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About Amateur Radio   

"CQ twenty meters, CQ any amateur station in the United States ... this is JA1XYZ in Tokyo, Japan calling and standing by"

Sound interesting?  Not just hearing, but talking directly to amateur radio operators throughout the world is only one of the thrills which come to those whose hobby is amateur (or HAM) radio.  

Ham radio, like many hobbies, is hard to really define.  It can mean different things to different people.  To some, it is a social group, where your meeting place is most often, the radio waves.  To others, it is a way of communicating and learning the history and cultures of countries worldwide.  Some enjoy the sport of the hobby, working for and collecting various operating awards and participating in communications contests against other hams worldwide.  Amateur radio is also a basis for scientific communications experimentation and development.  Ham radio is a public service which provides valuable communications during local and national emergencies.   Above all it is a fellowship, a common bond between people the world over.

Ham radio operators communicate using home stations which range from the very basic to the totally elaborate.  Amateur equipment has gotten so compact that many hams operate complete stations from their car (mobile), as well as using hand held walkie-talkies which they carry around much like a cell phone..

Ham radio has grown from a very humble beginning at the turn of the twentieth century to a well established institution today.  The first enthusiasts were private citizens whose imaginations went wild when Marconi first proved that wireless messages could be sent.  By 1912, commercial radio stations and hundreds of amateur stations began to appear.  As radio became more and more widespread, it became clear that some kind of regulation and control was needed.  The interstate Commerce Commission was first given the power to control radio broadcasting.  In 1934, the Federal Communications Commission was created and given the power to license and regulate radio stations and operators.  Today, there are over 500,000 amateur operators in the US alone! 

Becoming a ham operator requires obtaining a license from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).  In order to do this, you must meet very specific requirements and pass an examination prepared by the FCC.  There is no age limit; there are 7 year old hams, and there are those who get started well into their 70's.   Effective April 15, 2000, there are three (3) classes of amateur radio operator, Technician, General, and Amateur Extra.  The basic requirements for becoming an amateur include the ability to understand (copy) the international morse code at a speed of 5 words per minute (25 characters per minute), and passing written exams of varying difficulty depending on the license class.  While in the past, amateur exams were only given at FCC offices, they are now administered by volunteer examiners across the county.  Most local amateur radio clubs sponsor training and exam classes.  

The different classes of operator license each have specific amateur operating privileges associated with them.  As you obtain higher levels of license, the difficulty of the exam increases, but so do the privileges that come with it.  Written exams for the Technician license contain 35 questions, an additional 35 are added for the General license, and an additional 50 questions are added for the Amateur Extra Class.  On the bright side, the questions are all multiple choice.   In addition, General and Amateur Extra class licenses require a morse code test at 5 words per minute.  

Technician class licenses carry privileges in the upper or VHF frequency ranges.  General and Amateur Extra classes have privileges in all amateur frequency bands, General class having limited areas in each, and Amateur Extra having all amateur radio privileges.  

A complete course to get you started is beyond what I can do here, but if I have raised some interest in you, please visit the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) web site.  The ARRL is the largest organization of amateur radio operators in the United States.  You can get to their site by clicking HERE.   Don't forget to visit the ACM Web ham pages often.

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