Have you ever seen strange looking antennas in someone’s yard or a car? A license plate that seems strange and out of place?
It could very well be that person is a HAM or more properly an Amateur Radio operator. It could also be CB radio. CB stands for Citizen Band. CB is a form of radio that has been channelized by the FCC (Federal Communications Commision). CB radio operates in the twenty-six through twenty-seven megahertz (Mhz)range with forty channels. The maximum legal output power on CB is four watts AM (Amplitude Modulation). Amateur Radio, however, covers frequencies from, basically 1.8 Mhz to 250 (Gigahurtz)Ghz. HAM radio operates with AM (Amplitude Modulation), FM (frequency Modulation), LSB (Lower Side Band), USB (Upper Side Band). The power allocation can be as high as 1.5 Kilowatts.
Voice is just part of the operating modes of HAM radio. There is morse code, slow scan TV and many digital modes. Technology has changed Radio over the years. During WWII HAM’s used their radios to relay information about ships and submarines close to US territory. They were called upon to contact families overseas. Through the years HAM’s were called on in times of Emergencies to provide much needed communications. During the tragic events on nine eleven the New York City emergency communications failed and in came the HAMs. California has used HAMs in the events of wildfires and earthquakes. NYC found the failure points of their radio systems and First Responder communications have improved and continue to improve exponentially. In the Nineties, FM repeaters were in use all hours of the day and night. Cellphones have caused a major shift in that as well.
With all the changes that have taken place over the years Amateur radio is still a viable hobby. With over seven hundred thousand licensed radio operators in the US and upwards of three million worldwide radio is still going strong. Radio is not just Old Men in the basement talking on the radio. Women and Children also operate radio. Computers have become a big part of the hobby. My wife (KF4JVR) and I (KF4BZY) Participate in Parks on the Air (POTA) operations. We take our radio, antenna and battery into State Parks and contact other HAMs. Awards are given for various aspects of these operations. I enjoy DX operations, contacting HAMs outside the US. I have contacted as far away as New Zealand, Northern Ireland and many other countries all on only one hundred watts.
I am planning on writing articles about various aspects of the hobby in the coming months. Next will be “How to become a HAM?”
Barry A Miller
KF4BZYAmateur Extra
