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ARRL is the national membership association for Amateur
Radio operators.
The seed for Amateur Radio was planted in the 1890s, when
Guglielmo Marconi began his experiments in wireless telegraphy.
Soon he was joined by dozens, then hundreds, of others who
were enthusiastic about sending and receiving messages through
the air--some with a commercial interest, but others solely
out of a love for this new communications medium. The United
States government began licensing Amateur Radio operators
in 1912.
By 1914, there were thousands of Amateur Radio operators--hams--in
the United States. Hiram Percy Maxim, a leading Hartford,
Connecticut, inventor and industrialist saw the need for
an organization to band together this fledgling group of
radio experimenters. In May 1914 he founded the American
Radio Relay League (ARRL) to meet that need.
Today ARRL, with approximately 163,000 members, is the largest
organization of radio amateurs in the United States. The
ARRL is a not-for-profit organization that:
• promotes interest in Amateur Radio communications
and experimentation
• represents US radio amateurs in legislative matters,
and
• maintains fraternalism and a high standard of conduct
among Amateur Radio operators.
At ARRL headquarters in the Hartford suburb of Newington,
a staff of 120 helps serve the needs of members. ARRL is
also International Secretariat for the International Amateur
Radio Union, which is made up of similar societies in 150
countries around the world. |