An introduction into amateur radio and why YOU should pick it up as well ...

You might have heard about a technology called radio. In fact youre using it on a daily base, it’s omnipresent in our modern world.

Amateur radio is not talking to a friend on a walkie talkie, or those old, mostly white men, talking about their doctors appointments on old boxes with tubes in them. It can be both but it actually is so much more than that.

Licensed to transmit

The path to licensed Amateur Radio Operator usually starts with the desire to transmit or receive data and voice away from the beaten path or with more power than those free ISM bands allow you to do. Or you’ve built your own hardware and want to stay legal.

Every country has it’s own rules when it comes to wireless transmissions, with a few international rulesets that are universally accepted. Think bluethooth, wifi, ISM bands and such. However almost all countries allow amateur radio operators to use their bands. Most of the time you have to apply for a local license and pass a test showing you’ve knowledge about electronics, safety, rules and regulations. However a license from your country will most likley be accepted for a short period of time in the country you’re visiting. Or you can test online for a license in the USA or Great Britain (which have the benefit of using english as their language and allowing remote testing) and then use that license to operate in the country youre visiting as those are widley accepted.

Usually those license tests are multiple choice and ask about rules, national and international law regarding amateuer radio as well as technical electro engineering things that are highly technical.

I’ve not payed much attention to physics in school since I didn’t see the need to, and also had trouble following my teacher in what he was trying to explain. I’ve always been sad that I didn’t. So learning for my exam did put all those things back on the table and it’s one of the reasons I did want to become a ham. Learning electric engineering is nice but it’s much better if you also have a hobby to apply your new skills at.

Alright, I’m licensed, what now?

Once youre licensed, you can dive into the more traditional aspects of ham radio. Shortwave voice communication being one example. With 5 watts of transmit power and a homebrew antenana you can reach other amateur radio operators several thousand kilometers away.

With morse code this distance even expands since it is not only a UNESCO world heritage but also a very energy efficient mode. And it’s kinda cool to be fluent in the art of morse code.

You can use one of the many data modes such as RTTY, FT8, JS8Call, or even telefax or emails over the air and enjoy true offgrid communication.

But there is much more!

Did you know that there are amateur radio satellites? Or that the International Space Station has a ham radio repeater? Or that you sometimes can talk to the astronauts directly, since most of them are licensed as well?

We also have a wide area wifi network called Hamnet/Arden Net, we have a worldwide network for those old pagers, theres repeaters for handheld radios all over the planet, most of them interconnected via the internet or Hamnet/ARDEN.

Some people use the moon, airplanes or even meteors to bounce their signals off of. And of course, some of our bands are usable for radar, and other cool applications.

You can invent your own digital modes of operation. In fact, the M17 project is doing so right now. Including development of open hardware to accompany their new mode.

Conclusion

Of course, I only can scratch the surface and give general hints and primers into what is possible in this text. However, in this blog I’ll explain some things and cool projects in detail, so keep browsing around and come back later for more. :)