Amateur Radio

Amateur radio, sometimes referred to as 'ham' radio, is a popular hobby involving communication by radio. 

A ham radio operator holds a licence (for which an exam is taken) and a unique callsign.  UK callsigns start with the letter G or M or the number 2.  In the UK there are 3 levels of licence: Foundation, Intermediate and Full.  Each requires a more advanced level of knowledge of radio technology and procedures to pass the relevent exam.

There are books covering the required syllabus for the 3 levels of licence and one has the option of being self-taught or enrolling on a course at a local club.

The hobby pre-dates World War 2 yet can now be used in conjunction with the Internet and satellites. 

Morse Code was once a requirement for some classes of licence, but that has largely been abandoned now.  Morse Code is very much still in use though.

Amateur radio has designated bands of frequencies that operators may use to contact each other.  For instance the frequencies around 7MHz are known as the 40 meter band.

There are ham radio operators in most countries around the world and operators are able to talk to each other over very long distances depending on the chosen radio band and conditions at the time.

There are contests and awards for contacting countries and islands, and for contacting the most stations in a day and so on.

Both men and women enjoy the hobby, though there are considerably more male operators.  Children as young as 8 years old have obtained a licence, though they are usually older.

To find out more about the hobby, please visit the Radio Society of Great Britain website http://www.rsgb.org/

(I hope this quick description is useful to those new to the hobby.  If there are any mistakes or errors, please let me know.)