 Ham
Radio -This is Radio Station KF2HP
For those who don't know about this hobby, let me
explain briefly. An Amateur Radio Operator or HAM, is a person that
studies and passes some tests. They are then issued a call sign that is
unique to them. Something like a commercial radio station gets. There
are various classes of licenses, each being a little more or less
difficult than the others. Obviously, the higher the class of license,
the more tests you have to take and pass to achieve a given class. You
are given more privileges with the higher class of license. In the old
days, you had to pass a morse code test to obtain any class of license.
Then the restrictions where relaxed and you could obtain some classes of
licenses without knowing morse code. The governing bodies are now
looking at dropping the morse code requirements completely. Who knows
where that will go. In any event, when I got my license I had to pass a
code test at 13 words per minute (WPM). The next step was 20 WPM and
there was no way I was going to make that. I had this block at about 18
WPM. At the time that prevented me from achieving the Extra class of
license which is the highest class license available. I had to settle
for second best which at the time was call Advanced class. So what does
all this buy you? Well, you can use radio equipment to communicate on a
variety of frequencies in a variety of ways. This includes operating
locally thru what are known as repeaters on VHF frequencies to talking
to people around the world on HF frequencies. HAMs send TV pictures,
code, voice and many other types of information. They have a system
called Automatic Position Reporting Service that track where you are at
any given time. Lots and lots of neat gadgets and toys. All done
without commercial intervention. You don't have to pay a cell phone
bill or subscribe to a service to enjoy these games. Just you and some
radio equipment. If you want to know more please visit the ARRL web
site listed on my links page. If you need some help in understanding
all this or are interested in becoming a HAM, please send me an email
and I'll be glad to help you all I can.
Update 10/08 - just a note. The
powers to be removed morse code requirements from the
licensing process. Now you just have to take a test.
I understand the objectives but I'm not sure the trade offs
are worth it. But I guess they had to do something and
honestly, Morse Code is becoming antiquated.
Update 12/08 - My APRS system is back up
and running. What is that you ask? Well, it
stands for Automatic Position Reporting System. That
means I have a GPS receiver in my car that constantly knows
where it is. It's output is fed to a home brew (that
means I built it myself) interface with a TinyTrack modem
built in. Once every couple minutes it transmits my
position by broadcasting it on 144.390 Mhz. There is a
network of repeaters and internet gateways that pass this
information along to several types of servers. One in
particular will tell you where my car is at any time.
Try it by checking out
Here. |
