Let's talk about amateur radio for a minute...
 
 

What is Amateur Radio?
Amateur Radio is an international hobby and pastime, governed in the US by the Federal Communications Commission. It's the last place in the radio spectrum for experimentation that's not been taken over by a corporate entity. Amateur Radio is a hobby with virtually no limits, no bounds, and all fun. There are over 600,000 hams in the US and over 1.5 million worldwide, encompassing every race, culture, faith, nationality, political opinion, and any other deliniator you can think of.

What do hams do?
Anything and everything, basically. Hams encompass a wide range of interests, from DX-ing (talking to people over long distances/foreign countries), mountain-topping, low-power operation, contesting, ragchewing (just chatting), packet (computers and radio) all the way to bouncing signals off the moon and using microwave technology to create personal radar systems. Hams also encompass a wide range of technical abilities and proficiencies, such as high-speed Morse Code copying, home-brew (building your own equipment), antenna design, and computers. Hams also go hand-in-hand with the emergency services such as the Red Cross, Federal Emergency Management Agency, and others to provide communication in times of crisis.

Why become a ham?
Two words: Why Not? Actually, there's a lot of reasons to become a ham. I found it opened up my social skills by becoming a ham and talking to people whom I'd never met and they had never met me. Some people become hams because it advances their technical careers. Others do it because it gives them a way out into the world that they can't get otherwise. Any reason is good enough, and now it's easier than ever to get a license! Go to The American Radio Relay League and they'll fill you in on how to become a ham.

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