Radio Afición (Vol. 1)

Amateur Radio (Vol. 1)Facets of a Hobby for Life

Contents

1 Introduction 11.1 Amateur radio license . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

1.1.1 History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.1.2 Activities and practices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21.1.3 Licensing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31.1.4 Modes of communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71.1.5 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81.1.6 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81.1.7 Further reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101.1.8 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

1.2 DXing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101.2.1 Types of DXing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101.2.2 DX Clubs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111.2.3 QSL cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111.2.4 SINPO report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111.2.5 DX Communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121.2.6 DXing equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121.2.7 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131.2.8 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131.2.9 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

1.3 Field Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131.3.1 International Field Day Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131.3.2 IARU Region 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131.3.3 IARU Region 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141.3.4 IARU Region 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141.3.5 Emergency preparedness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141.3.6 Contest Activity and Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141.3.7 Promotion of amateur radio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151.3.8 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

1.4 Radiosport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151.4.1 Amateur radio contesting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151.4.2 Amateur radio direction nding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

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1.4.3 High Speed Telegraphy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161.4.4 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161.4.5 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

1.5 Amateur radio emergency communications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161.5.1 Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171.5.2 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181.5.3 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181.5.4 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

2 Amateur Radio in More Detail 192.1 Amateur radio operator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

2.1.1 Demographics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192.1.2 Silent Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202.1.3 Gallery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202.1.4 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

2.2 Amateur radio license . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202.2.1 History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212.2.2 Activities and practices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212.2.3 Licensing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222.2.4 Modes of communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262.2.5 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272.2.6 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272.2.7 Further reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292.2.8 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

2.3 Amateur radio station . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292.3.1 Types of stations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302.3.2 Computer-control software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322.3.3 Station identication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322.3.4 Gallery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322.3.5 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322.3.6 General references . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322.3.7 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

2.4 QSL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332.4.1 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

2.5 Amateur radio operating award . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332.5.1 Special event stations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342.5.2 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342.5.3 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

3 Technics Involved 353.1 Call sign . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

3.1.1 Ships and boats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

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3.1.2 Aviation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363.1.3 Spacecraft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383.1.4 Amateur radio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383.1.5 Broadcast call signs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393.1.6 Military call signs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433.1.7 Transmitters requiring no call signs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 443.1.8 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 453.1.9 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 453.1.10 Further reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 453.1.11 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

3.2 Transceiver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 453.2.1 Radio technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 453.2.2 RF Transceiver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 463.2.3 Telephony . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 463.2.4 Ethernet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 463.2.5 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 463.2.6 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 463.2.7 External articles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

3.3 Antenna . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 473.3.1 Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 473.3.2 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 473.3.3 Reciprocity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 493.3.4 Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 493.3.5 Basic antenna models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 553.3.6 Antenna design criteria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 563.3.7 Eect of ground . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 573.3.8 Mutual impedance and interaction between antennas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 583.3.9 Antenna gallery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 593.3.10 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603.3.11 Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603.3.12 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 613.3.13 Further reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

3.4 Radio propagation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 623.4.1 Free space propagation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 623.4.2 Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 623.4.3 Measuring HF propagation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 653.4.4 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 653.4.5 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 663.4.6 Further reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 663.4.7 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

3.5 RST code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

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3.5.1 Readability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 673.5.2 Strength . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 673.5.3 Tone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 673.5.4 Variations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 683.5.5 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 683.5.6 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 683.5.7 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

4 Specialist Groups 734.1 Amateur radio homebrew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

4.1.1 History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 734.1.2 Practices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 734.1.3 QRP homebrew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 744.1.4 Homebrewing with vacuum tubes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 744.1.5 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 744.1.6 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 744.1.7 Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

4.2 Vintage amateur radio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 754.2.1 Appeal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 754.2.2 AM activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 764.2.3 Classic gear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 764.2.4 Clubs, events, and publications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 774.2.5 Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 784.2.6 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 784.2.7 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 784.2.8 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

4.3 Amateur television . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 794.3.1 North American context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 794.3.2 European context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 814.3.3 Transmission characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 814.3.4 Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 824.3.5 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 824.3.6 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 824.3.7 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

4.4 QRP operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 824.4.1 Philosophy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 834.4.2 Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 834.4.3 Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 844.4.4 Contests and awards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 844.4.5 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 844.4.6 Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 844.4.7 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

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4.5 Contesting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 854.5.1 Contesting basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 864.5.2 Types of contests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 874.5.3 History of contesting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 884.5.4 Contesting activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 894.5.5 Station locations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 894.5.6 Typical contest exchange . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 894.5.7 Logs and log checking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 904.5.8 Results and awards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 904.5.9 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 904.5.10 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

5 Means of Communication 925.1 List of amateur radio modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

5.1.1 Modes of communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 925.1.2 Activities known as modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 935.1.3 Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

6 Common Means of Communication 946.1 Morse code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

6.1.1 Development and history . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 946.1.2 User prociency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 966.1.3 International Morse Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 976.1.4 Representation, timing and speeds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 996.1.5 Link budget issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1016.1.6 Learning methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1016.1.7 Letters, numbers, punctuation, prosigns and non-English variants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1016.1.8 Decoding Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1026.1.9 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1026.1.10 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1036.1.11 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

6.2 PSK31 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1046.2.1 History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1046.2.2 Use and implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1046.2.3 Resistance to interference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1056.2.4 Technical information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1056.2.5 Spectrum eciency compared to other modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1056.2.6 Common frequencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1056.2.7 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1066.2.8 Further reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1066.2.9 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

6.3 D-STAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

vi CONTENTS

6.3.1 History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1066.3.2 Technical details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1076.3.3 D-RATS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1096.3.4 Criticisms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1096.3.5 Non-Icom D-STAR Repeaters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1116.3.6 Compatible programs and projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1116.3.7 Home-brew D-STAR radio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1126.3.8 Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1126.3.9 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1136.3.10 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1146.3.11 Journal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1146.3.12 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

7 Fancy Means of Communication 1157.1 Meteor burst communications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

7.1.1 How it works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1157.1.2 Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1157.1.3 Military use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1167.1.4 Scientic use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1167.1.5 Amateur radio use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1167.1.6 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1167.1.7 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

7.2 OSCAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1177.2.1 Satellites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1177.2.2 Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1187.2.3 Launches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1187.2.4 Facts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1197.2.5 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1197.2.6 Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1197.2.7 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

7.3 EME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1207.3.1 History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1207.3.2 EME communications technical details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1207.3.3 Echo delay and time spread . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1217.3.4 Current EME communications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1227.3.5 Modulation types and frequencies optimal for EME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1227.3.6 Other factors inuencing EME communications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1227.3.7 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1237.3.8 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1237.3.9 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

8 Organizations and Magazines 124

CONTENTS vii

8.1 American Radio Relay League . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1248.1.1 Governance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1248.1.2 History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1258.1.3 Regulatory advocacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1268.1.4 Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1278.1.5 Controversy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1278.1.6 Elser-Mathes Cup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1288.1.7 Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1288.1.8 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1288.1.9 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1288.1.10 Further reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1298.1.11 Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

8.2 Federal Communications Commission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1298.2.1 Mission and strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1298.2.2 Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1308.2.3 History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1318.2.4 Broadcast licensing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1348.2.5 Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1348.2.6 Controversies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1348.2.7 Public consultation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1378.2.8 Headquarters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1398.2.9 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1398.2.10 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1398.2.11 Further reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1418.2.12 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

8.3 QST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1428.3.1 History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1428.3.2 Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1428.3.3 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1428.3.4 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

8.4 WorldRadio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1438.4.1 Sale to CQ Communications, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1438.4.2 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1438.4.3 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

9 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses 1449.1 Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1449.2 Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1509.3 Content license . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

