What does ham Radio mean to you? What does it mean to be an amateur radio? What images are drawn in your mind when you hear these words?
Do you think of Morse code, of experimentation with radio equipment, or of the news about radio amateurs sending messages after some natural disaster like earthquakes? Well, in principle radio amateurs deal with all these things as a hobby.
Content-
- What is ham radio?
- Peering in time
- We help when necessary
- The ham radio license
- The Radio Spectrum: A Limited Resource
- Why is amateur radio there?
- Basic principles
- Traffic to third parties
- You already have your license
- Indicative
- Guide to operate
- Station identification
- Who can you talk to?
- Broadcasting
- Commercial communications
- Other standards
- Conduct in the air
- Ham Radio Code
Diverse provenance
Communication and experimentation: these are the purposes of amateur radio and the motivations for which people of all social levels become radio amateurs. Young and old, together they enjoy the thrill of meeting and exchanging ideas with people from all over the world. It is almost impossible to describe in words, the excitement of building a team or achieving a new circuit and then getting it to behave as it should to incorporate it as another improvement to the station.
Every amateur radio station has a sign or call sign with which it is identified. The prefixes of these codes have been assigned worldwide by the International Telecommunication Union. For example, call signs whose first letters are AA, AL, K, N, or W belong to the United States of America. One of the most well-known call signs in the world is W1AW which belongs to and identifies the station of the American Radio Relay League, the North American association of radio amateurs, and which was erected in memory of the founder of this association, Hiram Percy Maxim.
Radio amateurs are so identified with the call sign of their own station that almost always person and callsign are closely linked in the minds of their friends and colleagues. Barry, K7UGA, from Arizona has “worked” (spoken to) thousands of colleagues on the air. Most of them were unaware that it was none other than Senator Goldwater of the United States. King Hussein of Jordan is another radio amateur who is known simply as JYI among all his ether friends. The same happens with the King of Spain, Juan Carlos, EA0JC; with the former president of the Republic of Italy, Francesco Cossiga, whose call sign is I0FCG. And just as kings, prominent politicians and famous artists coexist in the ranks of amateur radio, they are mostly nurtured by people of all social levels, of all ages, from teenagers to “seniors” who are over eighty years old and who enjoy radio. And many disabled people whose only source of entertainment is the radio.
Electronics appear surrounded by a certain halo of mystery for most people, despite the fact that it plays a fundamental role in everyday life. A layman experiences confusion at words such as volt, ohm, or ampere. But once someone explains the fundamental concepts in plain language, these words lose all their occult and no longer inspire any fear.
Related: The Best Ham Radios
Home construction
Radio amateurs appear in the most unexpected places. Dr. Peter Pehem, 5Z4JJ, is one of the flying doctors in Africa. He lives in a small village on the northern slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro in Kenya. He is interested in amateur radio satellites but cannot spend much time on them during his work. But in his few hours off, he rejoices in pursuing his favorite “hobby” and being encouraged by hundreds of people around the world!
Someone gave Peter an old radio phone, a radio lamp, and a piece of coaxial cable. To this material, the doctor added some empty aspirin tubes and a quartz crystal from the radio of his plane. In the middle of the African jungle, he managed to build a home transmitter with which to converse with the whole world through the OSCAR satellite, the Orbiting Satellite Carrying Amateur Radio. Peter showed the world something important with his home construction equipment: You don’t have to own the latest model of commercial equipment to have fun in the aether. A truth that newcomers to ham radio discover every day.
There was a time, many years ago, when commercial ham radio equipment did not exist. The pioneers of amateur radio, who began their activities more than 75 years ago, strove to discover increasingly efficient systems to communicate with each other. All the equipment was inevitably home-built and had sufficient capacity to maintain communications over several kilometers. Some of those transmitters simply consisted of a section of copper wire wound along a cardboard tube and electrically bonded to a few basic components and to a strung wire that served as an antenna. Communication could often only be established in one direction, with a transmitting station linking to several receiving stations. Over the years radio amateurs have always strived to figure out how to transmit better and achieve greater range. Even today they are constantly striving to improve their communications trying to develop and advance the art of radio communication.
