Ham Radio in Space

I've mentioned a few times that one of the exciting things that ham radio operators can do that no one else can do, is to talk to space travelers via ham radio! While that often means talking to American Astronauts aboard the United States Space Shuttles, there is also a regular schedule with the International Space Station (ISS) as it circles the Earth. These astronauts aboard the Shuttles or the ISS must have amateur radio licenses in order to use the ham bands.

The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program schedules ham radio contacts with schools all over the world on a regular basis. This is a big deal for students in those schools as they usually prepare a list of questions in advance and then the students themselves get to key the microphone and speak to the astronauts in person. You can find out much more about ARISS, including how to get your child's school on the program, by visiting the ARRL's pages about the program: ARISS1 and ARISS2. These webpages have many additional website addresses that you can research also.

The fifth private space traveler, Dr. Charles Simonyi, has several school contacts scheduled on his upcoming visit to the ISS. His visit is presently scheduled for launch on April 7, 2007. You can read about his travel to space and his use of ham radio at the below website:

"Space Traveler to Talk with Students ... Directly from Space. Dr. Charles Simonyi to Use Ham Radio and Share Recordings of Conversations on www.charlesinspace.com.
— In his continued effort to inspire youth in the science of space travel, Charles Simonyi, Ph.D., the fifth private space traveler, will speak with high school students in three events across the United States through the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program." Click the above link to read the entire article.

In addition to the ARISS program, everyday hams like you and I can call the space station as it passes overhead and make contacts with the astronauts. Of course that is easier said than done and to tell you what is involveded had better be left for another time. However, crew members do make contacts with earth-bound hams as the ISS travels. The contacts are made during their breaks, pre-sleep time, and before and after meal-time.

Until next time...

'73 OM
DE WA2KKG
K

What Is Ham Radio and Why Do They Do It?

So, you are wondering, What is this Ham Radio?. Ham radio, officially called the Amateur Radio Service by the Federal Communications Commission in the United States, is a hobby, an avocation, a pastime, a calling, a public service opportunity. It is many things to many people. It can be whatever you want it to be. It exists around the world in almost every country.

First a little history. It is commonly accepted that Marconi invented radio and made the first radio transmission across the Atlantic Ocean back around 1901. These early wireless transmissions were called 'spark gap' because a high voltage was used which made a loud 'snap' sound. Soon after Marconi's first transmissions there were amateurs experimenting with this new technology. For the next several decades as the development of radio technology continued, the amateur community grew, clubs were formed, amateurs provided communications to police and arctic expeditions. Amateurs were responsible for many of the technical discoveries that continued to spread the use of radio in our society.

What is a 'Ham'? "Ham" is what the early telegraph operators called another operator who was not very good at sending. As wireless transmission of those telegraph signals became the norm, the commercial operators increasingly found themselves competing with amateurs for space on the airwaves and began calling the amateur operators, "hams". Well, I guess it stuck. Even though it started out as a derogatory term, hams have adopted it and now wear the label with pride.

Ham radio is first a hobby about communication with other people, sometimes people you don't even know. The earliest ham operators' goal was to find ways to increase the distance their signals would travel, thereby enabling them to talk to more and more people in distant lands. Here in the twenty-first century we now have jet aircraft capable of carrying hundreds of people to distant places in less time than it takes some people to get to work, cell phones that can literally connect us to another person with a telephone number anywhere in the world, and the Internet where we can watch videos made today by the average person worldwide. So why ham radio?

Ham radio is still a sought-after communications method. What's the draw? It's like a big 'party line'. Most people today don't remember the time when everyone shared the same phone line with his neighbors. If you picked up the telephone to make a call and someone was talking you had to hang up and wait awhile and try again later. Party lines still exist today in the U.S. in a few rural locations as well as in some other countries. With ham radio you call out and you never know who is going to answer! You could be talking to an author in England, an engineer in Syria, a restaurant owner in Australia, or a doctor on the next street. It can be a little intimidating at first, but lifelong friendships have developed this way. Just imagine how this helps foster international goodwill and can move toward world peace. And it’s a lot of fun!

Hams have many different activities available in this great hobby. For instance, some of the many things that interest hams are: contacting other people around the world, using repeaters to cover a wide local area with a hand-held or mobile radio , making contacts by bouncing their signal off of the Moon or repeating it through a ham radio satellite. Some hams like to interconnect their transmitters and receivers to their computer for various ways to enhance the enjoyment they get from their hobby. They can now even talk to others through the Internet without actually using a radio. And yes, there are still many who like to find ways to improve, by experimenting with new antenna, transmitter, and receiver designs. Hams are credited with developing a transmission mode known as 'single sideband' and many other radio related inventions.

Hams often operate their equipment from a home station, from a vehicle like a car, boat, plane or bicycle, or even a portable location while walking, on a picnic, or anywhere using a hand-held radio. Why do they do it? Many reasons: fun, excitement, love of science, intrigue, belonging to a social network and so many more.

