Sunday, December 26, 2010

Be a HAM (Amateur Radio Operator)

Which is the best one amongst the 3? Wireless? Walkie?? Mobile???

With no second thought you can narrow it to Wireless!
This is one of the best available wireless communicating mode in the world today.

Amateur Radio or Ham Radio as it is called is a fascinating hobby. Isn't it hair-raising when sitting in the confines of his/her cozy room, a radio amateur (also called a ham) with a wireless set can talk to a geologist in the Antarctica, astronauts on the ISS (international space station), or the captain of an Italian ship sailing in the Pacific Ocean?

Amateur Radio Operator, popularly known as HAMs has the best and the most reliable frequencies to communicate at any point in time at any place and at any instance.


From last 2 decades, though there is lot of awareness regarding this technical hobby, it is disastrous to understand that our country India has the least no. of licensed Amateur Radio Operators.

What is Amateur Radio?
People who pursue the hobby of using a personal radio station to communicate, purely for non commercial purposes, with other radio hobbyists call it ham radio or Amateur Radio. They call themselves Amateur Radio Operators, Ham Radio Operators or just HAMS. Hams communicate with other hams, around the block, on a distant continent or from an orbiting space station! Some talk via computers, others prefer to use regular voice communications and still other enjoy using one of the oldest forms of radio communication - The Morse Code. To start with you need to get a license from the Government of your country to go on air.

If you were to ask a dozen different amateurs what ham radio meant to them chances are you would get 12 different answers. Radio amateurs have discovered a richly rewarding high-tech hobby that has many different appeals to different people. Whether it is the ability to talk to local friends over the radio waves using a hand-held transceiver, communicating digitally with packet radio to exchange personal messages or vital information in an emergency, talking to other hams anywhere in the world, or engaging in contests with other Radio Amateurs over the airwaves, there is something for everybody.

Amateurs are often affectionately called hams. The source of the name HAM is not known but it has been around almost from the beginning of amateur radio in the early 1900s. The name amateur has nothing to do with skill or knowledge but rather implies that ham radio cannot be used for commercial or revenue generating purposes.

What Hams Do?
Whether you would like to chat with your friends on the way to work or school, check into a net (An Amateur Radio net happens on a particular channel where a group of hams can discuss on a topic of mutual interest),

connect to others via a repeater or an amateur radio satellite, or volunteer for emergency services, amateur radio is the first and foremost about communication. Radios can be hand-held transceivers similar to a walkie-talkie, a mobile unit for use in a car or other vehicle, or a base station with an outdoor antenna used for local or distance communication.

Keep a follow-up on by blog for more interesting stuff on this wonderful hobby!!