LOOKOUT IN TIME
It all started with some experiments around Bordeaux, France, in 1894. The first radio contact took place in 1898 between the Eiffel Tower and the Pantheon, in Paris. In 1899 the researcher and inventor Guillermo Marconi managed to send a message by radio through the English Channel. But in reality, it can be said that the Era of Wireless Telegraphy began on a harsh December day in 1901 in an abandoned barracks in San Juan de Terranova (Canada) where Marconi managed to capture a series of three points, the letter S of the Morse code, a signal that had just covered the 3,600 kilometers that separated Marconi from Cornwall, in Great Britain. This signal was the culmination of many years of experimentation.
Later Marconi started a huge radio station on Cape Cod; something very different from what any radio amateur can imagine today. It consisted of a spark transmitter based on a motor with a rotor that rotated a one-meter diameter arrester, capable of transferring the power of 30,000 W to a wide antenna array hoisted to 60 m high and supported by four turrets. on the dunes of South Wellfleet, Massachusetts, USA.
By 1914 Marconi had managed to build a station with its corresponding antennas for daily transmissions across the Atlantic Ocean. Radio amateurs from other countries, increasingly numerous and trained, began to build and operate their own transmitters. Since the range of these transmissions was still very limited, radio amateurs devised a series of ether routes through which messages were relayed.
Amateur radio experimentation has always existed. Commercial stations did not begin to flourish until after the First World War. This caused great confusion in the waves and to put a little order in the ether, the administrations of the different nations, by mutual agreement, assigned certain frequency bands for specific uses. In this way, radio amateurs obtained their own frequency bands.
Continuous experimentation over the years brought, first, vacuum tubes or lamps (radio valves) and later transistors. Radio equipment decreased in size as well as became more complex. In the early days of radio equipment was bulky and heavy. Sometimes he would occupy an entire room to accomplish what can now be done with the contents of a small metal box the size of a briefcase.
WE HELP WHEN NECESSARY
It is now a tradition for radio amateurs to serve their country whenever necessary. When national disasters strike, radio amateurs are always ready to help with their technology and personal skills. If the normal communication channels are interrupted by some catastrophe, the radio amateurs provide an emergency communication system with the affected areas. They also selflessly collaborate in helping and rescuing ships in distress, in organizing the supply of medicine wherever it is needed, such as after an earthquake, for example, in ensuring communications during and after hurricanes, typhoons, and floods.
Earthquakes and floods: radio amateurs are there.
In September 1985, a tremendous earthquake shook Mexico City, and two days later there was another smaller, but no less terrifying, shake. Friends, relatives, and stakeholders feared for the people in the affected area. All of them were looking for news about the situation in Mexico City. For what reason did they turn to radio amateurs for help? Historically radio amateurs have always given their selfless effort to get vital information to and from disaster-affected areas. The 1985 Mexico earthquake destroyed all means of communication, especially with rural areas, and amateur radio was the only way that news of the disaster could reach the rest of the world. Hundreds of radio amateurs spent days and nights awake in front of their devices, investigating news of people and the conditions of survival in the most affected areas. They only rested and returned to their normal duties when regular communications had been established.
Radio amateurs are always ready to provide service in case of need, even when disaster strikes on the other side of the world. There are no distances for amateur radio. Let us remember the strong earthquake that struck Italy in 1980. Radio amateurs in the United States of America spent entire days in front of their stations receiving and transmitting information about the disaster and those affected. The North American and Italian amateur radio stations broadcast thousands of messages to relatives and friends. Those who were in the trance of having a family member, relative or friend in the affected area went hopefully to the radio amateurs to inquire about news about the survival and health of their relatives.
Give a helping hand
Amateur radio does not put barriers to the handicapped. People who cannot walk, see or speak obtain their radio amateur license through special examinations and they manage to communicate with their local friends or from any part of the world through their own radio station equipped with the necessary means to allow them to operate it. Most of the local radio clubs offer to give classes to any disabled person who requires it and to make them aware of the possibilities that amateur radio offers them. Practically all administrations in the world provide specially prepared exams for the disabled.