Chapter 1

Introduction

1.1 Amateur radio licenseHam radio redirects here. For other uses, see Ham ra-dio (disambiguation).Amateur radio (also called ham radio) is the use of

An example of an amateur radio station with four transceivers,ampliers, and a computer for logging and for digital modes.On the wall are examples of various awards, certicates, and areception report card (QSL card) from a foreign amateur station.

designated radio frequency spectra for purposes of pri-vate recreation, non-commercial exchange of messages,wireless experimentation, self-training, and emergencycommunication. The term amateur is used to specifypersons interested in radio technique solely with a per-sonal aim and without direct monetary or other similarreward, and to dierentiate it from commercial broad-casting, public safety (such as police and re), or profes-sional two-way radio services (such as maritime, aviation,taxis, etc.).The amateur radio service (amateur service and ama-teur satellite service) is established by the InternationalTelecommunication Union (ITU) through the Interna-tional Telecommunication Regulations. National gov-ernments regulate technical and operational characteris-tics of transmissions and issue individual stations licenseswith an identifying call sign. Prospective amateur opera-tors are tested for their understanding of key concepts inelectronics and the host governments radio regulations.Radio amateurs use a variety of voice, text, image, and

data communications modes and have access to frequencyallocations throughout the RF spectrum to enable com-munication across a city, region, country, continent, theworld, or even into space.Amateur radio is ocially represented and coordinatedby the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU),which is organized in three regions and has as its mem-bers the national amateur radio societies which exist inmost countries. According to an estimate made in 2011by the American Radio Relay League, two million peo-ple throughout the world are regularly involved with am-ateur radio.[1] About 830,000 amateur radio stations arelocated in IARU Region 2 (the Americas) followed byIARU Region 3 (South and East Asia and the PacicOcean) with about 750,000 stations. A signicantlysmaller number, about 400,000, are located in IARU Re-gion 1 (Europe, Middle East, CIS, Africa).

1.1.1 History

Main article: History of amateur radioThe origins of amateur radio can be traced to the late

An amateur radio station in the United Kingdom. Multipletransceivers are employed for dierent bands and modes. Com-puters are used for control, datamodes, SDR and logging.

19th century, but amateur radio as practiced today beganin the early 20th century. The First Annual Ocial Wire-less Blue Book of the Wireless Association of America,produced in 1909, contains the rst listing of amateur ra-dio stations.[2] This rst radio callbook lists wireless tele-

1

2 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION

graph stations in Canada and the United States, includ-ing 89 amateur radio stations. As with radio in general,the birth of amateur radio was strongly associated withvarious amateur experimenters and hobbyists. Through-out its history, amateur radio enthusiasts have signi-cantly contributed to science, engineering, industry, andsocial services. Research by amateur radio operators hasfounded new industries,[3] built economies,[4] empowerednations,[5] and saved lives in times of emergency.[6][7]Ham radio can also be used in the classroom to teach En-glish, map skills, geography, math, science and computerskills.[8]

Ham radio

Main article: Etymology of ham radio

The term ham radio was rst a pejorative that mockedamateur radio operators with a 19th-century term for be-ing bad at something, like ham-sted or ham actor. Ithad already been used for bad wired telegraph operators.Subsequently, the community adopted it as a welcomemoniker, much like the "Know-Nothing Party", or othergroups and movements throughout history. Other, moreentertaining explanations have grown up throughout theyears, but they are apocryphal.

1.1.2 Activities and practices

The many facets of amateur radio attract practitionerswith a wide range of interests. Many amateurs begin witha fascination of radio communication and then combineother personal interests to make pursuit of the hobby re-warding. Some of the focal areas amateurs pursue in-clude radio contesting, radio propagation study, publicservice communication, technical experimentation, andcomputer networking.Amateur radio operators use various modes of transmis-sion to communicate. The two most common modes forvoice transmissions are frequency modulation (FM) andsingle sideband (SSB). FM oers high quality audio sig-nals, while SSB is better at long distance communicationwhen bandwidth is restricted.[9]

Radiotelegraphy using Morse code, also known as CWfrom "continuous wave", is the wireless extension of landline (wired) telegraphy developed by Samuel Morse anddates to the earliest days of radio. Although computer-based (digital) modes and methods have largely replacedCW for commercial and military applications, many am-ateur radio operators still enjoy using the CW modeparticularly on the shortwave bands and for experimentalwork, such as earth-moon-earth communication, becauseof its inherent signal-to-noise ratio advantages. Morse,using internationally agreed message encodings such asthe Q code, enables communication between amateurs

who speak dierent languages. It is also popular withhomebrewers and in particular with QRP or very-low-power enthusiasts, as CW-only transmitters are simplerto construct, and the human ear-brain signal process-ing system can pull weak CW signals out of the noisewhere voice signals would be totally inaudible. A sim-ilar legacy mode popular with home constructors isamplitude modulation (AM), pursued by many vintageamateur radio enthusiasts and acionados of vacuum tubetechnology.Demonstrating a prociency in Morse code was for manyyears a requirement to obtain an amateur license to trans-mit on frequencies below 30 MHz. Following changesin international regulations in 2003, countries are nolonger required to demand prociency.[10] The UnitedStates Federal Communications Commission, for exam-ple, phased out this requirement for all license classes onFebruary 23, 2007.[11][12]

Modern personal computers have encouraged the use ofdigital modes such as radioteletype (RTTY) which pre-viously required cumbersome mechanical equipment.[13]Hams led the development of packet radio in the1970s, which has employed protocols such as AX.25 andTCP/IP. Specialized digital modes such as PSK31 allowreal-time, low-power communications on the shortwavebands. Echolink using Voice over IP technology has en-abled amateurs to communicate through local Internet-connected repeaters and radio nodes,[14] while IRLP hasallowed the linking of repeaters to provide greater cov-erage area. Automatic link establishment (ALE) has en-abled continuous amateur radio networks to operate onthe high frequency bands with global coverage. Othermodes, such as FSK441 using software such as WSJT,are used for weak signal modes including meteor scatterand moonbounce communications.Fast scan amateur television has gained popularity as hob-byists adapt inexpensive consumer video electronics likecamcorders and video cards in PCs. Because of the widebandwidth and stable signals required, amateur televisionis typically found in the 70 cm (420 MHz450 MHz) fre-quency range, though there is also limited use on 33 cm(902 MHz928 MHz), 23 cm (1240 MHz1300 MHz)and higher. These requirements also eectively limit thesignal range to between 20 and 60 miles (30 km100 km).Linked repeater systems, however, can allow transmis-sions of VHF and higher frequencies across hundredsof miles.[15] Repeaters are usually located on heights ofland or tall structures and allow operators to communi-cate over hundreds of miles using hand-held or mobiletransceivers. Repeaters can also be linked together by us-ing other amateur radio bands, landline, or the Internet.Amateur radio satellites can be accessed, some using ahand-held transceiver (HT), even, at times, using the fac-tory rubber duck antenna.[16] Hams also use the moon,the aurora borealis, and the ionized trails of meteorsas reectors of radio waves.[17] Hams can also con-

1.1. AMATEUR RADIO LICENSE 3

NASA astronaut Col. Doug Wheelock, KF5BOC, Expedition 24ight engineer, operates the NA1SS ham radio station in theZvezda ServiceModule of the International Space Station. Equip-ment is a Kenwood TM-D700E transceiver.

tact the International Space Station (ISS) because manyastronauts and cosmonauts are licensed as amateur radiooperators.[18][19]

Amateur radio operators use their amateur radio stationto make contacts with individual hams as well as partici-pating in round table discussion groups or rag chew ses-sions on the air. Some join in regularly scheduled on-air meetings with other amateur radio operators, called"nets" (as in networks), which are moderated by a sta-tion referred to as Net Control.[20] Nets can allow oper-ators to learn procedures for emergencies, be an informalround table, or cover specic interests shared by a group.Amateur radio operators, using battery- or generator-powered equipment, often provide essential communica-tions services when regular channels are unavailable dueto natural disaster or other disruptive events.

