I found this statement about Ham (Amateur) Radio, it really speaks volumes. I know there’s more interest, and I would love to teach more classes. Watch this space…
As a newly licensed operator, you might hear other hams referring to amateur radio as a ‘hobby’. They’ll say things like, “Welcome to the hobby,” or, “Ham radio is a great hobby,” etc. They are definitely right, but understand that in the United States in particular, it was intended to be more than that. As a ham, you are a member of a federal communications service with an emphasis on the word ‘service’. One of your charges is to do what is possible within your abilities to advance the art and science of radio. You are also charged with honing your skills to the point where you’ll be an effective asset in times of emergency. It’s a great hobby indeed, but again, you are part of an important service. Keep that in mind as you move forward and always commit yourself to excellence. Cheers and welcome to amateur radio.
73 de W0RDR (that’s “ham-speak” for ‘best wishes from W0RDR (me)’.
Randy Reynard
It has been suggested people should know more about what’s going on with Ham Radio. Let me give you a list of the things I’ve enjoyed recently:
Emergency communications - storm spotting
Parks on the Air - taking my equipment out to a state or federal park and setting up a temporary station, making as many contacts as I can over a couple of hours (so far, I’ve made a couple thousand contacts in about 8 months - doing just that). It’s called “Activating a Park”.
Hunting people on the air that are doing the above, I’ve made well over 2000 “hunter” contacts in the last 8 months.
Building and testing portable antenna systems.
Teaching and helping other hams with their stations
Attending ham club meetings (Wichita Amateur Radio Club and Quarter Century Wireless Association). Great fellowship with other hams, sharing experiences, ideas and friendship. WARC web site www.warc1.org. The next WARC meeting is Wednesday June 5th at the Wichita Advanced Learning Library (6PM social, 6:30 meeting).
One thing that’s coming up soon is “Amateur Radio Field Day” (4th weekend in June). A group of hams will setup stations at some location that’s not normally a station and make as many contacts as possible in 24 hours using different modes, antennas and radios. It’s a great opportunity to see operators in action and even get on the air - even if you’re not licensed (under the supervision of someone who is). Field Day.
A number of us in MakeICT are really interested in setting up a station at the facility. We have a spot reserved (in the electronics lab), just need more people involved to make it work. The nice thing about the club station is any licensed operator may use it (within the limits of their license privileges), so even if you don’t have your own station, you can get on the air once we have that going (and you’re checked out on it).
There is so much to do in ham radio, a niche for everyone…
These last 2 posts are so interesting. From my yrars using CB i met a few HAM operators. So I did know that HAM Radio was also a service as well as a hobby. The airwaves are divvied up to be shared. Not hogged. But evem more importantly, at a time when I hear about divisiveness among us, and about how awful gubmint CAN be… [ it CAN be true btw, it just doesnt have to ALWAYS be true]… i see fellow citizens being decent folks to each other, following the rules of the shated airwaves, and by and large, not smothering other peoples carrier [on purpose]. Its a great hobby, a great service, and every last HAM operator Ive ever known was a seriously decent and concerned human bean. Team players of the best sort. And… While i keep wondering what Ham Operators are “making” beyond distant contacts and conversations, i have zero objections about them being here among us. Even when the wheelchair handicap spot[s] are taken.
May their carriers always skip, and their mics never stick. These are folks [like us] worth knowing.
Teya
For those who might be interested, I’m looking into doing a Tech+General course this fall. It would cover the material for both levels of testing and when the student is through they’d be licensed to operate on all frequency bands and all modes. This would give them the most useful of all the Ham Radio licenses. I have the timing of the course worked out. It will require about 24.5 hours of classroom instruction. This is as compared to doing the classes separately which would take almost 40 hours. I’ve been working with the authors of the course materials and they like the idea enough that they’re considering doing it in their teaching as well.
Stay tuned, I’ll be posting details as we get farther past the busiest part of summer!