The People You'll Meet

Do you like meeting new people and making friends?  Why not do it with ham radio?  With the right equipment, conditions, and skill, you can talk to anybody in the world.  Literally.  From somebody right down the street to somebody in Afghanistan, Russia, France, Africa - you name it.  If you travel a lot, your mobile ham radio can be your best pal because you can talk to other hams from all over through VHF/UHF repeater networks.  There are even mobile 6-meter and HF rigs that will allow you to "ragchew" with ham buddies located hundreds of miles away as you motor on down the road.

The Quality of People That You'll Meet

I don't want to make any generalizations, but you can bet that PROVIDING EVERYBODY IS FOLLOWING THE RULES, the people you meet on the ham waves are smarter than the average bear (after all, you do have to prepare for and take an exam to obtain frequency privileges) and, from my experience, the folks are usually nice, as well.  From time to time, you will run across your low-lives whose only goal is to make our lives miserable, but let's face it - THEY ARE EVERYWHERE.  There is no escape.

The Challenge, and The Reward

It takes effort to learn the fundamentals of amateur radio and acquire an operating license.  Even if you never use your radio much, you did learn something - the proof is that you have a license in your hand.  You might not think so at this point, but the knowledge you'll walk away with is good, useful information for many aspects of everyday life.  Many of the mysteries of electronics and radios of all kinds will suddenly make since.

And when you do take advantage of the privileges that you EARNED, there are many opportunities for you to express yourself.  You can DX (make long-range communications with fellow hams), participate in contests and events ("field days"), utilize your equipment for computer and television (yes, you read that right) transmissions and receptions, send communications via CW (your basic Morse code), or do what I like to do - use your 2 meter gear to chat with your local buddies in your spare time.

The "Original" Reason

The purpose of amateur radio, if you ask the FCC, is clear - to improve communication skills, to promote the interest and associated technology of radio, and to provide a means of emergency communications.  But hey, don't take that too seriously - ham radio can be practiced just for the fun of it.  But then again, who knows - you may help save somebody's life one day, because of you amateur radio knowledge and skills.

Opportunities Abound

Ham radio is an equal opportunity for everyone, regardless of sex, race, creed, physical ability, or age.  The only real limiting factor is will-power.  All you have to have to start enjoying it is motivation to get your ticket!

Take some time to see what WD1V has to say about ham radio opportunities and the sacred code of the ham operator.