What is amateur radio?
There are over two million active amateur radio operators around the world today, and chances are that you have one in your neighborhood! Amateur radio operators come from all walks of life — mechanics, doctors, students, celebrities, service professionals, electronic engineers — people just like you and me. Amateur radio operators — sometimes called “hams” — are hobbyists that enjoy using amateur radio for experimentation, communication, recreation, and emergency communication.
Amateur radio is truly a multi-faceted hobby. Some operators participate in fast-paced contests and receive awards for the stations and countries they have contacted. Others prefer to have long conversations with other operators they just met on the air. You can pound the brass and communicate using the time-tested technology of Morse code, or you can communicate using bleeding-edge digital communications. You can even build your own radios — this hobby is what you make of it!
In the United States, amateur radio currently has three license classes. The first license, called Technician, allows the most basic radio operating privileges. The next level, General, includes all of the privileges of Technician, plus some operating privileges in the HF band, which allows for longer-distance communications. The next and highest level of license, Extra, allows all of the privileges of Technician and General, plus use of the entire amateur radio spectrum allowed by law. Not only does each level come with more operating privileges, but also more challenging tests required for licensure.
Many prospective amateur radio operators — or newly-minted hams — get involved by first joining their local amateur radio club. The DMRAA can provide information on licensing, operating practices, and technical information. The DMRAA holds monthly meetings typically on the fourth Tuesday of each month in the Waveland Hall (2nd Floor) of the Plymouth Congregational Church on the corner of 42nd Street and Ingersoll Avenue in Des Moines. The meetings begin at 7 p.m. and last for approximately an hour. The meetings are free and you do not have to be a licensed ham to attend the meetings. Following the meeting, feel free to stay and ask club members any questions you want — we’d be happy to help!
The requirement for radio amateurs to be able to pass a Morse code proficiency was dropped by the Federal Communications Commission in 2007. Today, only simple knowledge and understanding of amateur radio revolving around technical proficiency and rules and regulations are necessary. Study materials are widely available on the internet at websites such as AA9PW.com, HamExam.org, and many other sites can be found with a simple web search. Hard-copy exam materials are also available from the American Radio Relay League’s website for a fee.
The DMRAA also offers classes and study groups for those who want to earn their license for the first time, upgrade their license, or want to learn a new skill within the hobby — contact us for more details!
Where did the term “ham” come from?
According to the Amateur Radio Relay League’s booklet What is Ham Radio?, the definition of the word “ham” was first given in G.M. Dodge’s “The Telegraph Instructor” even before there was radio. Then, as now, the definition has meant “a poor operator; a ‘plug.’” The definition has never changed in wire telegraphy.
The first wireless operators were landline telegraphers who left their offices to go to sea or to man the coastal stations. They brought with them their language and much of the tradition of their older profession. In those early days, every station occupied the same wavelength — or, more accurately perhaps, every station occupied the whole spectrum with its broad spark signal. Government stations, ships, coastal stations and the increasingly numerous amateur operators all competed for time and signal supremacy in each other’s receivers.
Many of the amateur stations were very powerful. Two amateurs, working each other across town, could effectively jam all the other operations in the area. Frustrated commercial operators would refer to the ham radio interference by calling them “hams.” Amateurs, possibly unfamiliar with the real meaning of the term, picked it up and applied it to themselves in true “Yankee Doodle” fashion and wore it with pride. As the years advanced, the original meaning has completely disappeared.
If you’d like to learn more about amateur radio, then be sure and check out some of the great materials on the ARRL website.
