Amateur Radio - Introduction


Introduction to Amateur Radio

Amateur Radio or HAM radio is a world wide hobby. It's a hobby that is more so designed for those that are really into radio communications, those that are really interested in it. To operate on HAM radio bands you need a license, and there are different classes of licenses. In Australia for example, you can't operate on any of the bands below 28MHz (10m band) until you have passed exams in sending/receiving Morse code at 5 words per minute.

HAM Radio has several bands throughout the Radio Spectrum. They have several HF slots, 2 VHF, 1 UHF, and more SHF allocations. For instance, the 144MHz to 148MHz band is called the '2m' band. This is because the approximate wavelength at those frequencies is 2m.

Band	Frequencies
160m	1.8 1.875MHz
80m	3.5 to 3.7 & 3.794 to 3.8MHz
40m	7 to 7.3MHz
30m	10.1 to 10.150MHz
20m	14 to 14.350MHz
17m	18.068 to 18.168MHz
15m	21 to 21.450MHz
12m	24.890 to 24.990MHz
10m	28 to 29.7MHz
6m	50 to 54MHz
2m	144 to 148MHz
70cm	420 to 450MHz
23cm	1240 to 1300MHz

On HAM radio you are allowed to operate using a variety of modes. These include Packet Radio, SSTV, RTTY, FAX and others. Through the use of amateur radio you can make world wide contacts at several different points within the radio spectrum. There are clubs you can join, swap meets to go to, and other events all related to the use of amateur radio.

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This Web page was last updated on Friday September 21, 2001