(Parts of this post are similar to some previous content... with my apologies. This was written as an article to be published elsewhere and I decided to share it with you.)

Until next time...

'73 OM
DE WA2KKG
K

Where's The Fun For A New Ham Radio Operator?

Since February 23, 2007 when the FCC in the U.S. dropped the code requirement for getting a ham radio license, they have been swamped with new license applications. But this is a good thing because now we have many new operators coming onto the ham bands. If you are one, just take your time and listen a bit before you talk. Learn the lingo and the protocol. For those of you who were using CB, the operating procedures are different here. The operating procedures are even different between HF and VHF. For instance, you say 'phone' on HF and 'voice' on VHF/UHF. Most operators on the bands will be patient and help you with tips if you go astray. Welcome to the world of Ham Radio!

OK, so you're getting, or have gotten, your first Technician class ham radio license. What are you going to do with it? Most hams enjoy talking to other hams. This is called a QSO, pronounced 'Que-so' on voice/phone, taken from the many Q-signals used by CW operators to pass information even in very bad conditions. Here's one source for a list of Q-Signals. Sometimes that QSO is for asking and getting answers to specific questions. Sometimes it involves a technical discussion about equipment (Rigs) or the newest antenna design. Sometimes it is just to talk about nothing of particular importance, like the weather. Listen and learn.

As I said in a previous post, most new Technicians start out on the VHF and UHF bands. You will most likely start out with a handi-talkie (HT) because they are the most economical transceiver for beginners. An HT will get you onto 2 meters (144 MHz) using FM voice. A more expensive HT may also have 1.25 meters (222 Mhz) and/or 70 cm (440 MHz) capability as well.

All of these bands have repeaters owned and operated by other hams. A 'repeater' does what it's name implies; it 'hears' the transmission from your low-power HT and simultaneously retransmits your voice from a higher elevation at a higher power output in all directions. There are probably more repeaters on 2 meters than on any other ham band and that's good because a 2 meter HT is the least expensive radio to buy. Some repeaters are 'closed' (for members only) and most are 'open'. Where are these repeaters? You can purchase printed directories from various sources, but for starters there are any number of online directories which you can find by searching. Here's a good one to get you started.

Until next time...

'73 OM
DE WA2KKG
K

The Ham Radio Playground

As licensed ham radio operators in the United States, we have a vast playground in which to operate. Let's start with some basic definitions. You may have noticed some acronyms in the text under my picture. We'll begin defining some of them now.

• HF - High Frequency. This term covers the 160, 80, 60, 40, 30, 20, 17, 15, 12, and 10 meter bands. These bands cover frequencies between 1.8 and 30 Megahertz (MHz)


• VHF - Very High Frequency. This term covers the 6, 2, and 1.25 meter bands. These bands cover frequencies between 50 and 225 MHz.


• UHF - Ultra High Frequency. This term covers the 70, 33, and 23 centimeter bands. These bands cover frequencies between 420 and 1300 MHz


• In addition, there are 12 additional unnamed bands in what might be called the UUHF - Ultra Ultra High Frequency. These bands cover frequencies between 2300 MHz and over 275 Gigahertz (GHz) and tend to be used by experimenters and not by the average ham radio operator.


• You can download a really nice chart from the ARRL Here.

At one time there were six different license classes: Novice, Technician, Technician Plus, General, Advanced, and Extra Class. Today there are only three: Technician, General, and Extra Class. You may hear of people who still hold one of those other licenses, but they are no longer being issued by the FCC. Now the entry level license is the Technician, so let's look at what bands and transmission types (modes) the Technician licensee can use.

Traditionally the ham radio operator with a Technician class license could operate on any band higher than 50 MHz using up to 1500 watts. That means all VHF and UHF bands and above. Now with the FCC having combined the Novice and Technician classes, the current Technician also has access to some HF bands using up to 200 watts. Specifically they may use CW (code) on parts of 15, 40, and 80 meters. In addition they may use Voice (Single Sideband Phone-SSB), RTTY, CW, and Data on designated portions of the 10 meter band.

While the pastime of many Technician operators is using hand held or mobile radios to talk on the VHF and UHF bands, often using the many ham radio repeater systems available, the latest changes will bring real DX to Technician licensees. We'll talk about this more next time.

Until next time...

'73 OM
DE WA2KKG
K

A 'Ham', What's That?

So, you are interested in Ham Radio. Maybe you have already read my two-part article entitled "How to Get on the Air with Amateur Radio". If not, you will find it in the archive at Ham Radio Scene. Perhaps you are studying for your first ham radio license or have already passed the exam. Most likely you are trying for the entry-level 'Technician' license. If you have already passed the exam, congratulations!

