Amateur Radio or Ham Radio
Source - rac.ca/what-is-amateur-radio
cartoon above: Dilbert by Scott Adams
What is Amateur Radio?
It is a form of communication, a hobby, a community service and a vital service in the event of an emergency.
It is not just talking to each other. There are digital modes where computers talk to each other with your station equipment. Or host a weak signal beacon. You will find something you like!
You can write software for it. Maybe use a SDR and stream the audio into a voice recognition app you wrote and extract the command to do something.
It could be a teacher in Nova Scotia making friends over the radio with another Radio Amateur in New Zealand; an Alberta teenager using her computer to upload a chess move through her radio which is retrieved by a fellow chess fan in Florida via an Amateur Radio space satellite; or a truck driver in Manitoba contacting Radio Amateurs in a hundred countries during a single weekend contest.
The appeal of Amateur Radio is the ability to communicate across the country, around the globe, and even with astronauts on space missions. Many Radio Amateurs build and experiment with radio.
Do you?
- Enjoy the thought of communicating with people around the world without the use of phones or the Internet?
- like experimenting with electronics? like interfacing radio transmitters with your computer?
- want to serve your community at social events or during serious emergency situations?
- want to talk to astronauts in the International Space Station?
- look forward to developing new relationships and learning what is going on around the world through the airwaves?
- Bounce signal off of moon, meteorites, rain or even snow!! —
If you answered maybe or yes to any one or a few of these questions, then Amateur Radio may be for you!
Find you local club here - Locate your club
I’m sure you will find helpful and kind people there to guide to wherever this amazing hobby takes you.
If we don’t exercise our right to use this spectrum, we will lose it!