1.1.3 Licensing

The top of a tower supporting a Yagi-Uda antenna and severalwire antennas

All countries that license citizens to use amateur radiorequire operators to display knowledge and understand-

A handheld VHF/UHF transceiver

ing of key concepts, usually by passing an exam; how-ever some authorities also recognize certain educationalor professional qualications (such as a degree in elec-trical engineering) in lieu.[21] In response, hams receiveoperating privileges in larger segments of the radio fre-quency spectrum using a wide variety of communica-tion techniques with higher power levels permitted com-pared to unlicensed personal radio services such as CB ra-dio, Family Radio Service or PMR446 that require type-approved equipment restricted in frequency, range, andpower.Amateur licensing is a routine civil administrative mat-ter in many countries. Amateurs therein must pass anexamination to demonstrate technical knowledge, operat-ing competence and awareness of legal and regulatory re-quirements in order to avoid interference with other ama-teurs and other radio services. A series of exams are oftenavailable, each progressively more challenging and grant-ing more privileges: greater frequency availability, higherpower output, permitted experimentation, and in somecountries, distinctive call signs. Some countries, such asthe United Kingdom and Australia, have begun requiringa practical training course in addition to the written ex-ams in order to obtain a beginners license, which theycall a Foundation License.Amateur radio licensing in the United States exempli-es the way in which some countries award dierent lev-els of amateur radio licenses based on technical knowl-edge: three sequential levels of licensing exams (Techni-cian Class, General Class and Amateur Extra Class) are


currently oered, which allow operators who pass themaccess to larger portions of the Amateur Radio spectrumand more desirable (shorter) call signs.In some countries, an amateur radio license is nec-essary in order to purchase or possess amateur radioequipment.[22] An amateur radio license is only valid inthe country in which it is issued or in another countrythat has a reciprocal licensing agreement with the issuingcountry.Both the requirements for and privileges granted to a li-censee vary from country to country, but generally followthe international regulations and standards establishedby the International Telecommunication Union[23] andWorld Radio Conferences.In most countries, an individual will be assigned a callsign with their license. In some countries, a separate sta-tion license is required for any station used by an ama-teur radio operator. Amateur radio licenses may also begranted to organizations or clubs. Some countries only al-low ham radio operators to operate club stations. Others,such as Syria and Cuba restrict all operation by foreign-ers to club stations only. Radio transmission permits areclosely controlled by nations governments because clan-destine uses of radio can be made, and, because radiowaves propagate beyond national boundaries, radio is aninternational matter.

Licensing requirements

Prospective amateur radio operators are examined onunderstanding of the key concepts of electronics, radioequipment, antennas, radio propagation, RF safety, andthe radio regulations of the government granting the li-cense. These examinations are sets of questions typicallyposed in either a short answer or multiple-choice format.Examinations can be administered by bureaucrats, non-paid certied examiners, or previously licensed amateurradio operators.The ease with which an individual can acquire an am-ateur radio license varies from country to country. Insome countries, examinations may be oered only onceor twice a year in the national capital and can be inordi-nately bureaucratic (for example in India) or challengingbecause some amateurs must undergo dicult securityapproval (as in Iran). A handful of countries, currentlyonly Yemen and North Korea, simply do not issue ama-teur radio licenses to their citizens, although in both casesa limited number of foreign visitors have been permittedto obtain amateur licenses in the past decade. Some de-veloping countries, especially those in Africa, Asia, andLatin America, require the payment of annual license feesthat can be prohibitively expensive for most of their cit-izens. A few small countries may not have a national li-censing process and may instead require prospective am-ateur radio operators to take the licensing examinationsof a foreign country. In countries with the largest num-

bers of amateur radio licensees, such as Japan, the UnitedStates, Canada, and most of the countries in Europe, thereare frequent license examinations opportunities in majorcities.Granting a separate license to a club or organization gen-erally requires that an individual with a current and validamateur radio license who is in good standing with thetelecommunications authority assumes responsibility forany operations conducted under the club license or clubcall sign. A few countries may issue special licenses tonovices or beginners that do not assign the individual acall sign but instead require the newly licensed individualto operate from stations licensed to a club or organizationfor a period of time before a higher class of license canbe acquired.

Reciprocal licensing

Further information: Amateur radio international opera-tionA reciprocal licensing agreement between two countries

Reciprocal Agreements by Country

CEPT Member NationsIARP Member NationsMembers of CEPT and IARPUSA and Canada Treaty, CEPT and IARP

allows bearers of an amateur radio license in one countryunder certain conditions to legally operate an amateur ra-dio station in the other country without having to obtainan amateur radio license from the country being visited,or the bearer of a valid license in one country can re-ceive a separate license and a call sign in another country,both of which have a mutually-agreed reciprocal licensingapprovals. Reciprocal licensing requirements vary fromcountry to country. Some countries have bilateral or mul-tilateral reciprocal operating agreements allowing hamsto operate within their borders with a single set of require-ments. Some countries lack reciprocal licensing systems.When traveling abroad, visiting amateur operators mustfollow the rules of the country in which they wish to op-erate. Some countries have reciprocal international oper-ating agreements allowing hams from other countries tooperate within their borders with just their home countrylicense. Other host countries require that the visiting ham


apply for a formal permit, or even a new host country-issued license, in advance.The reciprocal recognition of licenses frequently not onlydepends on the involved licensing authorities, but also onthe nationality of the bearer. As an example, in the US,foreign licenses are only recognized if the bearer does nothave US citizenship and holds no US license (which maydier in terms of operating privileges and restrictions).Conversely, a US citizen may operate under reciprocalagreements in Canada, but not a non-US citizen holdinga US license.

Newcomers

Many people start their involvement in amateur radio bynding a local club. Clubs often provide informationabout licensing, local operating practices, and technicaladvice. Newcomers also often study independently bypurchasing books or other materials, sometimes with thehelp of a mentor, teacher, or friend. Established amateurswho help newcomers are often referred to as Elmers,as coined by Rodney Newkirk, W9BRD,[24] within theham community.[25][26] In addition, many countries havenational amateur radio societies which encourage new-comers and work with government communications reg-ulation authorities for the benet of all radio amateurs.The oldest of these societies is the Wireless Institute ofAustralia, formed in 1910; other notable societies arethe Radio Society of Great Britain, the American RadioRelay League, Radio Amateurs of Canada, BangladeshNGOs Network for Radio and Communication, the NewZealand Association of Radio Transmitters and SouthAfrican Radio League. (See Category:Amateur radio or-ganizations)

Call signs

Further information: Amateur radio call signs

An amateur radio operator uses a call sign on the air tolegally identify the operator or station.[27] In some coun-tries, the call sign assigned to the station must always beused, whereas in other countries, the call sign of either theoperator or the station may be used.[28] In certain juris-dictions, an operator may also select a vanity call signalthough these must also conform to the issuing govern-ments allocation and structure used for Amateur Radiocall signs.[29] Some jurisdictions, such as the U.S., requirethat a fee be paid to obtain such a vanity call sign; in oth-ers, such as the UK, a fee is not required and the vanitycall sign may be selected when the license is applied for.Call sign structure as prescribed by the ITU, consists ofthree parts which break down as follows, using the callsign ZS1NAT as an example:

1. ZS Shows the country from which the call sign

originates and may also indicate the license class.(This call sign is licensed in South Africa. CEPTClass is no longer encoded in South African call-signs. Where specic classes of amateur radio li-cense exist, the call signs may be assigned by class,but the specics vary by issuing country.)