THE RADIO HAMER LICENSE
Once you get your ham radio license, you can join thousands of colleagues who await you in the ether. You will begin to experience firsthand the thrill of amateur radio. Depending on the frequencies that your license class authorizes you to use, you will be able to communicate both with other colleagues in your locality and throughout the world. You will be able to speak into the microphone using single sideband (SSB or SSB) or frequency modulated (FM) modes. You can experience the rare charm of using Morse code (CW) to understand universally with people with whom you have no common language. And if you feel inclined towards the techniques of progress, you can communicate by radio packet or by radio teletype through a computer.
In your first contact, you will probably try to tune your transceiver in search of a station that is calling “CQ” (call general directed to anyone who is listening and wants to establish a communication with the station that initiates the call). Or maybe you have met a friend at a certain time and frequency to see if he hears you and helps you make your first communication (a friend who will become your “godfather” forever, within amateur radio). Or maybe you are braver than we suppose and dare to launch your own CQ call and suddenly … You will hear your own callsign as if it returned from the ether! There are no words to describe the excitement this produces! Since God knows where
Every time you send a CQ call, you will wonder inwardly who will hear you and who will answer you. The same could be a colleague from the neighboring population or a colleague from across the seas, from a very distant country. You will see how the whole world is full of radio amateurs who want to talk to you. It’s exciting and gives you goose bumps!
There are many wonderful things you can do as a new radio amateur. When you’ve been on the air for some time, you’ll be recognized as one of the band’s regular operators. You will be amazed at how many new friends you have met on the radio and how many people will recognize you through the ether. In this medium, countless friendships have been made that have lasted a lifetime.
Soon you will exchange QSL cards (special postcards) to confirm in writing the contacts made with other colleagues. They serve as reliable proof of having made a certain contact by radio within the conditions required to obtain the diplomas awarded by national and international associations or other parallel organizations. The expression QSL belongs to the Q code, it is an internationally recognized “Q signal” or abbreviation used by radio amateurs and many other telecommunications services as a tool for universal understanding.
There is some intrigue about DX (long-distance communication) that attracts large numbers of radio amateurs. Talking with colleagues from other continents is an exciting experience. Although every transcontinental colleague is nothing more than a being like you who likes to discover other people and places!
If you enjoy small competitions, you may have a passion for contests. They consist of communicating with the largest number of amateur radio stations in as many geographical areas as you can during a given period of time, more or less. It can be said that each weekend one or more contests are held in one of the usual modalities. On many occasions, these contests offer the opportunity to communicate with new countries, which is usually very difficult to capture, and if operating in Morse, the contests tend to facilitate practice in order to increase the speed of handling the code. There is no doubt that contests enhance the operational skills of those who participate in them, as well as providing fun.
Other modalities
In addition to phone (voice) and telegraphy (Morse), you can investigate certain special, more exotic and modern modalities. You will find a brief description of them below.
With slow scan television (SSTV ) radio amateurs exchange still images , one image at a time. In about eight seconds the light beam scans the television screen and forms a complete picture (the home television scans 25 to 30 complete frames per second). The SSTV images resemble the photographs of the Moon or Saturn that, relayed from outer space, we have been able to see on occasion. SSTV images are transmitted to any part of the world by means of the short-wave transmitters of radio amateurs. In fact, radio amateurs were the first to disseminate the first photographs of the planet Mars in SSTV images throughout the world.
Facsimile (fax) is the means of transmitting drawings, maps, and graphics. It is even possible to play parlor games in the air by transmitting fax images of each movement of the game pieces. News agencies transmit photos from anywhere using the fax (also called telefax).
With radio teletypewriting (RTTY) transmission the radio amateur can type a message and send it through the ether to a God knows where station. And even if the holder of that destination station happens to be absent, his own radio teletypewriter will probably be ready to store the message in a memory until his return. In the beginning, radio teletype systems used very noisy, very scandalous electromechanical machines. Today, radio amateurs often use personal computers as radio teletypewriters, so that messages are received silently and displayed on a television screen instead of being inscribed on rolls of paper. Of course, you can also use computer printers.
