What is ham radio?
Amateur radio, or ham radio, is an exciting hobby, including a vast range of activities. You can talk to people around the world — without wires. Or you can get involved with:
- Old communication modes like Morse code and RTTY
- New communication modes like digital and spread spectrum
- Fox hunting (being the first to find a hidden transmitter)
- Moonbounce (talking to people by bouncing radio waves off of the moon)
- And a hundred other activities.
Ham radio opens up a whole new world of adventure!
Where do I start?
First, you have to get a license. The requirement to get a license weeds out most of the "bad apples" so ham radio doesn't devolve into a garbage bin like CB.
To get your entry-level license, you have to pass a fairly easy written exam covering basic regulations, operating practices, and very basic electronics. As you progress further into the hobby, you may decide to take additional written exams, each more challenging than the previous,to upgrade to higher class licenses. Up until a few years ago, you also had to learn Morse code, but that requirement has been eliminated entirely.
In the old days, preparing for the written exams meant hours of reading (and falling asleep) in the books. Today the interactive study courses at www.hamtestonline.com make exam preparation easy and fun. In about 8 hours of study, you can learn a lot of interesting information about your new hobby and pass the exam to get your ham license and radio call sign!