Amateur Radio Governance And Amateur Radio Societies

According to the United States agency that regulates radio and telecommunications, the Federal Communications CommissionThe Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent United States government agency, created, directed, and empowered by Congressional statute. The FCC was established by the Communications Act of 1934 as the successor to the Federal Radio Commi, Amateur radio serves the following purposes:

1 Governance and Amateur Radio Societies

The International Telecommunication UnionThe International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is an international organization established to standardize and regulate international radio and telecommunications, founded as the International Telegraph Union in Paris in May 17, 1865. Its main tasks incl (ITU) governs the allocation of communications frequencies world-wide, with participation by each nation by representation from their communications regulation authority. IARU member nations may choose to further limit specific frequency allocations within IARU guidelines.

Many countries have their own national Amateur Radio society that coordinates with the communications regulation authority for the benefit of all Amateurs. The oldest of these societies is the Wireless Institute of AustraliaThe Wireless Institute of Australia WIA was formed in 1910, and is the first and oldest national radio society. It represents the Amateur Radio operators of Australia in dealings with the Australian Communications Authory (ACA), the authority under the go (WIA), formed in 1910; other notable early societies are the Radio Society of Great Britain founded in 19131913 is a common year starting on Wednesday. click on link for calendar) Events January-March January 30 House of Lords rejects Irish Home Rule Bill February 1 New York City's Grand Central Station opens as the world's largest train station. February 3 Th and the American Radio Relay LeagueThe American Radio Relay League ARRL was founded in May 1914 by Hiram Percy Maxim. The ARRL serves as the primary representative of Amateur Radio operators (hams) to the US government. It performs this function by lobbying the US Congress and Federal Comm created in 1914Events January 4 77 seal hunters freeze to death on ice near Labrador January 5 Ford Motor Company announces an eight-hour workday and a minimum wage of $5 for a day's labor February 13 Copyright: In New York City the ASCAP (for American Society of Compos. National societies also cooperate through the International Amateur Radio UnionThe International Amateur Radio Union IARU is an international confederation of national Amateur Radio organisations that allows a forum for common matters of concern and collectively represents matters to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). (IARU).

2 Band Plans and frequency allocations

Through ITU agreement bandwidth has been set aside for amateur transmissions. Amateurs use a variety of transmission modes, including Morse code, radio teletype, data, and voice. Specific frequency allocations are a matter of record and vary from country to country and region to region, but the frequency allocations in the USA are:

Medium Frequency (MF) (300 kHz to 3 MHz)
- 160 meters (1.8 - 2.0 MHz)
High Frequency (HF) (3 to 30 MHz)
- 80 meters (3.5 - 4.0 MHz)
- 60 meters (five USB voice channels: 5.332, 5.348, 5.368, 5.373, 5.405 MHz)
- 40 meters (7.0 - 7.3 MHz)
- 30 meters (10.1 - 10.15 MHz)
- 20 meters (14.0 - 14.35 MHz)
- 17 meters (18.068-18.168 MHz)
- 15 meters (21.000-21.450 MHz)
- 12 meters (24.890-24.990 MHz)
- 10 meters (28.0 - 29.7 MHz)
Very High Frequency (VHF) (30 to 300 MHz)
- 6 meters (50 - 54 MHz)
- 2 meters (144 - 148 MHz)
- 1.25 meters (222 - 225 MHz)
Ultra High Frequency (UHF) (300 MHz to 3 GHz)
- 70 centimeters (420 - 450 MHz)
- 33 centimeters (902 - 928 MHz)
- 23 centimeters (1.24 - 1.3 GHz)
- 13 centimeters (2.3 - 2.31 GHz and 2.39 - 2.45 GHz)
Super High Frequency (SHF) (3 to 30 GHz)
- 9 centimeters (3.3 - 3.5 GHz)
- 5 centimeters (5.65 - 5.925 GHz)
- 3 centimeters (10 - 10.5 GHz)
- 1.2 centimeters (24 - 24.25 GHz)
Extremely High Frequency (EHF) (30 to 300 GHz)
- 6 millimeters (47 - 47.2 GHz)
- 4 millimeters (75.5 - 81.0 GHz)
- 2.5 millimeters (119.98 - 120.02 GHz)
- 2 millimeters (142 - 149 GHz)
- 1 millimeter (241 - 250 GHz)

The ARRL has a detailed band plan on their website.