The radio packet is the most modern system for the exchange of information (data) between computers; it is a system capable of linking machines to each other. It is especially suitable for the retransmission of messages through local, national or international networks; messages that can remain memorized until they are called by the station for which they are destined.
Amateur radio satellites
Radio amateurs have their own artificial satellites, through which they can talk to anywhere else in the world. OSCAR (Orbiting Satellites Carrying Amateur Radio ) satellites have been orbiting the Earth since 1961 and have been used by radio amateurs to communicate with the entire globe using phones, Morse, radio teletype and packet radio.
Some schools use OSCAR satellites for science and math instruction. No license is required to listen to them and hence many students hear amateur radio communications through an OSCAR satellite. All you need to do is have a receiver and an appropriate antenna to introduce students to the amazing world of space technology. Radio amateurs from many different nations joined forces to build OSCARs. Weighing less than a home TV receiver and powered by solar batteries, OSCARs relay “upstream” signals from amateur radio transmitters back to Earth to stations in other latitudes.
You will be able to operate in any of these exciting modalities as soon as you become a radio amateur through obtaining the license. Take all the time you need to get to know all the adventure that amateur radio represents!
The Radio Spectrum: A Limited Resource
When you tune in to your favorite station on the radio receiver, you select a specific point on the radio receiver’s dial. Along with the dial, there is a multitude of stations, each one occupying a small part, a certain place, in the spectrum of “electromagnetic waves.” Other parts of the spectrum include microwaves, X-rays, infrared rays, ultraviolet rays, and light waves. Whether they are one or the other depends on their frequency, since they are all vibrations of the ether.
The logical question arises of who determines the part of the spectrum in which the amateur radio stations are located and wherein it is the favorite broadcasting station. The answer has several parts.
Radio signals travel to the farthest reaches of the world, so a certain order is essential to avoid chaos in the gangs. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) mission is to distribute the entire useful frequency range among users. There are many radio services that require a portion of the spectrum and these include television and sound broadcasting services, land, maritime and aeronautical mobile services, satellite services, and, of course, the amateur radio service. The representatives of the ITU member nations meet periodically, agree, and decide on the frequency bands to be used for each of the services according to their possibilities and needs. The process takes place at the World Administrative Radio Conferences (WARC) or World Administrative Radio Conferences (CARM).
WHY IS THE RADIO AFFECTION THERE?
In the case of amateur radio, the ITU has recognized the invaluable contribution of radio amateurs in times of emergency or disaster. At the CARM, which took place in 1979, the amateur radio service was awarded, several new frequency bands.
The ITU proceeds to the international assignment of frequency bands in general and, subsequently, each individual government decides the best way to distribute and individualize the services under its jurisdiction in the frequency bands assigned by the ITU.
In order to grant the authorization that allows the broadcasting of radio signals, it is necessary to meet certain requirements established by each Administration in particular. International legislation (Radio Regulations ) establishes that “Each Administration shall take the pertinent measures it deems necessary to verify the technical and operational preparation of the persons who aspire to operate the apparatus of a radio amateur station ”. At the global level, this precept takes the form of an exam that covers subjects related to legislation, fundamental theory of radio, operational practices, and also, in many cases, knowledge of Morse code. This book has, among others, the purpose of preparing for the passing of the exam that allows obtaining the first radio amateur license.
Basic principles
Article 1, section 3.34 of the Radio Regulations of the International Telecommunication Union defines the Amateur Radio Service as: “A radiocommunication service for the purpose of developing personal skills, intercommunication and technical research carried out by amateurs, that is, by duly authorized persons interested in non-profit radio technology ”. In these few words, you understand the whole fundamentals of the amateur radio service.
