The Basics of Ham Radios

Series Summary

Ham radios are a form of amateur radio that anyone can use. The true origin of the term "ham" seems to have been lost, but there are several theories. It may be a shortcut way of saying the first syllable of amateur radio or it may have originally been used simply as an insult. Hams start out in amateur radio for many reasons, but no matter what they all have a basic knowledge of radio technology and regulations in common. It is a group of people who are world wide and communicate through wireless networking.

This is a great video series for anyone looking to connect with other random people through wireless means. Sure there are chat rooms and blogs but ham radios give you the element of surprise when you have no idea who you might be connecting with and any interests they may have. In this series you will learn everything from how a ham radio works to proper licenses you will need to the different signals available for hams. So ham it up guys!

Video Transcript

"Greetings. I'm Kurt Glaser for Expert Village. We're talking about ham radio, and my call sign is N7QJM. Welcome to these 15 sessions. We'll be looking at some of the key points on becoming a ham radio operator, how to put a station together--or, what we call a "rig," and other important pieces to amateur radio. First off, you have to be licensed to operate in any country in a broadcast mode. Now, you do not have to be licensed--I'll be real clear there--you don't have to be licensed to listen. So if you just want to listen to radio or shortwave or amateur bands, you don't need to be licensed. Now be sure to check the country, though, about the code test. And that's what we're talking about a little bit as well. Because, effective in April of 2000, in our country--here in the United States--the FCC said there are only three classes of licenses any more. The Technician class, also, the General Class, and the third, the most important one, the highest level: The Extra Class. Some of these--in some countries again, I want to reiterate, you'll need to check with that bureau to see if you need to have the Morse code test, as well as the written test. So be sure to check that throughout the world, for your own regulations in this area. Now, in terms of online resources--because there's a lot of online resources in amateur radio anymore--one of the ones that I use quite regularly is called HamTest. com. Especially in preparing for any examination or test. You can take a practice exam, and you can even look at all the questions that you'll need to respond to. Now listen, the next session we'll be continuing in on how to actually be licensed--and until then, this is N7QJM. 73"