3 Use and available activities

Licensed Amateur Radio operators enjoy personal two-way communications with friends, family members, and complete strangers, all of whom must also be licensed. They support the larger public community with emergency and disaster communications. Increasing a person's knowledge of electronics and radio theory as well as radio contesting are also popular aspects of this radio service. A good way to get started in Ham Radio is to find a club in your area to answer your questions and provide information on getting licensed and then getting on the air!

Ham Radio offers the licensed operators a variety of radio modes that help to ensure reliable communications during and after disasters. Many of these rely on the " simplex" mode, that is direct, radio-to-radio, avoiding the problems associated with networks that might fail. In Ham Radio simplex communications would allow skilled radio operators to talk across town on VHF or UHF frequencies, or across the world on the HF ( shortwave) bands of frequencies . Hams also have another powerful tool available, repeaters. Repeaters are radio relay devices usually located on the top of a mountain or tall building. A repeater allows the licensed Ham to have radio coverage for hundreds of miles from just a small handheld or mobile two-way radio.

Within amateur radio, one can pursue interests such as providing communications for a community emergency response team; antenna theory; satellite communication (see AMSAT and OSCAR series satellites); disaster response ; Skywarn; packet radio (using data transmission protocols similar to that used on the Internet, but via radio links);

DX communication over thousands of miles using the ionosphere to refract radio waves; Internet Radio Linking Project ( IRLP) which is a composite network of radio signals and the Internet; Automated Position Reporting System ( APRS), which is a radio-to-radio network of amateur radio and the Global Positioning Sysytem, radio contests http://www.contesting.com and super low-power or QRP operation.

3.1 QSL cards and Contesting

One of the many exciting activities of ham radio is the DX-pedition. Radio amateurs collect QSL cards from other stations, indicating the continents and regions which they have contacted. Certain zones of the world have very few radio amateurs. As a result, when a station with a rare ID comes on the air, radio amateurs flock to communicate with it. To take advantage of this phenomenon, groups of hams transport radio equipment into a remote country or island (such as normally uninhabited Bouvet Island, which has the rare callsign prefix 3Y). These expeditions can help hams quickly achieve a communication award such as a DXCC. To obtain the DXCC award a ham needs confirming QSL cards from hams in 100 countries around the world.

Contesting is another activity which has garnered interest in the ham community. During a period of time (normally 24 to 48 hours) a ham tries to successfully communicate with as many other hams as possible. In the US, one such event is Field Day, held in the last full weekend in June. The contesting amateur may concentrate on just DX stations, or only on stations powered by emergency generation equipment or running on batteries, which is meant to simulate hurricane or other emergency disaster conditions. Some contests may or may not be limited in allowable modes of transmission.

3.2 Weak signal and Low power activities

Some hams use VHF or UHF frequencies to bounce their signals off the moon. The return signal is heard by many other hams who also do EME ( earth- moon-earth). The antenna arrays are massive so a lot of real estate is needed. Other hams transmit with very low power. Signals on the order of 5 watts or less are heard all over the world by these QRP (low power) operators.

3.3 Maritime mobile, mobile and portable operations

Licenced amateurs often take portable equipment with them when travelling, whether in their luggage or fitted into their cruising yachts, caravans and other vehicles. On long-distance expeditions and adventures such equipment allows them to stay in touch with other amateurs, reporting progress, arrival and sometimes exchanging safety messages along the way. Many static-based hams are very pleased to hear directly from such travellers. From in a yacht in mid-ocean or a 4x4 inside the Arctic Circle, a friendly voice and the chance of a kind fellow-enthusiast sending an e-mail home is very well received.