In addition, Resolution No. 640 of the same Radio Regulationsrecognizes that: “given their wide distribution and their proven capacity, the Amateur Radio Service stations may be used to assist in urgent communication needs” … “with regard to relief operations in national disasters.” Radio amateurs have always been known for their ability to develop emergency communications and safeguarding human life. Normal communications networks are almost always interrupted during hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, plane crashes, and other disasters. The Amateur Radio Service is usually the only one that prevails as the available means to connect the outside world with the affected place. Both the Red Cross and other civil protection entities fully trust the voluntary services of radio amateurs.
Article I of the Statutes of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) establishes the following as its purposes and those of the Amateur Radio Service:
- Amateur radio is a means of technical education for young people.
- He carries out technical and scientific research in the field of radiocommunications.
- Provides aid in cases of natural disasters.
- Contribute to good relations and international friendship.
- Amateur radio is a valuable national resource, especially in developing countries.
Certain administrations allow radio amateurs to go beyond emergency communications and to carry restricted traffic of a non-commercial nature, to and from the general public. This can mean roadside assistance, providing communications in the coordination of public events such as races and sports meetings or the exchange of congratulations and greetings on designated dates.
Traffic to third parties
Article 32 of the Radio Regulations reads: “The use of amateur radio stations for the transmission of international communications for the benefit of third parties is strictly prohibited.” But then he adds: “The foregoing may be modified by special agreements between the administrations of the nations concerned.” In reality, these agreements exist between American nations and some nations in other parts of the world. It is convenient to check the national laws of each country if traffic to third parties, national or international, is authorized.
YOU ALREADY HAVE YOUR LICENSE
The big day has finally arrived. You have received your license or diploma to operate the ham radio station and, as the proud owner of the radio station, it is sure that it will not take long to go on the air. There will probably be no quiet until the first contact is made! Now is the time to put into practice everything you have been learning to pass the exam and get your license.
But first things first. It will be advisable to check whether the national administration allows the use of a photocopy of the license as proof that one is a radio amateur or if the original is required. In the first case, you may prefer to frame the original of the license next to the station and carry a photocopy in your wallet for the use of your mobile attributions or to operate the station of some other colleague, always duly documented.
Indicative
Some administrations issue callsigns in a systematic order. In other words, you will get the following call sign that corresponds alphabetically. Certain administrations with a small number of radio amateurs allow the individual choice between available call signs and many radio amateurs request suffix letters corresponding to their own initials.
Once in possession of the callsign, you will generally keep it for life (unless the address is changed to another district, the license expires, or is revoked by the authority). Depending on the internal laws of the national administration, it will be necessary to change the call sign or part of it when transferring the residence of the station to another area or calling district.
Guide to operate
It operates in a legal and ethical manner; set such an example of an operation that makes you proud. To achieve this goal, you must become familiar with basic operational practices, both legal and technical. It should aspire to the operational mastery of all the modalities that are put into practice.
Whether it is mandatory or not (it depends on the national administrations) most radio amateurs keep a meticulous record of the activities of their station. For this, they use the “Book of Guard” or “Daily Book” in which they write down dates, call signs, names,s and locations of the correspondent stations with which they established communication, and as many more details as they deem appropriate. When contacts are confirmed via QSL cards, the journal is excellent for documenting these exchanges. The daily book is always the written history of the station itself that lasts for more years to come.
Station identification
Article 32 of the Radio RegulationsIt reads verbatim: “During the course of a transmission, the amateur radio station shall broadcast its call sign at short intervals.” National regulations may be somewhat different with respect to the obligation and periodicity of identifying oneself in the transmissions. Certain governments require that all transmissions be identified by the call sign of the station being called or communicating with, followed by the call sign of the own station making the call. Other governments only require identification at the beginning of each transmission and / or at the end of contact and / or periodically, such as once every ten minutes, during the course of a long communication. Operatively,
The regulations prohibit unidentified signals or communications (those that do not transmit the call sign). It is therefore important to be sure that the precepts and procedures for identifying your own station are well understood and followed.
