What exactly is "Ham Radio"? Well, officially, it's called "Amateur Radio". We are a worldwide group of radio operators that use our own equipment to communicate with others. Amateur Radio is a fun hobby that's for kids of all ages!
But, it's not just a hobby... As the Amateur Radio Relay League (ARRL) puts it: "Ham radio provides the broadest and most powerful wireless communications capability available to any private citizen anywhere in the world." We are also officially an emergency service. We have helped in disasters such as tornados, hurricanes, and earthquakes. Our emergency motto is "When all else fails..."
We communicate using hand-held radios, mobile and base stations, using a variety of frequencies that have been allocated for this purpose. We may use VHF and UHF radios and repeaters to talk locally, or HF equipment to talk around the world. Lately, applications have been written to allow connecting repeaters over the internet.
There's no end to the possibilities in our hobby! I encourage you to check the information resources on this page for more information!
| SATELITE, SHUTTLE AND PACKET LINKS | |
| Radio Amateur Satellite Corp. (AMSAT) | |
| Tucson Amateur Packet Radio (TAPR) | |