2. 1 Gives the subdivision of the country or territoryindicated in the rst part (this one refers to the West-ern Cape).

3. NAT The nal part is unique to the holder of thelicense, identifying that station specically.

Many countries do not follow the ITU convention forthe numeral. In the United Kingdom the original callsG0xxx, G2xxx, G3xxx, G4xxx, were Full (A) LicenseHolders along with the last M0xxx full call signs is-sued by the City & Guilds examination authority in De-cember 2003. Additional full licenses were originallygranted in respect of (B) Licensees with G1xxx, G6xxx,G7xxx, G8xxx and 1991 onward with M1xxx calls. Thenewer three level Intermediate licensees are 2E1xxx and2E0xx and basic Foundation license holders are granted aM6xxx call sign.[30] In the United States, for non-Vanitylicenses, the numeral indicates the geographical districtthe holder resided in when the license was issued. Priorto 1978, US hams were required to obtain a new call signif they moved out of their geographic district.Also, for smaller entities, a numeral may be part ofthe country identication. For example, VP2xxx is inthe British West Indies (subdivided into VP2Exx An-guilla, VP2Mxx Montserrat, and VP2Vxx British Vir-gin Islands), VP5xxx is in the Turks and Caicos Islands,VP6xxx is on Pitcairn Island, VP8xxx is in the Falklands,and VP9xxx is in Bermuda.Online callbooks or callsign databases can be browsedor searched to nd out who holds a specic callsign.[31]Non-exhaustive lists of famous people who hold or haveheld amateur radio callsigns have also been compiled andpublished.[32]

Many jurisdictions issue specialty vehicle registrationplates to licensed amateur radio operators often in orderto facilitate their movement during an emergency.[33][34]The fees for application and renewal are usually less thanthe standard rate for specialty plates.[33][35]

Privileges

In most administrations, unlike other RF spectrum users,radio amateurs may build or modify transmitting equip-ment for their own use within the amateur spectrum with-out the need to obtain government certication of theequipment.[36][37] Licensed amateurs can also use any fre-quency in their bands (rather than being allocated xedfrequencies or channels) and can operate medium to high-powered equipment on a wide range of frequencies[38] so


long as they meet certain technical parameters includingoccupied bandwidth, power, and maintenance of spuriousemission.Radio amateurs have access to frequency allocationsthroughout the RF spectrum, usually allowing choice ofan eective frequency for communications across a lo-cal, regional, or worldwide path. The shortwave bands,or HF, are suitable for worldwide communication, and theVHF and UHF bands normally provide local or regionalcommunication, while the microwave bands have enoughspace, or bandwidth, for amateur television transmissionsand high-speed computer networks.

The international symbol for amateur radio, included in the lo-gos of many IARUmember societies. The diamond holds a circuitdiagram featuring components common to every radio: an an-tenna, inductor and ground.

In most countries, an amateur radio license grants per-mission to the license holder to own, modify, and operateequipment that is not certied by a governmental regu-latory agency. This encourages amateur radio operators

to experiment with home-constructed or modied equip-ment. The use of such equipment must still satisfy na-tional and international standards on spurious emissions.The amount of output power an amateur radio licenseemay legally use varies from country to country. Al-though allowable power levels are moderate by commer-cial standards, they are sucient to enable global com-munication. Power limits vary from country to countryand between license classes within a country. For ex-ample, the peak envelope power limits for the highestavailable license classes in a few selected countries are:2.25 kW in Canada,[39] 1.5 kW in the United States, 1.0kW in Belgium, Switzerland and New Zealand, 750 W inGermany, 500 W in Italy, 400 W in Australia, India andthe United Kingdom, and 150 W in Oman. Lower licenseclasses usually have lower power limits; for example, thelowest license class in the UK ( Foundation licence ) hasa limit of 10 W. Amateur radio operators are encouragedboth by regulations and tradition of respectful use of thespectrum to use as little power as possible to accomplishthe communication.[40] This is to minimise interferenceor EMC to any other device.Output power limits may also depend on the mode oftransmission. In Australia, for example, 400 W may beused for SSB transmissions, but FM and other modes arelimited to 120 W.The point at which power output is measured may also af-fect transmissions. The United Kingdom measures at thepoint the antenna is connected to the signal feed cable,which means the radio system may transmit more than400 W to overcome signal loss in the cable; conversely,Germany measures power at the output of the nal am-plication stage, which results in a loss in radiated powerwith longer cable feeds.Certain countries permit amateur radio licence holders tohold a Notice of Variation that allows higher power to beused than normally allowed for certain specic purposes.E.g. in the UK some amateur radio licence holders areallowed to transmit using (33dBw) 2.0 kW for experi-ments entailing using the moon as a passive radio reector(known as Earth-Moon-Earth communication) (EME).

Band plans and frequency allocations

Main article: Amateur radio frequency allocations

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) gov-erns the allocation of communications frequencies world-wide, with participation by each nations communicationsregulation authority. National communications regula-tors have some liberty to restrict access to these bandplanfrequencies or to award additional allocations as long asradio services in other countries do not suer interfer-ence. In some countries, specic emission types are re-stricted to certain parts of the radio spectrum, and in


most other countries, International Amateur Radio Union(IARU) member societies adopt voluntary plans to ensurethe most eective use of spectrum.In a few cases, a national telecommunication agency mayalso allow hams to use frequencies outside of the interna-tionally allocated amateur radio bands. In Trinidad andTobago, hams are allowed to use a repeater which is lo-cated on 148.800 MHz. This repeater is used and main-tained by the National Emergency Management Agency(NEMA), but may be used by radio amateurs in times ofemergency or during normal times to test their capabil-ity and conduct emergency drills. This repeater can alsobe used by non-ham NEMA sta and REACT members.In Australia and New Zealand ham operators are autho-rized to use one of the UHF TV channels. In the U.S.,amateur radio operators providing essential communica-tion needs in connection with the immediate safety of hu-man life and immediate protection of property when nor-mal communication systems are not available may use anyfrequency including those of other radio services such aspolice and re and in cases of disaster in Alaska may usethe statewide emergency frequency of 5167.5 kHz withrestrictions upon emissions.[41]

Similarly, amateurs in the United States may apply tobe registered with the Military Auxiliary Radio System(MARS). Once approved and trained, these amateurs alsooperate on US government military frequencies to pro-vide contingency communications and morale messagetrac support to the military services.

1.1.4 Modes of communicationAmateurs use a variety of voice, text, image, and datacommunications modes over radio. Generally new modescan be tested in the amateur radio service, although na-tional regulations may require disclosure of a new modeto permit radio licensing authorities to monitor the trans-missions. Encryption, for example, is not generally per-mitted in the Amateur Radio service except for the spe-cial purpose of satellite vehicle control uplinks. The fol-lowing is a partial list of the modes of communicationused, where the mode includes both modulation types andoperating protocols.

Voice

Amplitude modulation (AM) Double Sideband Suppressed Carrier (DSB-SC) Independent Sideband (ISB) Single Sideband (SSB) Amplitude Modulation Equivalent (AME) Frequency modulation (FM) Phase modulation (PM)

Image

Amateur Television, also known as Fast Scan tele-vision (ATV)

Slow-Scan Television (SSTV)

Facsimile

Text and data

Most amateur digital modes are transmitted by insert-ing audio into the microphone input of a radio and usingan analog scheme, such as amplitude modulation (AM),frequency modulation (FM), or single-sideband modula-tion (SSB).