Here is an example of how a ham radio station is identified. Suppose that two stations, KA9OLS and KB1MW operate under United States regulations that require station identification every ten minutes and at the end of each contact. The aforementioned stations have been communicating for 45 minutes and are about to end their contract. Each of the two stations has already transmitted its call sign a minimum of four times (once every ten minutes, in accordance with US regulations). But each of them must transmit their callsign once more at the end of the contact, which will mean the transmission of the callsign five times in total during the course of the QSO (QSO means communication with another colleague, in the language of the radio amateur). If the QSO had lasted only 8 minutes, each station would have been obliged to transmit its call sign only once (at the end of the call). In Morse, self-identification takes the form OF KA9OLS.
In the example above, the identification was not transmitted at the beginning of the communication because the United States Regulations did not require it, but other administrations may require the identification of the station at the beginning of any transmission and at intervals of different duration. The regulations vary in small details from one nationality to another and it is necessary to know well the legislated procedure in one’s country.
Nothing prevents the greatest abundance of identification when it is deemed convenient in order to facilitate communication, for example in a highly populated or heavily interfered band. Listen and pay attention to how national stations are identified in the amateur radio bands.
Who can you talk to?
Who can you talk to once you have a license? You can talk to amateur radio stations around the world that are caught at any time of the day or night. Of course, this includes all colleagues from foreign countries unless the national Administration has expressly prohibited it or imposed some specific restriction. (Unfortunately, there are still some countries in the world whose government does not allow radio communication with people of other nationalities.)
It is also possible that the Administration itself authorizes radiocommunication with specific stations that do not belong to the amateur radio service; for example, the exchange of messages with certain military stations or with stations of security agencies, such as Civil Protection, Red Cross, etc.
Broadcasting
Amateur radio is a two-way communications service and hence no amateur radio station can transmit information intended to be received by the general public. Likewise, there are certain restrictions regarding the one-way dissemination of information of general interest, even for the exclusive scope of radio amateurs themselves, with their corresponding exceptions. For example, radio beacons and Morse code practice classes are one-way ham radio transmissions that are generally licensed worldwide.
Commercial communications
The radio links of the amateur radio service cannot have any commercial character and must be carried out between stations of the amateur radio service itself “exclusively with personal content and without any pecuniary interest”, according to Section 3.34 of Article 1 of the International Regulations. The word “pecuniary” refers to any kind of remuneration. This definition clearly and strictly indicates that no amateur radio station can broadcast or maintain commercial traffic and this not only applies to personal interests, but to the convenience of any other person.
It also means that no remuneration can be accepted for the transmission of third-party traffic where such traffic is authorized; not just money, but even any kind of compensation, including materials or services.
Other standards
Ham radio stations cannot broadcast music. Using obscene, indecent, or irreverent vocabulary is prohibited. The use of codes or ciphers that conceal the meaning of the transmission is not authorized. The latter means that it is not legal to use a “secret” code to communicate with a friend through the ether.
No radio amateur should cause malicious (intentional) interference to any other radio communication. It may happen that one does not like the operating practice of another colleague or that he believes that he is operating outside the law, but even then one does not have the right to interfere with their communication.
The radio amateur should never transmit false or misleading signals, such as calls for help when there is no real emergency. It is not possible, for example, to make “MAYDAY ” calls (international phone signal in demand for immediate help) unless there really is a situation that threatens human life (and even so, it will be good to know what the regulation provides in this regard national of each country).
Conduct in the air
There is a philosophy about the behavior of the radio amateur on the air whose origin is lost in the history of the radio itself and which survives today with the same force as in heroic times. It is about the attitude and aptitude of radio amateurs to take care of themselves and monitor compliance with the regulations in their own bands. Over the years, radio amateurs have distinguished themselves for their ability to ensure order in operational practice and in the development of technical skills. It is a tradition that must continue and that is probably based on the pride of things well done, the camaraderie, and the concern for the good that has always distinguished the radio amateur of all time. For many, amateur radio is much more than just a hobby.
As a future or as a new radio amateur, one begins to discover the vast horizons that his new hobby offers him, and, little by little, he realizes the formidable heritage that he has ahead of him to respect and enjoy immediately. Let this healthy pride take hold of you and strive to comply with the Amateur Radio Code.