What is Amateur (Ham) Radio?
Contents:
Hobby
More than just a hobby
Why amateur radio matters in the cellular phone era

 

It's a hobby:
In its day to day existence, amateur radio is a hobby. How in depth a hobby depends on each operator's personal interests. For some, being able to talk to people around the world is their only goal. For others, they want to build the radios and antennas from scratch--some times for fun; some times in an effort to make a better device.

The hobby of amateur radio crosses into other areas. One science area developed by amateur radio operators is Radio Astronomy. The wireless computing we see today has its roots in the packet radio amateur radio operators developed in the mid-1960's.

Hobbyist areas of use and experimentation amateur radio covers include:

Licensing currently has 3 levels:

ARRL
The American Radio Relay League is a national membership association for amateur radio operators. It was founded in May 1914 and today has a membership around 163,000. The ARRL promotes interest in amateur radio communications and experimentation, represents US radio amateurs in legislative matters, and maintains fraternalism and high standard of conduct among amateur radio operators. The ARRL publishes a monthly journal QST, as well as newsletters and many publications covering all aspects of amateur radio.

With the areas of interest Amateur Radio covers, people from many different walks of life become licensed. Majors at MTSU that would have a direct or indirect interest in amateur radio:

It's more than just a hobby:
In the United States, Amateur Radio is regulated by the Federal Communications Commission. The FCC via the Code of Federal Regulations Title 47, Chapter I, part 97 defines the radio frequencies, the maximum amount of power useable, the types of activity allowed and expected, and the methods for becoming licensed. When necessary United States Code Title 47, Chapter 5 is the primary source for addressing violations of Part 97.

The U.S. Congress on two occasions has shown support for the Amateur Radio Service and the public services the operators provide -- Public Law 100-594 and 103-408. Part of these Public Laws is the suggestion that all levels of government support and encourage Amateur Radio operation.

A common call put out to amateur radio operators is to serve as a means of communications during emergencies, natural disasters, and man-made disasters. Part 97.1(a) actually makes Emergency Communications the primary function of the Amateur Radio Service with the hobby aspect secondary. This responsibility of service is attributed to why maintaining a Amateur Radio License in the United States has no fee or tax to the licensee. Only recently with the advent of operators being able to request vanity call signs that a yearly fee has been enacted. This small fee is only for operators who request a vanity call sign.

There are over 600,000 licensed amateur radio operators in the United States and many sign up with ARES/RACES to supply time and equipment and be trained for when the activation call goes out. Many more that come out of the woodwork when disaster strikes.

On June 21, 2003, the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) began its official affiliation with the Citizen Corps and the Department of Homeland Security. Citizen Corps Liaison to the White House Liz DiGregorio called amateur radio operators the "first of the first responders" at the formal Statement of Affiliation signing. This affiliation is one of many the ARRL has. Other organizations the ARRL has offical affiliations with include the American Red Cross, National Weather Service, National Communications System, and the Salvation Army.

Many agencies which have an active part of disaster operations and recovery have amateur radio operators embedded in their operations or have part of their disaster plan covering how to incorporate amateur radio operators if normal communications channels fail or become overloaded.


ARES/RACES:
ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service) is an ARRLsponsored organization. Public service communication has been a traditional responsibility of the Amateur Radio Service since 1913. The ARRL provides a manual of standards and procedures -- Public Service Communications Manual. When there isn't an emergency, besides yearly practice drills and monthly training sessions, ARES groups will often serve as communications support for events like parades, walkathons, and bicycle rides.

RACES (Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service) was founded 1952 as an update to the FCC regulation of the Amateur Radio Service. It's purpose was to provide volunteers to serve in government agencies as the means of communications during times of extraordinary need. FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) provides planning guidance and technical assistance for establishing a RACES organization at the state and local government level. Part of this assistance is given in a standard operating procedure manual -- Guidance for Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service.

The ARRL encourages volunteers to be members of both organizations.

Events many remember and ARES/RACES was utilized:


MARS:
MARS (Military Affiliate Radio System) is a Department of Defense sponsored program. The program consists of licensed amateur radio operators who are interested in military communications on a local, national, and international basis as an adjunct to normal communications. The Army, Air Force, and Navy-Marines-Coast Guard each have their own MARS network, but the mission of each is the same. MARS history began in 1925 with the Army. In 1948, MARS became a join effort between the Army and Air Force. In 1962, the Navy-Marine Corps MARS program was launched to make MARS a joint service mission.

The mission:


SKYWARN:
SKYWARN was started in the 70's. While it is not necessary to be a licensed amateur radio operator to participate, the majority of SKYWARN spotters are amateur radio operators. Spotters serve as the eyes and ears of the National Weather Service via SKYWARN. While Doppler radar will give the hint of a tornado, it is often a SKYWARN spotter which verifies its existence. Through spotter ground truth data, warnings or alerts are often given or verified. The anonymous reports of hail, rain amounts, and wind speeds the NWS provides to mass media weather forecasters are often provided by amateur radio operators which either live in the area for which they are reporting or when SKYWARN is activated, driving around giving regular reports.


Why do we need amateur radio during a disaster, we have cell phones?
A common question from non-'amateur radio operators' is "why do we need amateur radio operators during a disaster these days, we have cellular phones?" Flexibility would be the easiest answer because depending on the disaster electricity, land based phone lines, and cellular phones could be disabled or crippled for days to weeks.

Cellular phones work by having an autonomous tower with antennas which services an area. The size of the area depends on how many people the cellular phone company expects to be servicing in a given area and the terrain of the service area. When the cell tower no longer has electricity to power it, the antenna takes enough damage, or the tower falls that "cell" then has no services provided within it. Also, depending on the cellular tower, it will connect to the home office via microwave antenna or land line. If the method the cell tower uses to connect to the world is disabled, so is the cell tower.

Cell towers are vulnerable to the same elements which will disable land based phone lines.

While there is no doubt cellular phones play a part in emergency communications, they do not replace the flexibility of amateur radio equipment to be able to facilitate communications under extreme conditions. From being able to use just a length of wire as an antenna to being able to put out the signal power equivalent to a small FM rock radio station, amateur radio operators can carry out point to point communications when every other common form of radio or land base communication have been disabled. This includes being able to have the point to point locations on opposite sides of the globe.


Additional information on Amateur Radio available from the ARRL and eHam.net
- Thanks to the UCF ARC for the majority of this writing -