Continuous Wave (CW)

ALE Automatic Link Establishment

AMateur Teleprinting Over Radio (AMTOR)

D-STAR

Echolink

Hellschreiber, also referred to as either Feld-Hell,or Hell

Discrete multi-tone modulation modes such asMultiTone 63 (MT63)

Multiple Frequency-Shift Keying (MFSK) modessuch as

FSK441, JT6M, JT65, and Olivia MFSK

Packet radio (AX25)

Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS)

PACTOR

Phase-Shift Keying

31 baud binary phase shift keying: PSK31 31 baud quadrature phase shift keying:

QPSK31 63 baud binary phase shift keying: PSK63 63 baud quadrature phase shift keying:

QPSK63

Spread spectrum

Radioteletype (RTTY)


Modes by activity

The following modes use no one specic modulationscheme but rather are classied by the activity of the com-munication.

Earth-Moon-Earth (EME) Internet Radio Linking Project (IRLP) Low Transmitter Power (QRP) Satellite (OSCAR- Orbiting Satellite CarryingAmateur Radio)

1.1.5 See also DX Century Club List of amateur radio magazines List of amateur radio organizations Piracy in amateur and two-way radio Maritime mobile amateur radio Worked All Continents Worked All States Anderson Powerpole connector

1.1.6 References[1] Sumner, David (August 2011). How Many Hams?". QST

(American Radio Relay League): p. 9.

[2] Gernsback, H (May 1909). First Annual Ocial Wire-less Blue Book of the Wireless Association of America(PDF). New York: Modern Electrics Publication. Re-trieved 2009-06-19.

[3] "''THE INFLUENCE OF AMATEUR RADIO ON THEDEVELOPMENT OF THE COMMERCIAL MARKETFOR QUARTZ PIEZOELECTRIC RESONATORS INTHE UNITED STATES.'' (1996) By Patrick R. J.Brown, Hewlett Packard Company, Spokane Division.Bliley.net. Retrieved 2012-11-22.

[4] Inventor of IC 'chip', Nobel Prize Winner Jack S. KilbyCredits Amateur Radio for His Start in Electronics. No-belprize.org. 2005-06-20. Retrieved 2012-11-22.

[5] Role of Amateur Radio in Development Communication ofBangladesh. Information & Communication Technologyfor Development. By Bazlur Rahman

[6] Jim Taylor. Canadian Amateur Radio Bulletin, ''Ama-teur Radio Saved Lives in South Asia'' (2004-12-29)".Hfradio.net. Retrieved 2012-11-22.

[7] What is Ham Radio?". ARRL.org. Archived from theoriginal on 4 May 2010. Retrieved 2010-06-01.

[8] Weaver, Bruce D. (January 2003). On the Air Learning.Teaching Pre K-8 33 (4): 5051. ISSN 0891-4508.

[9] Ham Radio Frequently Asked Questions. ARRL.org.Archived from the original on 6 May 2010. Retrieved2010-05-23.

[10] FCC Report and Order 06-178A1 (PDF). Federal Com-munications Commission. 2006-12-19. p. 7. Retrieved2007-05-16.

[11] Federal Communications Commission (2007-01-24). 47CFR Part 97 (PDF). Federal Register (Washington, D.C.:Government Printing Oce) 72 (15): 30813082. Re-trieved 2007-12-18.

[12] FCC to Drop Morse Testing for All Amateur LicenseClasses. ARRL.org via UnwiredAdventures.com. 2006-12-15. Retrieved 2010-05-17.

[13] KH6BB USS Missouri Radio Room Photos. KH6BBUSS Missouri Battleship Radio Room, kh6bb.org. Re-trieved 2010-05-23.

[14] Valdes, Robert (2001-05-09). HowStuWorks:Use of VoIP in Amateur Radio. Communica-tion.howstuworks.com. Retrieved 2012-11-22.

[15] Taggart, Ralph E (April 1993). An Introduction toAmateur Television (PDF). QST via ARRL.org: 1923.Archived from the original on June 5, 2007.

[16] Holmstead, Stephen (30 December 1994). AmateurSatellite FAQ. The Radio Amateur Satellite Corpora-tion. Retrieved 14 March 2010.

[17] Taylor, Joe (December 2001). "WSJT : New Software forVHF Meteor-Scatter Communication (PDF). QST viaARRL.org. pp. 3641. Archived from the original onJanuary 28, 2010.

[18] ARISS: Amateur Radio on the International Space Sta-tion. ARRL.org. Archived from the original on 11 Jan-uary 2007. Retrieved 2007-01-10.

[19] Jurrens, Gerald. Astronaut (and Former Astronaut)Hams. gjurrens at Tellurian.com. Archived from theoriginal on 30 December 2006. Retrieved 2007-01-10.

[20] Haag, Jerry. Principles of Amateur Radio Net Control.SCC-AREA-RACES.org. Retrieved 2007-01-10.

[21] brweb (2000-05-01). "''International TelecommunicationUnion'', Minimum Qualications For Radio Amateurs.Itu.int. Retrieved 2012-11-22.

[22] Amateur radio licensing in Thailand sect. Equipmentlicense. The Radio Amateur Society of Thailand 7 Au-gust 2010. Retrieved 13 February 2011.

[23] Amateur and Amateur-satellite service. InternationalTelecommunication Union. Archived from the original on22 August 2010. Retrieved 2010-08-16.

[24] 285 TechConnect Radio Club. Na0tc.org. Retrieved2012-11-22.

[25] ARRL Mentor Program. ARRL.org. Archived from theoriginal on 2007-10-14.


[26] Wilson, Mark J; Reed, Dana G (2006). The ARRLHandbook for Radio Communications 2007 (84th ed.).Newington, CT: American Radio Relay League. ISBN0-87259-976-0.

[27] Amateur Radio (Intermediate) License (A) or (B) Terms,Provisions and Limitations Booklet BR68/I.

[28] Amateur Radio (Intermediate) License (A) or (B)Terms, Provisions and Limitations Booklet BR68/I. Of-com.org.uk. Retrieved 2007-06-02.

[29] Common Filing Task: Obtaining Vanity Call Sign.FCC.gov. Retrieved 2007-06-02.

[30] UK Amateur Radio Call Signs (callsigns)". Electronicsand Radio Today. 2010. Archived from the original on30 April 2011. Retrieved 21 March 2011.

[31] License Search. Universal Licensing System. US Fed-eral Communications Commission. Archived from theoriginal on 22 August 2010. Retrieved 29 August 2010.

[32] Famous Radio Amateurs 'Hams & Call Signs. Bed-worth Lions Club. Retrieved 29 August 2010.

[33] ARRL Web: Amateur Radio License Plate Fees.Archived from the original on 2007-08-04.

[34] Ham Radio Callsign License Plates (Canada)". Archivedfrom the original on 7 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-04.

[35] ICBC HAM radio plates. Archived from the originalon 19 October 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-03.

[36] OFTA, Equipment for Amateur Station: Radio amateursare free to choose any radio equipment designed for theamateur service. Radio amateurs may also design andbuild their own equipment provided that the requirementsand limitations specied in the Amateur Station Licenceand Schedules thereto are complied with.

[37] FCC.gov, About Amateur Stations. 'They design, con-struct, modify, and repair their stations. The FCC equip-ment authorization program does not generally apply toamateur station transmitters.'". Wireless.fcc.gov. 2002-02-19. Retrieved 2012-11-22.

[38] Australian Radio Amateur FAQ. AMPR.org. June 24,2006. Archived from the original on July 18, 2008.

[39] Industry Canada (September 2007). RBR-4 Standardsfor the Operation of Radio Stations in the Amateur RadioService, s. 10.2. Government of Canada. Retrieved 21January 2013.

[40] FCC Part 97 : Sec. 97.313 Transmitter power stan-dards. W5YI.org. Retrieved 2010-08-27.