What is a 'Ham'? "Ham" is what the early telegraph operators called another operator who was not very good at sending. As wireless transmission of those telegraph signals became the norm, the commercial operators increasingly found themselves competing with amateurs for space on the airwaves and began calling the amateur operators, "hams". Well, I guess it stuck. Even though it started out as a derogatory term, hams have adopted it and now wear the label with pride. Today, even though there is no longer a requirement to pass a Morse code test to become licensed, many hams continue to use code because they like it! Another reason is that, as various modes of voice transmission became popular, operators found that when there was a lot of static (QRN) or interference from other stations (QRM), CW could get the message through even when voice could not. The mode of transmitting code is called 'continuous wave', or 'CW' for short.

One great thing about ham radio is that hams can avail themselves of many different facets of this wonderful pastime. For instance, some of the many things that interest hams are: contacting other hams by voice (AM, FM, SSB), CW, radio-teletype (RTTY), slow scan television (SSTV), and digital modes like PSK and packet. Activities that interest hams include: talking to stations in distant counties (DX) or using repeaters to cover a wide area with a hand-held or mobile radio (RPT), or just locally (simplex), making contacts via moon-bounce and via ham radio satellites, operating from a home station (a 'Shack'), mobile communications from a vehicle, portable communications using a hand-held radio, contesting, participating in nets, attending hamfests, providing communications at public service events such as parades or at other public gatherings, practicing for emergencies and disasters through participation in groups such as the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) and the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES), and the list goes on and on. I hope some hams will comment about things they like to do that aren't on this short list.

We will get into what each class of Amateur license allows in terms of kinds of equipment, transmission modes used, frequencies allocated for each license, etc. next time. So for now this gives you the meaning of the term 'ham' and what hams like to do with their radios and licenses. To some being a ham is a hobby and to some it's a pastime and to others it's a calling to public service, but it's always fun!

Until next time...

'73 OM
DE WA2KKG k

How To Get On The Air With Amateur Radio, Part II

First let me say Happy St. Patrick's Day to all. In Part I, I mentioned that a good way to help you retain what you are learning is to take sample question and answer exams. You can also use these interactive online exams to judge how much you know and when you are ready to take the real exam. Here are some links where you can do that: QRZ.COM, AA9PW.COM, eHAM.COM, ARRL. The last one is only a .pdf file download and is not interactive. It is a good idea to take more than one of these to test yourself, as they may have used slightly different question pools.

Now, once you've taken your class, studied your license manual, or were tutored by an 'elmer' (an 'elmer' is a friendly ham who helps a newbie get started), the next step is to find out where to take the exam. Amateur radio exams are given by volunteer examiners called VEs. VEs are required to be adults with General class licensees or higher and to pass certain other tests to be certified. VEs are tested and approved by a VE Coordinator staff(VEC). I believe there is one VEC at ARRL and one at W5YI. Exam sessions are organized by a VE team who administer and score the exams. A $14 fee is collected at the time of the exam and passed on to the VEC to cover the cost of checking all documentation and entering the data into the FCC database. You will know before you leave if you passed.

These exams are offered in easy to find places like schools, churches, and other public and private buildings. They are often also given at hamfests. I'll talk more about hamfests in another post. If you know a ham with a copy of QST, the ARRL monthly magazine for hams, there is usually a listing of upcoming exam locations, dates, and times. You can also go online to the ARRL website for a list of Exam Locations which you can search by Zip code or state. These exam location listings will usually have a telephone number and an email address. Be sure to make contact to make sure information is still current and the exam will take place as scheduled.

The FCC requires an application to be filled out, but they collect no fee for processing it. The only fee, as noted above, is the $14 paid for the VECs to process your test documentation. This FCC application is best done online at the FCC's Universal Licensing Site (ULS). You should do this prior to taking your exam at the testing center.

Until next time...

'73 OM
de wa2kkg
k

Welcome

I'll have to admit right off that this is my first experience with blogging. I haven't even read many blogs, with the possible exception of my son Kenny's blog, Creative Journal. So please bear with me as I learn this new type of information technology and share with you my tidbits about a much older type of information technology: Ham Radio. I should also mention that this is being written from the perspective of a ham radio operator living and operating in the United States, and so some of what I write may not be accurate if you are in another country. Particularly if is pertains to licensing, operating rules, etc. You non-US hams, are invited to comment and offer what is different in your contry.

To begin, we'll talk about this great pastime of Ham Radio and aim the posts at you 'newbies'. Later we'll get into discussions on equipment, antennas, and all the FUN that you can have in ham radio. Some call ham radio a hobby. I use the term pastime, instead of 'hobby', because for many of us this is more than a hobby. It is a calling in the volunteer sense. We are involved in very many public service activities, which always give us great satisfaction. Translation: fun, fun, fun!

Some ground rules are probably in order. Comments are welcome! I don't claim to have all the answers and there are those who are certainly more knowledgeable about ham radio than I. So feel free, but try to keep them on topic and free of uncivilized language.

Let's leave it at that for the first post to Ham Radio Scene. Next time we'll talk about "How to Get on the Air" and Do you need a license? and Do you have to learn Morse Code?

'73
de wa2kkg k
What does 73 mean? (Psssst- "Best Regards")