Amateur Radio Stuff

Ok, you’ve just clicked the menu button above titled Amateur Radio and you’re wondering just what it is. Well, settle back and I’ll give you a very high level overview. 

In most countries around the world, individual citizens like you and me are permitted by our government to operate electronic equipment that not only allows reception of radio signals, but we can also send signals to other folks - next door, the next state, or even around the world. We are “amateurs”. By the way, it is also called “ham radio” - no idea why! We don’t (and are not allowed to) get paid to do this - we do it for fun, AND as a means of emergency communications when there are natural disasters.

I got interested in ham radio as a teenager in high school, and I’ve been enjoying it ever since. The equipment necessary to talk to folks anywhere in the world can cost anywhere from $90 to many thousands of dollars. The little radio at the left was built from a kit that cost less than $200. It puts out less than five watts of power (that’s pretty tiny) and with a homemade wire antenna in our back yard I’ve been able to contact other hams across the US, Europe, Australia, Japan, and the Caribbean - all with a 12 volt battery for power!

Anilea got her ham radio license after moving here from the Philippines in 1999. The government issues each ham their own “call letters”; I’m K7TXA and Anilea is K7YLV.  

Anyway, that’s a bird’s eye view of Amateur Radio. It’s really easy to get a license ( no morse code requirement any longer). If you want more information drop me an email and I can explain in more detail. I have my own web site for my ham radio adventures. Click the button below and you’ll be taken off to my web site. Thanks for reading and I hope that I’ve given you a basic understanding of what Amateur Radio is.