[41] FCC Part 97 : Sec. 97.401 and 97.403 Emergency Com-munications. Retrieved 2012-06-21.

General References

Australia

Wireless Institute of Australia(2005). The Foundation Li-cence Manual: Your Entry intoAmateur Radio. Wireless In-stitute of Australia, Novem-ber, 2005. ISBN 0-9758342-0-7

Canada

Cleveland-Ilie, John, andSmith, Georey Read (1995).The Canadian AmateurStudy Guide for the BasicQualication. Fifth Edition,Second Printing. Ottawa,Ontario, Canada: RadioAmateurs of Canada. ISBN1-895400-08-2

India

Amateur radio licensing in In-dia. Retrieved Aug. 13, 2007.

United Kingdom

Betts, Alan (2001). Founda-tion Licence Now!. London,United Kingdom: Radio Soci-ety of Great Britain, Decem-ber, 2001. ISBN 1-872309-80-1

United States

Straw, R. Dean, Reed, DanaG., Carman, R. Jan, and Wolf-gang, Larry D. (ed.) (2003).Now You're Talking!. FifthEdition. Newington, Con-necticut, U.S.: American Ra-dio Relay League, May, 2003.ISBN 0-87259-881-0

American Radio Relay League(2003). The ARRL FCC RuleBook: Complete Guide to theFCC Regulations. 13th Edi-tion. Newington, Connecticut,U.S.: American Radio RelayLeague, August, 2003. ISBN0-87259-900-0

Silver, H. Ward (2004). HamRadio For Dummies. JohnWiley and Sons, Ltd., April,2004. ISBN 0-7645-5987-7


1.1.7 Further reading Bergquist, Carl J (May 2001). Ham Radio Opera-tors Guide (2nd ed.). Indianapolis: Prompt Publi-cations. ISBN 0-7906-1238-0.

Dennison, Mike; Fielding, John, eds. (2009). Ra-dio Communication Handbook (10th ed.). Bedford,England: Radio Society of Great Britain. ISBN978-1-905086-54-2.

Haring, Kristen (2007). HamRadios Technical Cul-ture. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. ISBN 0-262-08355-8.

Poole, Ian D (October 2001). HF Amateur Radio.Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, England: Radio Societyof Great Britain. ISBN 1-872309-75-5.

Rohde, Ulrich L; Whitaker, Jerry C (2001). Com-munications Receivers: DSP, Software Radios, andDesign (3rd ed.). New York City: McGraw-Hill.ISBN 0-07-136121-9.

The ARRL Handbook for Radio Communications2010 (87th ed.). Newington, CT: American RadioRelay League. November 2009. ISBN 0-87259-144-1.

1.1.8 External links Amateur Radio at DMOZ

1.2 DXingNot to be confused with DJing, another audioand radio hobby.

This article is about the hobby of receiving &identifying radio or television signals. For thearticle about the Philippine FM station in Gen-eral Santos City, see DXER.

DXing is the hobby of receiving and identifying distantradio or television signals, or making two way radio con-tact with distant stations in amateur radio, citizens bandradio or other two way radio communications. Many DX-ers also attempt to obtain written verications of recep-tion or contact, sometimes referred to as "QSLs" or ver-ies. The name of the hobby comes from DX, telegraphicshorthand for distance or distant.[1]

The practice of DXing arose during the early days ofradio broadcasting. Listeners would mail reception re-ports to radio broadcasting stations in hopes of gettinga written acknowledgement or a QSL card that served toocially verify they had heard a distant station. Collect-ing these cards became popular with radio listeners in the

1920s and 1930s, and reception reports were often usedby early broadcasters to gauge the eectiveness of theirtransmissions. Although international shortwave broad-casts are on the decline, DXing remains popular amongdedicated shortwave listeners. The pursuit of two-waycontact between distant amateur radio operators is also asignicant activity within the amateur radio hobby. [2][3]

1.2.1 Types of DXing

AM radio DX

Main article: MW DX

Early radio listeners, often using home made crystal setsand long wire antennas, found radio stations few and farbetween. With the broadcast bands uncrowded, signals ofthe most powerful stations could be heard over hundredsof miles, but weaker signals required more precise tuningor better receiving gear.By the 1950s, and continuing through the mid-1970s,many of the most powerful North American "clear chan-nel" stations such as KDKA, WLW, CKLW, CHUM,WABC, WJR, WLS, WKBW, KFI, KAAY, KSL and ahost of border blasters from Mexico pumped out Top 40music played by popular disc jockeys. As most smaller,local AM radio stations had to sign o at night, the big 50kW stations had loyal listeners hundreds of miles away.The popularity of DXing the medium-wave band has di-minished as the popular music formats quickly migratedto the clearer, though less propagating, FM radio begin-ning in the 1970s. Meanwhile, the MW band in theUnited States was getting more and more crowded withnew stations and existing stations receiving FCC autho-rization to operate at night. In Canada, just the oppositeoccurred as AM stations began moving to FM beginningin the 1980s and continuing through today.Outside of the Americas and Australia, most AM radiobroadcasting was in the form of synchronous networks ofgovernment-operated stations, operating with hundreds,even thousands of kilowatts of power. Still, the lowerpowered stations and occasional trans-oceanic signal werepopular DX targets.[4]

Shortwave DX

Main article: Shortwave listening

Especially during wartime and times of conict, recep-tion of international broadcasters, whose signals propa-gate around the world on the shortwave bands has beenpopular with both casual listeners and DXing hobbyists.With the rise in popularity of streaming audio over theinternet, many international broadcasters (including the

1.2. DXING 11

BBC and Voice of America) have cut back on their short-wave broadcasts. Missionary Religious broadcasters stillmake extensive use of shortwave radio to reach less de-veloped countries around the world.In addition to international broadcasters, the shortwavebands also are home to military communications, RTTY,amateur radio, pirate radio, and the mysterious broad-casts of numbers stations. Many of these signals are trans-mitted in single side band mode, which requires the useof specialized receivers more suitable to DXing than tocasual listening.[5]

VHF DXing

Main article: TV-FM DX

Though sporadic in nature, signals on the FM broadcastand VHF television bands - especially those stations at thelower end of these bands - can skip for hundreds, eventhousands of miles. American FM stations have beenoccasionally received in Western Europe, though no re-ports exist of European FM signals propagating to NorthAmerica.Police, re, and military communications on the VHFbands are also DX'ed to some extent on multi-band radioscanners, though they are mainly listened to strictly ona local basis. One diculty is in identifying the exactorigins of communications of this nature, as opposedto commercial broadcasters which must identify them-selves at the top of each hour, and can often be identiedthrough mentions of sponsors, slogans, etc. throughouttheir programming.

Amateur radio DX

Main article: Amateur radio

Amateur radio operators who specialize in making twoway radio contact with other amateurs in distant countriesare also referred to as DXers. On the HF (also knownas shortwave) amateur bands, DX stations are those inforeign countries. On the VHF/UHF amateur bands, DXstations can be within the same country or continent, sincemaking a long-distance VHF contact, without the help ofa satellite, can be very dicult. DXers collect QSL cardsas proof of contact and can earn special certicates andawards from amateur radio organizations.[6]

In addition, many clubs oer awards for communicat-ing with a certain number of DX stations. For exam-ple, the ARRL oers the DX Century Club award, orDXCC. The basic certicate is awarded for working andconrming at least 100 entities on the ARRL DXCC List.[7] For award purposes, other areas than just politicalcountries can be classied as DX countries. For ex-ample, the French protectorate of Reunion Island in the

Indian Ocean is counted as a DX country, even though itis a region of France. The rules for determining what isa DX country can be quite complex and to avoid poten-tial confusion, radio amateurs often use the term entityinstead of country. In addition to entities, some awardsare based on island groups in the worlds oceans. On theVHF/UHF bands, many radio amateurs pursue awardsbased on Maidenhead grid locators.In order to give other amateurs a chance to conrm con-tacts at new or exotic locations, amateurs have mountedDXpeditions to countries or regions that have no perma-nent base of amateur radio operators. [6] There are alsofrequent contests where radio amateurs operate their sta-tions on certain dates for a xed period of time to try tocommunicate with as many DX stations as possible.