3.4 Past, present, and future

Despite all these exciting specialties, many hams enjoy the informal contacts, long discussions or "rag-chews", or round table "nets", whether by voice transmission ( SSB, AM, or FM), CW (morse telegraphy), or one of the digital modes ( RTTY, PSK31, and others).

Even with the advent of the Internet (offering email, music, broadcast audio, video, voice over IP ( VoIP) ham radio is not diminishing in countries with advanced communications infrastructure. Amateur radio remains strong even today, as figures from the American Radio Relay League will prove. This may be partly because Hams enjoy communicating using the most minimalist simple hardware possible as well as finding the most technically advanced way, advancing the art of radio communication at both ends, frequently beyond what professionals are willing to try and risk.

Voice over IP ( VoIP) is also finding its way into Amateur Radio. Programs like Echolink tie hams with computers into ham radio repeaters across the globe. The Internet Radio Linking Project (IRLP) utilizes VoIP to tie repeaters together directly by user command. This nascent use is finding applications in emergency services as well, as an alternative to expensive (and sometime fallable) trunking systems.

In times of crisis and natural disasters, ham radio may be the only surviving means of communication. It has been found all too often that both wire and cellular telephone systems either fail or are overloaded in times of crisis and radios dedicated to emergency services fare little better. In the United States, two organizations of amateur radio operators exist nationally for disaster communications. They are the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) and the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES). Typically a local radio club will have information on joining either or both. In areas where known disaster problems exist, amateur radio has a long-standing tradition of cooperation with local emergency services. Los Angeles County and the Disaster Communications Service exists as an example and a model.

On March 18, 1909, Einar Dessau used a short-wave radio transmitter which made him the first to broadcast as a ham radio operator.

More recently as of September 2, 2004, ham radio has been used to inform weather forcasters with information on hurricane Frances live from the Bahamas.

3.5 Amateur Radio and Innovation in Telecommunications Technology

Throughout its history, amateur radio has made significant contributions to science, industry, and the social services. The economic and social benefit derived from amateur radio research has founded new industries, built economies, empowered nations, and saved lives.

Amateur radio represents a unique research and development (R&D) environment that cannot be duplicated in the labs or research parks of either industry or the government. Existing at the intersection of the social, economic, cultural and scientific spheres, amateur radio leverages this position to invent and innovate from a unique perspective. Many now-commonplace communication technologies have their genesis in amateur radio.

However, the amateur radio service, or more specifically, the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum allocated to the activity, is under extreme pressure from the telecommunications industry. Recent exponential growth in commercial wireless communication systems has taxed existing commercial spectrum allocations, and industry is eager for expansion. Amateur radio spectrum is threatened. Ironically, many of the communication technologies used by these firms were initially developed within the field of amateur radio.

To justify their quest for additional spectrum, industry lobbyists portray amateur radio as an anachronism, and characterize amateur bands, particularly in the UHF and microwave region, as underutilized. On the contrary, innovative communications research within the hobby is alive and well, and many of these new amateur projects utilize the higher-frequency bands sought after by industry. There is commercial interest in some of the new technologies currently under development within amateur radio, and amateur radio continues to contribute to the state of the radio art.

Therefore, amateur radio must be supported by government and the telecommunications industry it helped create, so that it may continue to innovate and serve as a source of creativity for both technological and social change as we move forward into the twenty-first century.

See http://highgate.comm.sfu.ca/thesis for a comprehensive discussion of this topic.

4 Amateur Radio on the screen

Tony Hancock's 1960 BBC TV episode "The Radio Ham", in which he plays an incompetent ham radio operator, has remained popular in the UK and has played a small part in keeping the memory of ham radio's heyday alive. Hollywood movies have also used Amateur Radio as a convenient and often fanciful part of their plot:

Contact (1997) starring Jodie Foster playing Dr. Eleanor Ann 'Ellie' Arroway, has the heroine learning to listen to radio frequency transmissions as a child, and later participating in SETI.
Frequency (2000) starring Jim Caviezel playing 'John Sullivan', and Dennis Quaid playing 'Frank Sullivan', has the fanciful plot of a father ('Frank') and son ('John') using Amateur Radio to communicate after the father has died.
Phenomenon (1996) starring John Travolta playing 'George Malley', has the hero's friend ( Forest Whitaker playing 'Nate Pope') relaxing from his concerns by talking to friends on his radio.
The French Atlantic Affair (1979) A 3-part ABC miniseries from the Ernest Lehman novel (1977). A hijacked cruise ship story where a smuggled-aboard ham radio is the only independent contact with the outside world.
Star Wars (1977) during the battle of the death star, the pilots communicate with each other over the radio using what sounds like SSB modulation, which is frequently used in the Amateur HF band. This is particularly obvious if you listen for the voice distortion characteristic of SSB when flipping between one character speaking and a character listening in another location over the radio.
The Sweet Hereafter (1997) starring Ian Holm playing 'Mitchel Stephens', features a scene where a man is sitting at a table, holding a pair of communication headphones up to one ear. On the wall is a plastic QSL card holder full of cards.
Men of Boys Town (1941), is the sequel of Boys Town (1938), starring Spencer Tracy and Mickey Rooney. In this movie Whitey Marsh (Mickey Rooney) has frequent conversations with his friend Pee Wee (Bobs Watson) over the amateur radio waves. Whitey transmits from the home of his adoptive parents, while Pee Wee is at the amateur radio club in Boys Town.
If All the Guys in the World (original title "Si tous les gars du monde..." (1957), is a French film largely devoted to the Art of Amateur Radio. Jean Louis, a young radio enthusiast who lives in Paris, receives an SOS message sent from a ship in the high seas. Through his modest radio station, and with the help of fellow radio amateurs around the world he tries to prevent a major catastrophe from happening. This is the first movie appearance of the celebrated French actor Jean Louis Trintignant.
Bob's Christmas Movie (nnnn) Bob the Builder and his brother Tom use ham radio to communicate. Bob has an antenna on the side of his yard's office, which is not seen in the series. Tom lives in the Arctic.

5 Tools and appliances

Box and pan brake for bending sheet aluminium and brass into box shapes for projects
multimeter - combination of voltmeter and ammeter
Antenna analyzer for measuring complex impedance of antennas and other antenna system components while building antennas
radios of all sorts (of course)
power supplies
lots of antennas
coax cable
coax cable connector adapters
Ladder Line

6.1 Major Clubs, Societies, and Associations

7 External links

Amateur Radio Directory
International Amateur Radio Society
ARRL - Information on ham radio.
U.S. Amateur Radio Frequency Allocation Chart - a one-page color chart showing the frequencies available to amateurs in the United States.
Canadian Amateur Bands - a chart showing the frequencies available to amateurs in Canada.
Amateur Radio and call signs information. Canadians may wish to visit the Radio Amateurs of Canada site.
An example of a base station
Learn about the repeater system that a Ham Radio club sponsors in Utah.
Glossary of amateur radio terms.
Ham Radio Linkportal Ham Radio.
For the etymology of 'ham', see ham(2) or "Why ham?"
QRZ.COM - One of the worlds most popular amateur radio sites

7.1 Finding a club

Locate a club in your country or in your state.
Contact information for on the Amateur Radio society of your country. They will provide all information on licensing terms and put you in touch with radio amateurs in your own town.
If you are in Canada, find a club near you.
If you are in Finland, find a club near you.
If you are in Germany, find a club near you.
If you are in Norway, find a club near you.
If you are in Spain, find a club near you.
If you are in Switzerland, find a club near you.
If you are in United Kingdom, find a club near you.
If you are in the USA, find a club near you.
If you are in World, find is a club for 11 mtrs near you.

7.2 Club links

http://www.Beaumanor-ars.org Beaumanor & Garats HaY Amateur Radio Society (B&GHARS) With links to the Y Services & Bletchley Park
Irish Radio Transmitters Society (IRTS) - The Society for Radio Amateurs in Ireland.
Wireless Institute of Australia (WIA)
In the UK, Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB)

Hobbies Amateur radio

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