I Am a Ham. A Ham I Am. My License is from Uncle Sam.
By Linda Carpenter (N7KAZ)
October 2006
Why do people get involved in amateur (ham) radio?
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They love the electronics theory.
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They like to put up tall towers and annoy their neighbors.
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They like to participate in contests, for instance contacting as many countries as possible.
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They dislike interacting with people face to face.
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They want to be able to provide emergency communications.
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Ham radio works where cell phones don’t (but not everywhere).
This list may lead you to believe that ham radio attracts its fair share of geeks and you would be right. If you are one or want to meet some, you might think that’s a plus. Geeks who now inhabit the Internet might have found a home in ham radio prior to the mid 1980s.
There are now 3 classes of licenses. Back in 1987 when I got mine, there were 5 and I got to the 2nd level. I only did this so that I could use the 2-meter band to be able to communicate with people in our camping group and so I could get my spouse, Ken (WA7UIM), off my back. The band refers to the wavelength, which is longer for lower frequencies. On the 2 meter band, there are repeaters on high spots all over the place, such as Mule Mountain, Mount Graham, and some tall buildings in downtown Phoenix. A repeater has an output frequency that is different than the input frequency so the repeater can receive your signal and “repeat” it without interfering with the input frequency. Instead of having to be line of sight from the person with whom you are talking, you both only have to be line of sight from the repeater. One aspect of ham radio is “packet radio,” which combines repeaters and computers to send and receive emails. On the lower frequency bands, you can bounce signals off the ionosphere and talk to people all over the world. Yes, you could just pick up a telephone and talk to someone in France, but how challenging is that?
These days you do not need to know Morse code to get to the first level, Technician, which lets you use the 2 meter repeaters. Some of these repeaters have an “autopatch” feature that lets you make telephone calls. You only need to “copy” 5 words per minute to get a General, which allows you to use voice transmissions on several bands that work worldwide. I’m a not a technoweenie and I can’t say that I ever understood the theory when I started out. But I’m retired now and have the time to study for an upgrade to a General class license. It still doesn’t all make sense to me, but things are more or less falling into place. If you can manage simple algebra with the occasional use of exponents, you can understand the equations that you need for the General license. At least I’m saying all this now. If I embarrass myself and don’t pass the test in November, I might have to admit that being a Mensan doesn’t mean that I can do anything.
If this all has you a little bit interested, here are some websites with more information:
Edited for technical content by Ken Carpenter (WA7UIM)
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