Amateur Radio: What Is It And How Do You Become a “Ham”

INTRODUCTION:

• Are you interested in computer and electronics technology?
• Would you like to communicate with people from all over the world?
• Would you be willing to relay lifesaving emergency assistance information for people in need due to loss of life or property due to wartime, climate, or infrastructural calamities?
• Are you interested in outer space, satellites, and the future of interplanetary communication?
• Some of these basic questions have inspired millions of women, men, and children all over world to become a licensed Amateur Radio Operator (“HAM.”)

WHAT IS HAM RADIO:

Ham radio is a licensed service that enables you to communicate all around the world and even outer space with your own equipment.  It’s a popular hobby with hundreds of thousands of people, and becoming ever more popular as the technology advances.

WHAT IS A HAM RADIO OPERATOR?  

A Ham radio operator is a person who is licensed by the United States FCC (Federal Communications Commission) to operate on allocated frequencies in the High Frequency (HF), Very High Frequency (VHF), Ultra High Frequency (UHF) bands.  They Communicate with other licensed operators all over the world via digital, morse code, voice methods of communication. 

To begin you must pass your Technician Exam… But soon the whole world will be just the speed of light away…  

There several level of licenses you can get:

First Class License: Technician

Second Class License: General

Third Class License: Amateur Extra.

“There is nothing better than making a contact radio to radio with a station 10,000 miles away with nothing but 100 watts and a wire…”

WHAT CAN YOU DO AS A LICENSED HAM OPERATOR?

As a licensed Ham radio operator, you can use repeaters for wide area communication, work amateur satellites, EME, Moon Bounce to talk to stations by bouncing your radio transmission off the moon and back to earth. Build your own radios and antennas, experiment and develop new modes of data and voice communication.    Talk to the astronauts on the International Space Station…. The list goes on and on.  

Some have developed new modes of communication. Some have saved the lives of people in distress either on land or sea.

When telephone and or cell phones, electric grid go down, and trust me they do, radio communication is the only way to communicate lifesaving information to those that need help. 

A GROWING HOBBY, AND MORE..

Millions of Women, Men, and Children of all ages have already become the 0.2% of the world’s population that have become Ham Radio Operators. 

If this sounds interesting to click the link below.  You may find yourself on the path of becoming a licensed Technician Ham radio operator.   This link is for the 5th edition ARRL Technician manual.

Inside you will find source material about the Hobby and the Test question pool with the answers listed.

FROM THE AUTHOR (MikeCricket113):

Mike Crickett is a friend and content contributor for Trustworthyhomeadvice.com.  

You can watch some videos on Amateur Radio. This link to my YouTube channel Mike Cricket113 shows my Ham station, along with antenna projects I have worked on over the years, product reviews, and much more. 

https://www.youtube.com/@mikecricket113/featured

I started the channel to promote Ham Radio, Citizens Band, FRS, PMR, GMRS, MURS communications.

The world has opened up to me. I’ve made new friends from all over the globe. I continue to learn the ins and outs of the hobby and strive to get others interested as well.    If you have any questions about Amateur Radio, and or other methods of radio communication feel free to email me at  [email protected]