1.2.2 DX ClubsMany radio enthusiasts are members of DX clubs. Thereare many DX clubs in many countries around the world.They are useful places to nd information about up-to-date news relating to international radio. Many peoplealso enjoy social events, which can form a large part ofthe enjoyment that people can get out of the radio hobby.

1.2.3 QSL cardsMain article: QSL cardOne of the interesting sides of DXing as a hobby is

collecting QSL cards (acknowledgement cards from thebroadcaster) conrming the listeners reception report(sometimes called SINPO report, see next section).Usually a QSL card will have a picture on one side andthe reception data on the other. Most of the broadcasterswill use pictures and messages indicating their countrysculture or technological life.

1.2.4 SINPO reportSINPO stands for the following qualities, graded on ascale of 1 to 5, where '1' means the quality was very badand '5' very good.S - Signal strengthI - Interference with other stations or broadcastersN - Noise ratio in the received signalP - Propagation (ups and downs of the reception)O - Overall meritAlthough this is a subjective measure, with practise thegrading becomes more consistent, and a particular broad-cast may be assessed by several listeners from the samearea, in which case the broadcaster could assess corre-spondence between reports.After listening to a broadcast, the listener writes a reportwith SINPO values, typically including his geographi-


QSL card from Voice of America

cal location (called QTH in amateur radio teminology)in longitude and latitude, a brief description of the pro-gramme listened to, their opinion about it, suggestions ifany, and so on.The listener can send the report to the broadcaster ei-ther by post or email, and request verication (QSL) fromthem.Variants of this report are: a) the SIO report which omitsthe Noise and Propagation, b) grading on a scale of 1 to3 (instead of 1 to 5) and c) the SINFO report where theF stands for fading.

1.2.5 DX Communication

DX communication is communication over great dis-tances using the ionosphere to refract the transmittedradio beam. The beam returns to the Earths surface, andmay then be reected back into the ionosphere for a sec-ond bounce. Ionospheric refraction is generally only fea-sible for frequencies below about 50 MHz, and is highlydependent upon atmospheric conditions, the time of day,and the eleven-year sunspot cycle. It is also aected bysolar storms and some other solar events, which can alterthe Earths ionosphere by ejecting a shower of chargedparticles.

The angle of refraction places a minimum on the distanceat which the refracted beam will rst return to Earth. Thisdistance increases with frequency. As a result, any sta-tion employing DX will be surrounded by an annular deadzone where they can't hear other stations or be heard bythem.This is the phenomenon that allows short wave radio re-ception to occur beyond the limits of line of sight. It isutilized by amateur radio enthusiasts (hams), shortwavebroadcast stations (such as BBC and Voice of America)and others, and is what allows one to hear AM (MW)stations from areas far from their location. It is oneof the backups to failure of long distance communica-tion by satellites, when their operation is aected byelectromagnetic storms from the sun.For example, in clear ionosphere conditions, one can hearRadio France Inter on 711 kHz, far into the UK and asfar as Reading, Berkshire

1.2.6 DXing equipmentRadio equipment used in DXing ranges from inexpensiveportable receivers to deluxe equipment costing thousandsof dollars. Using just a simple AM radio, one can eas-ily hear signals from the most powerful stations propa-gating hundreds of miles at night. Even an inexpensiveshortwave radio can receive signals emanating from sev-eral countries during any time of day.Serious hobbyists use more elaborate receivers designedspecically for pulling in distant signals, and often buildtheir own antennas specically designed for a specic fre-quency band. There is much discussion and debate in thehobby about the relative merits of lesser priced shortwavereceivers vs. their multi-thousand dollar big brotherradios. In general, a good desktop or PC Radio willbe able to hear just about what a very expensive high-performance receiver can receive. The dierence be-tween the two types comes into play during dicult bandor reception conditions. The expensive receiver will havemore ltering options and usually better adjacent channelinterference blocking, sometimes resulting in the dier-ence of being able to receive or not receive a signal underpoor conditions. Reception of international broadcastingseldom shows a noticeable dierence between the two ra-dios. Car radios are also used for DXing the broadcastbands.Another recent trend is for the hobbyist to employ mul-tiple radios and antennas connected to a personal com-puter. Through advanced radio control software, the ra-dios can be automatically ganged together, so that tuningone radio can tune all the others in the group. This DX-ing technique is sometimes referred to as diversity recep-tion and facilitates easy A to B comparison of dierentantennas and receivers for a given signal. For more de-tails on PC Radios or computer controlled shortwavereceivers see the discussion in Shortwave listening.

1.3. FIELD DAY 13

Having a minimum of two Dipole antenna at right anglesto each other, for example, one running North-South andone running East-West can produce dramatically dierentreception patterns. These simple antennas can be madefor a few dollars worth of wire and a couple of insulators.

1.2.7 See also 802.11 non-standard equipment

1.2.8 References[1] http://www.dxing.info/introduction.dx Introduction To

DXing, DXing.info

[2] Jerome S. Berg (30 October 2008). Listening on the ShortWaves, 1945 to Today. McFarland. pp. 330. ISBN 978-0-7864-3996-6. Retrieved 12 April 2012.

[3] Susan J. Douglas (25 February 2004). Listening in: ra-dio and the American imagination. U of Minnesota Press.pp. 73. ISBN 978-0-8166-4423-0. Retrieved 12 April2012.

[4] http://www.dxing.com/amband.htm AM Band DXing,DXing.com

[5] http://www.dxing.info/introduction.dx Introduction ToDXing. DXing.info

[6] Danny Gregory; Paul Sahre (1 April 2003). Hello world: alife in ham radio. Princeton Architectural Press. pp. 217. ISBN 978-1-56898-281-6. Retrieved 4 April 2012.

[7] http://www.arrl.org/awards/dxcc/dxcclist.txt DXCC List- ARRL

1.2.9 External links ARRL - American Radio Relay league.

DXing at DMOZ

DX Info for radioamateurs

1.3 Field DayFor other uses, see Field day (disambiguation).Field Day is an annual amateur radio exercise, widely

sponsored by IARU regions and member organizations,encouraging emergency communications preparednessamong amateur radio operators. In the United States,it is typically the largest single emergency preparednessexercise in the country, with over 30,000 operators par-ticipating each year. Field Day is always the fourth fullweekend of June, beginning at 1800 UTC Saturday andrunning through 2059 UTC Sunday.

Solar-powered Amateur Radio Station in tents. Note the portableVHF/UHF Satellite and HF antennas in the background

Rugged HF transceiver for voice communications

Since the rst ARRL Field Day in 1933, radio amateursthroughout North America have practiced the rapid de-ployment of radio communications equipment in envi-ronments ranging from operations under tents in remoteareas to operations inside Emergency Operations Cen-ters (EOCs). Operations using emergency and alterna-tive power sources are highly encouraged, since electric-ity and other public infrastructures are often among therst to fail during a natural disaster or severe weather.To determine the eectiveness of the exercise and of eachparticipants operations, there is an integrated contestingcomponent, and many clubs also engage in concurrentleisure activities (camping out, cookouts, etc.). Opera-tions typically last a continuous twenty-four hours, requir-ing scheduled relief operators to keep stations on the air.Additional contest points are awarded for experimentingwith unusual modes, making contacts via satellite, and in-volving youth in the activity.

