Amateur (Ham) Radio has been a hobby since 1997. Since that time I have met many good folks who share the hobby. I own a VHF repeater in the Cherryfield area. I am a Volunteer Examiner which means I can administer the ham radio test to obtain a license. Ham operators don't have to pay monthly phone or internet bills and the hobby can be as simple/cheap or complex/expensive as the individual person desires.
Ham radio's slang motto is "When all else fails...." This means that when nothing else works, when the Internet, cell phones and public safety radio systems are inoperable, ham radio will work. This is a fact and is proven many times a year all around the world. We don't need telephone lines, cellular towers and infrastructure to be on the air. All we need is something for a power source, a radio and an antenna. "Field Day" is held every June. Ham operators set up shop in various locations (Death Valley, mountain tops, out in the woods, on boats, in fields....about anywhere imaginable) and operate for 24 continuous hours under emergency conditions. Power may come from solar, wind, generators, bicycle powered battery chargers, micro-hydro...who knows. Ham operators provide communications support during disasters, public events and in times when communications are needed.
There are many aspects of the hobby. Morse Code, Television, digital, moon bounce (bouncing signals off the moon and back to earth to communicate with people), talking to astronauts on the space station, using satellites, shortwave communication, building antennas, building equipment and much more. Yep, ham operators can sit at a computer and type back and forth with each other just like instant messaging and send emails without using the internet.
In recent years a "DMR" digital radio network has been growing around the world. It is a neat system that connects the world on the VHF & UHF bands. In Maine we have a network of analog repeaters that cover a good portion of the state. Of course we always have "HF" or shortwave which is capable of communicating locally, regionally, nationally and globally without the use of any repeater. It is a simple "radio to radio" contact. No severed cable line that takes the eastern seaboard offline will deter hams.
Here are some links-
www.maine-dmr.org (Digital Network Info)
www.arrl.org (American Radio Relay League)
www.qrz.com (Ham Radio Info)
www.nesmc.org (Accurate New England Repeater List)
www.mainehamradiosociety.com (Maine Ham Radio Society)
Ham radio's slang motto is "When all else fails...." This means that when nothing else works, when the Internet, cell phones and public safety radio systems are inoperable, ham radio will work. This is a fact and is proven many times a year all around the world. We don't need telephone lines, cellular towers and infrastructure to be on the air. All we need is something for a power source, a radio and an antenna. "Field Day" is held every June. Ham operators set up shop in various locations (Death Valley, mountain tops, out in the woods, on boats, in fields....about anywhere imaginable) and operate for 24 continuous hours under emergency conditions. Power may come from solar, wind, generators, bicycle powered battery chargers, micro-hydro...who knows. Ham operators provide communications support during disasters, public events and in times when communications are needed.
There are many aspects of the hobby. Morse Code, Television, digital, moon bounce (bouncing signals off the moon and back to earth to communicate with people), talking to astronauts on the space station, using satellites, shortwave communication, building antennas, building equipment and much more. Yep, ham operators can sit at a computer and type back and forth with each other just like instant messaging and send emails without using the internet.
In recent years a "DMR" digital radio network has been growing around the world. It is a neat system that connects the world on the VHF & UHF bands. In Maine we have a network of analog repeaters that cover a good portion of the state. Of course we always have "HF" or shortwave which is capable of communicating locally, regionally, nationally and globally without the use of any repeater. It is a simple "radio to radio" contact. No severed cable line that takes the eastern seaboard offline will deter hams.
Here are some links-
www.maine-dmr.org (Digital Network Info)
www.arrl.org (American Radio Relay League)
www.qrz.com (Ham Radio Info)
www.nesmc.org (Accurate New England Repeater List)
www.mainehamradiosociety.com (Maine Ham Radio Society)
