All Continents award, also an entry level award on the shortwave bands, and the more challenging Worked All Zones and DX Century Club (DXCC) awards. DXCC is the most popular awards programme, with the entry level requiring amateurs to contact 100 of the (as of 2005) 335 recognised countries and territories in the world, which leads on to a series of operating challenges of increasing difficulty. Many awards are available for contacting amateurs in a particular country, region or city.

Related Topics:
Worked All States - Worked All Continents - Worked All Zones - DX Century Club - As of 2005

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Certain parts of the world have very few radio amateurs. As a result, when a station with a rare ID comes on the air, radio amateurs flock to communicate with it. Often amateurs will travel specifically to a country or island, in what is known as a DX-pedition, to activate it. Big DX-peditions can make as many as 100,000 individual contacts in a few weeks.

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Many amateurs also enjoy contacting the many special event stations on the air. Set up to commemorate special occurrences, they often issue distinctive QSLs or certificates. Some use unusual prefixes, such as the call signs with "96" that amateurs in the US State of Georgia could use during the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, or the OO prefix used by Belgian amateurs in 2005 to commemorate their nation's 175th anniversary. Many amateurs decorate their radio "shacks" with these certificates.

Related Topics:
Call signs - Georgia - 1996 - Atlanta Olympics

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Some hams are fascinated to see how much they can achieve with very low power. Signals on the order of 5 watts or less are heard all over the world by these QRP (low power) operators. Some amateurs never use more than a few watts of transmit power. By setting up efficient antennas and using expert operating techniques, they can make regular international contacts and get immense satisfaction from their achievements.

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Contesting

Main article: Contesting

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Contesting is another activity that has garnered interest in the ham community. During a period of time (normally 24 to 48 hours) a ham tries to successfully communicate with as many other hams as possible. Different contests have different emphases, with some aimed at chasing DX stations, or stations in a particular country or continent. In some the focus is on operating a station powered by emergency generation equipment or running on batteries, and contacting other such stations, to simulate hurricane or other emergency disaster conditions.

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In some contests all operating modes are permitted, while others may be limited to single mode such as voice or CW (Continuous Wave, sometimes called Morse Code). Often, hams join together to form contest teams.

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Many hams enjoy casually giving away a few points in a contest, other chasing rare stations who are more likely to make an appearance in these events, others try to set the best possible score using a very limited home station. The serious competitors spend a lot of time in training, spend a lot of money in building up a world class station, and will often travel to a rare country or prime geographical location in order to win.

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VHF, UHF and microwave weak-signal operation

While many radio amateurs use use VHF or UHF frequencies primarily for local communications, other amateurs build up more sophisticated systems to communicate over as wide a range as possible.

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Despite the common misconception of 'line of sight' a VHF signal transmitted from a walkie-talkie (or as hams call it a Handi-talkie or HT for short) will typically travel about 5-10 km depending on terrain, and with a low power home station and a simple antenna to around 50 km. With a large antenna system like a long yagi, and higher power (typically 100 or more watts) contacts of around 1000 km are common. Such operators seek to exploit the limits of the frequencies' usual characteristics looking to learn and experiment with radio technology. They also seek to take advantage of "band openings" where due to various natural occurrences, radio emissions can travel well over their normal characteristics. There are numerous causes for these band openings and many hams listen for hours to take advantage of their rare manifestations, which may be of fleeting duration.

Related Topics:
5-10 km - 50 km - Yagi - 1000 km

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Some openings are caused by intense excitement of the upper atmosphere, known as the ionosphere. Other band openings are caused by a weather phenomenon known as an inversion layer, where cold air traps hot air beneath it, which forces the radio emission to travel over long weather layers. Radio signals can travel hundreds or even thousands of kilometres due to these weather layers.

Related Topics:
Ionosphere - Weather

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Others bounce their signals off the moon (see moonbounce). The return signal is heard by other hams who have equipment suitable for EME (earth-moon-earth) operation, as it is known. The antennas normally required can range from parabolic dishes of up to 10 metres in diameter to an array of directional (usually yagi type) antennas.

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Digital signal processing has revolutionised weak signal communications by radio amateurs. Using freely available software tools and modern computers, radio amateurs can achieve results they would only have dreamed of only 10 years earlier. For example, reflecting signals off the moon, once the realm of only the very best equipped amateur stations, has become feasible for much more modest stations. Instead of a large dish or an array of 8 antennas, it has become possible for stations with 400 to 1000 watts transmit power and a single well designed antenna to make contacts using moonbounce.

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On the higher microwave bands, even professional circuit design techniques may not be well developed, and while few amateurs operate at these frequencies, those who do are at the bleeding edge of research and experimentation. Amateurs have led the way in bridging the gap between expensive, cumbersome, experimental devices and more practical techniques suitable for mass applications at these frequencies. The propagation of radio waves at these frequencies, especially during anomalous conditions, is poorly understood, and amateurs lead the way in learning about these, although high absorption of water and oxygen molecules in this region of the electromagnetic spectrum often limits practical uses to kilometres or tens of kilometres.

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Portable operations

Licensed amateurs often take portable equipment with them when travelling, whether in their luggage or fitted into their cruising yachts, caravans or other vehicles. On long-distance expeditions and adventures such equipment allows them to stay in touch with other amateurs, reporting progress, arrival and sometimes exchanging safety messages along the way. Many hams even carry small portable tranceivers on their person.

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Many hams at fixed locations are pleased to hear directly from such travellers. From in a yacht in mid-ocean or a 4x4 inside the Arctic Circle, a friendly voice and the chance of a kind fellow-enthusiast sending an e-mail home is very well received.

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See maritime mobile amateur radio for further details about operation in this way at sea.

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Some countries' amateur radio licences allow for phone patching, or the direct connection of amateur transceivers to telephone lines. Thus a traveller may be able to call another amateur station and, via a phone patch, speak directly with someone else by telephone. http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/regulations/phone-patch.html

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