Ham Radio
This is a hobby, literally connecting many people with a common interest in making contacts by means
of a radio transmitter. In the early days you had to build your own transmitter and receiver
. Nowadays it is more common to buy factory ready made equipment, but there are many exceptions.
You will find them all over the world, from the big continents, till the smallest islands,
But also in/on aircrafts, ships and satellites,
making contacts on a wavelength, ranging from the very long waves (2 km or 136 kHz) up till very
short wavelengths (1.2 mm or 250.000 MHz). Using morse code, AM, FM,
SSB, and digital modes, including television.
The Old Timers Club
I build my first transmitter in 1957, when I was still at school. Many hams of those days
in The Netherlands are member of
The Old Timers Club (OTC).
Once a year we have a meeting, where you can meet your old friends in person.
Owning and operating a radio transmitter is regulated by the Government in most countries.
To get a licence, first you have to pass an examination. When you succeed, you get a callsign.
This unique callsign indicates that you are a radio amateur station, and also in which country
you are living.
There are several classes of licences. From easy ones to more elaborate ones, giving you
more possibilities. For the last category, in many countries, an examination of the MORSE CODE is required.
This includes receiving the code by ear, (and writing it down), and sending the code manually.
There are many programs which will play a morse code text, to train the taking down part.
In order to train sending code by hand, i once made a
program on a P2000 computer.
It will show you the results of your morse key efforts, both in text and in graphics.
My QSL card
When radio amateurs make a contact for the first time, often they will exchange a
so called QSL card. This is kind of a postcard sized business card.
On this card you will find some details of the contact, as date, time and frequency.
Transmitter, receiver and antenna used.
Those cards are often of a personal design and a collectors item.
Here is my QSL card, which was drawn by my daughter around 1975, when she was still at school.
It shows the old church in Waalre, dating from about 1100. This little church is still
in use for special purposes, like commemorations, concerts, weddings and so on.
I am active on most ham bands. Wavelengths from 160 meter and so on down to 70 cm, or
in frequency from about 1.8 MHz to 435 MHz.
On the lower frequencies, (where the range is world-wide), mostly with cw (morse code).
On the higher frequencies, I also operate with "packet radio".
This looks a little bit like Internet. No morse code or voice here, but digital radio
transmissions. To send me email on my packet address, you have to send it to:
pa0paz@PI8ZAA.#NBO.NLD.EU
that is, if you have a suitable transmitter! The address may seem a bit lengthy,
compared to my internet address.
It is composed as follows: -my callsign @ a local node - located in
NoordBrabantOost (my province) - The Netherlands - Europe.
In this way, a message can hop from node to node, in steps ranging from 30-300 km,
until it reaches me. Not as fast as internet, but NO telephone line is needed!
The Jan Corver HAM RADIO museum
Here in the Netherlands, we have a museum entirely
dedicated to ham radio. It has
been opened only very recently. You will find many items from the history of amateur radio.
A lot will be in working order.
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