1.3.1 International Field Day Events

1.3.2 IARU Region 1The IARU Region 1 sponsors an Amateur Radio FieldDay for Europe.


United Kingdom

The Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB) holds itsField Days with the Region 1 schedule, but has its ownawards independent of the rest of the IARU Region:

CW: First full weekend of June from Saturday 1500UTC to Sunday 1500 UTC (June 2-3, 2012).

SSB: First full weekend of September from Saturday1300 UTC to Sunday 1300 UTC (September 1-2,2012).

Germany

The Deutscher Amateur-Radio-Club e. V. (DARC),Referat DX u. HF Funksport, holds its Field Days withthe Region 1 schedule:

CW: First full weekend of June from Saturday 1500UTC to Sunday 1500 UTC (June 2-3, 2012).

SSB: First full weekend of September from Saturday1300 UTC to Sunday 1300 UTC (September 1-2,2012).

Greece

The Radio Amateur Association of Greece organizes thenational eld day with the Region 1 SSB eld day (rstweekend of September). It issues its own awards for thehighest scoring Greek stations who participate and submitcontest logs.

1.3.3 IARU Region 2

United States and Canada

The American Radio Relay League/Radio Amateurs ofCanada Field Day is held annually the fourth full weekendin June (June 27-28 in 2015), beginning at 1800 UTCSaturday and running through 2059 UTC Sunday.Sponsored by the ARRL and RAC (but organized pri-marily by the ARRL), Field Day is open to all AmateurRadio operators covered by these two IARU member or-ganizations.

1.3.4 IARU Region 3

There is currently no organized Field Day for all of Re-gion 3, although there is a proposal to create one similarto that of Region 1: Recommendation WG 2-10 (page 7).

Taiwan

There is apparently a Biannual Field Day held in Taiwan,by the Chinese Taipei Amateur Radio League.

New Zealand

The New Zealand Association of Radio Transmitters(NZART) holds an HF National Field Day contest eachFebruary, and a VHF Field Day each December.

Korea

The Korean Amateur Radio League holds a eld day for2 to 5 days at a regional branch area during the summertime every year.

1.3.5 Emergency preparedness

Field Day stresses emergency preparedness. Frequently,entire radio clubs get involved and assemble a portableradio station in a eld or park. Some might use quicklydeployable portable antennas while other might erectmore elaborate radio masts and towers supporting severalantennas. Generators or solar power provide electricity toamateur radio transceivers, which may be located in tents,cars, recreational vehicles, or other portable shelters.

1.3.6 Contest Activity and Rules

The contest aspect of a Field Day operating event is tocontact as many stations as possible in the given time pe-riod (twenty-four hours, during a weekend, if setup com-mences before the contest starts, or 27 hours if setup com-mences at contest start time) using the portable station.Each station will exchange information with other partic-ipating stations. For the North American Field Day, theexchange consists of the station call sign, the name of theARRL-recognized section from which the station is oper-ating, and a class designator which indicates the numberof transmitters concurrently used at the station and infor-mation about the type of electrical power source beingused.The contest portion of Field Day has two purposes. Theprimary purpose is to demonstrate the groups ability toplan operations that can be eective for an entire twenty-four-hour period, including operator endurance and ad-equate numbers of operators for a shift operation. Thesecondary portion is to demonstrate the technical pro-ciency of the station that has been hastily constructed forthe purpose; in theory a better station will be capable ofemergency operations in more dire conditions. Such astation will also be capable of making more contacts dur-ing the contest portion of Field Day.

1.4. RADIOSPORT 15

The rules governing this activity are published by thesponsor of the particular Field Day exercise.

1.3.7 Promotion of amateur radioField Day is frequently used to attract signicantpublicity for amateur radio, and some clubs simultane-ously demonstrate technologies including single sidebandvoice, Morse code, digital modes (such as RTTY, PSK31,and Winlink, among others), and communication viaamateur radio satellite.

1.3.8 External links ARRL Field Day Field Day: A Mirror of Amateur Radio History (A

history of Field Day in the United States) Field Day Station Locator (Google Maps-based ser-

vice that shows publicly accessible Field Day opera-tions for June 2627, 2010)

Radio Amateurs of Canada Find a radio club near you to participate in Field Day RSGB SSB Field Day 2008 DARC Field Day IARU Region 1 HF Field Day Nationwide Simulated Emergency Communications

Test

1.4 RadiosportFor the broadcast radio station in New Zealand, see RadioSport.Radiosport (or radio sport) is formal competition be-

tween amateur radio operators in any of three amateur ra-dio activities. The Friendship Radiosport Games is an in-ternational multi-sport event that includes all three typesof radiosport. Since 1977, the International Amateur Ra-dio Union has sponsored the IARU HF World Champi-onship (originally named the IARU Radiosport Champi-onship). The World Radiosport Team Championship isanother international competition.

1.4.1 Amateur radio contestingMain article: Contesting

The most common use of the term radiosport is as a syn-onym for amateur radio contesting (ham radio contest-ing). Contesting is an activity where amateur radio sta-tions attempt to make as many two-way contacts with

The World Radiosport Team Championship 2002 was held inHelsinki, Finland.

other stations as possible, following certain dened pa-rameters of the competition, to maximize a score. Atleast two specic contests have used the term radiosportin their event names; the IARU HF World Championship,a worldwide contest sponsored by the International Am-ateur Radio Union, was known as the IARU RadiosportChampionship from its inception in 1977 until the nameof the contest changed in 1986. The term radiosportalso appears in the name of the World Radiosport TeamChampionship, the radio contest considered by many tobe the closest that contesting has to a world champi-onships.

1.4.2 Amateur radio direction nding

The Victorian ARDF Group, a regional ARDF organization inAustralia, uses the two-word form of the term radio sport in itslogo.


Radiosport also can refer to the sport of amateur radio di-rection nding (ARDF). Although they represent a broadrange of amateur radio interests in their nations today,several member societies of the International AmateurRadio Union were originally formed for the promotionand organization of the sport of ARDF and continue touse the term radiosport in their society name. These in-clude the Federation of Radiosport of the Republic ofArmenia, the Belarussian Federation of Radioamateursand Radiosportsmen, the Chinese Radio Sports Associa-tion, the Kazakhstan Federation of Radiosport and RadioAmateur, the Mongolian Radio Sport Federation, and thenow defunct Radio Sport Federation of the USSR.

1.4.3 High Speed TelegraphyMain article: High Speed Telegraphy

High Speed Telegraphy competitions challenge indi-viduals to correctly receive and copy Morse codetransmissions sent at very high speeds. International com-petitions typically involve several events, some of whichare based on simulations of amateur radio activity. Oneevent in the Radioamateur Practicing Tests (RPT) uses acomputer program that sends amateur radio call signs athigh speed for a specied period of time, and generates ascore for the competitor based on errors in copying. An-other event is the pileup competition, where competi-tors must copy as many individual call signs as possiblewhile many are being sent simultaneously over a denedperiod of time.

1.4.4 References American Radio Relay League (1978-2005).

Bibliography of IARU contest results and relatedarticles in QST . Retrieved Dec. 5, 2005.

1.4.5 External links Federation of Radiosport of the Republic of Arme-

nia

Victorian ARDF Group

1.5 Amateur radio emergency com-munications

For the New Zealand organization, see Amateur RadioEmergency Communications.

In times of crisis and natural disasters, amateur radiois often used as a means of emergency communicationwhen wireline, cell phones and other conventional meansof communications fail.

Solar-powered Amateur Radio Station in tents. Note the portableVHF/UHF satellite and HF antennas in the background

Rugged HF transceiver for voice communications

Unlike commercial systems, Am

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