The word HAM says all: “Help All
Men”. It started by listening the radio
frequencies and answering their help calls.
Many people in the world use ham radio
not to provide pecuniary gain but
to increase friends and experience in the electronic world.
The
most interesting thing in Amateur radio is the construction of their own wireless
transceivers
to transmit their voice signals
throughout the world to be replied back by their fellow hams.
With the availability of
low cost easily replicable circuits of
radio transmitters and receivers, the number of ham radio operators increased to millions. The growth of electronics communication
technology is also considered to be going hand in hand with the progress of ham radio.
There are many modes in
radio communication that are compatible with everybody likes and dislikes. There are
digital modes that join informatic with radios to transmit files, images, and many other
things and, the other modes that use analogical signals such like voice or tones.
Many people ask what is
the profit you can take from ham radio. The
radio amateurs answer to that question saying that you can win a lot more than what you
may give. And win doesn’t mean money but things like friends, experience and
knowledge. Be a radio amateur is a special “job” in society, a kind of thing
that many people don’t know. It’s a worldwide family in which everybody has
something in common, the art of communicate.
This family was built
with the purpose of sharing knowledge and wisdom
through the world. Everyday becomes
easier to communicate. Telephones, radios and TV networks are common nowadays, but
let’s rewind a few years to the time where we had to write letters or travel to the
destiny of our message. That is how the radio amateurs started, since the cold war, they
listened to every kind of communication even
if they were not allowed to do that. By building their own receivers they could hear
everything that wasn’t codified and that was how they helped many times, people in
danger.
The radio communications are worldwide
legislated, with determined frequencies to some kind of uses. Commercial radios such as
police, fireman and ambulances aren’t allow to listen, but they are occasionally
intercepted by ham.
This activity is unknown
by almost everyone. Radio amateurs are just some freaks that spend lots of hours
communicating with each other. The people who have already met this guys, know their will
to help and to know people. Many are the nights they have already lost, trying to gather
the best conditions to make long and short distance contacts. Things like propagation,
contacts, Qsl’s, Dx, are common to hear when they talk to each other and only with a
few explanations you may understand what they mean.
A real amateur station,
doesn’t need to be big, but only to do the essential thing: communicate. It may be
installed in a car, a boat, a motorcycle or simply at home. Sometimes radio amateurs are
recognised by their big antennas or how many they have, because this antennas are one of
their ways of communication.
Everyone can be an
amateur radio, just have to do an exam. In Portugal there are 3 classes inside HAM radio.
The higher the class, the harder will be the exam. It’s not difficult to get this
licence but it is necessary to have knowledge about electronics, radios and legislation.