APPLICATION OF HAM RADIO

Bijendra Kumar Ray&

Saurabh Yadav

(ECE&D 2nd Year)

Introduction • What is HAM Radio ?HAM Radio is a popular hobby and service that bring people, electronics and communication together. People use ham radio to talk across town, around the world or even into the space, all without internet or cell phone. HAM Radio operator use amateur bands for communication, these band are Radio Frequency allocated by the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) for use by HAM Radio operator. Ham radio is two way wireless communication device which is used by astronauts, doctors, students, kids, politicians, truck drivers, movie stars, missionaries and even your average neighbor next door. They are of all ages, sexes, income levels and nationalities. Whether through Morse Code on an old brass telegraph key, voice communication on a hand-held radio or computerized messages transmitted via satellite, all HAMs use radio to reach out to the world.

Ham Radio Operators are the only NON-GOVERNMENTAL people privileged to be allowed to do private WORLDWIDE wireless communication

Long Distance Communication using Short Wave Frequencies in the

range of 1.8 to 30 MHz

• The origin of the word HAM came from the name of three scientists: Heinrich Hertz + Major Armstrong + Guglielmo Marconi• “Home Amateur Mechanic” (Edited by Hugo Gernsback )-

A 1900 do-it-yourself magazine.

Origin of the word “HAM”

Ham Radio Licensing Exam

• Why we need a license?• The Government tries to ensure that the person going to be a ham

radio hobbyist is technically competent.• He/She does not interfere with other professional two-way wireless

communication services (aeronautical, maritime, police, military etc.)• Prevent misuse of the wireless set.• She/he maintains the standard international operating practices.

Applications of HAM Radio1. Emergency communication during disaster 2. Ham Radios in Space3. Digital application of HAM Radio4. Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS)5. Packet Radio6. Software-Defined Radio (SDR)7. HAM Radio in Agriculture8. Amateur Radio High Altitude Ballooning (ARHAB)- 9. D-STAR (Digital Smart Technologies for Amateur Radio)10. Internet via Ham Radio

Emergency Communication During Disaster • Why HAM Radio Communication is successful during emergency?In times of crisis and natural disasters, amateur radio is often used as a means of emergency communication when wireline, cell phones and other conventional means of communications fail.One of the advantages of ham radio is that a message originated from an individual can be virtually intercepted by any number of other ham radio operators at different locations

HAM Operators During Disaster

Some Examples • Amateur Radio Service kept New York City agencies in touch with

each other after their command center was destroyed during the 9/11 tragedy. Ham radio also came to the rescue during Hurricane Katrina, where all other communications failed, and the devastating flooding in Colorado in 2013.• In the Nepal tragedy ham radio played an important role and spread

the message of earthquake across the country . Indian hams was working on 14.210 MHz to contact hams in Nepal, where a massive 7.9 magnitude earthquake has claimed the lives of close to 2,000 people

Ham Radio in Space• Amateur radio operators all over the world are able to speak directly

to astronauts/cosmonauts via their handheld, mobile, or home radio stations.• It is also possible to send digital data to the space station via laptop

computers • If a common man wants to talk a man in space , then the only way to

make contact is Ham Radio .• official channels are usually reserved for presidents and heads of

state.

First communication using Ham Radio from Space to EarthOwen Garriott, who has been an amateur radio operator for over 40 years, was the first astronaut to take a ham radio into space.

Sunita Williamsis also a HAM Operator Gujarat Science City officials, the institute established amateur radio contact with International Space Station (ISS) where Indian-American astronaut Sunita Williams was stationed for four months. The state students talked to Williams directly about her experience. The science city officials had initiated communication with National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) authorities for the project.

Ham Radio in Agriculture

Digital Applications of HAM Radio

1. Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS)2. Packet Radio3. Software-Defined Radio (SDR)4. Amateur Radio High Altitude Ballooning (ARHAB)- 5. D-STAR (Digital Smart Technologies for Amateur Radio)6. Internet via Ham Radio7. Echo-Link8. HAMShield

Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS)

• APRS is an amateur radio based system for real time tactical digital communications of information of immediate value in the local area.

APRS data is typically broadcast on a single shared frequency (depending on country) to be repeated locally by area relay stations and digipeaters for widespread local consumption. In addition, all such data is typically ingested into the APRS Internet System (APRS-IS) via an internet connected receiver (IGATE) and distributed globally for ubiquitous and immediate access. Shared information contains global coordinates, altitude, speed, heading, text messages, alerts, announcements, and bulletins.

An Aircraft can be tracked by Ham Radio using APRS

TEXT TRANSMISSION THROUGH HAM RADIO• PSK31 is a new digital mode which utilizes the processing power of

computers and sound cards.• Software on the computer converts inputted text to audio level wave

forms which can be fed into most standard SSB radios.• The same software listens to the output of the radio and decodes the

audio signals back into text.

Email Through HAM Radio

• AIRMAIL (A free software for HAMs which is just like Microsoft Outlook Express)

HF (Short Wave e-mail Gateway to help the sailor hams/hams at remote places by providing e-mail relay to their families)• HF (Short Wave e-mail Gateway to help the sailor hams/hams at

remote places by providing e-mail relay to their families)

Software-Defined Radio (SDR)

• SDR is a Radio Communication system where components that have been typically implemented in hardware (e.g. mixers, filters, amplifiers, modulators/demodulators, detectors, etc.) are instead implemented by means of software on a personal computer or embedded system.

Amateur Radio High Altitude Ballooning (ARHAB)

An ARHAB flight consists of a balloon, a recovery parachute, and a payload of one or more packages. The payload normally contains an amateur radio transmitter that permits tracking of the flight to its landing for recovery. Most flights use an Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS) tracker which gets its position from a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver and converts it to a digital radio transmission.

Picture taken at approx. 100,000 feet above Oregon by Justin Hamel and Chris Tho

D-STAR (Digital Smart Technologies for Amateur Radio)- • D-STAR is a digital voice and data protocol specification for amateur

radio. The system uses frequency-division multiple access and minimum-shift keying in its packet-based standard. There are newer digital modes (Codec2 for example) that have been adapted for use by amateurs, but D-STAR was the first that was designed specifically for amateur radio.• Several advantages of using digital voice modes are that it uses

less bandwidth than older analog voice modes such as amplitude modulation, frequency modulation, and single sideband. The quality of the data received is also better than an analog signal at the same signal strength.

Internet via Ham Radio

• It is possible to build a repeater network that allows HAMs to access the internet through a HAM Radio. In fact, during emergency situations HAM Radios can be used quite successfully to send email, data, and documents when all other forms of communication have gone down.• Even before the internet, Ham radio operators were using an internet of

their own called Packet Radio. Packet Radio allows Hams to send files, update bulletin board systems, send text messages and even control remote systems and networks via their radios.• Today, through worldwide radio messaging systems like D-Star and Winlink,

Ham Radio operators can send email with attachments, send emergency relief communications and message relays, and even access the internet.

Echo-Link• This software allows licensed Amateur Radio stations to communicate

with one another over the Internet, using streaming-audio technology. • The program allows worldwide connections to be made between

stations, or from computer to station, greatly enhancing Amateur Radio's communications capabilities. • There are more than 200,000 validated users worldwide — in 151 of

the world's 193 nations — with about 5,200 online at any given time.

HamShield lets you transmit voice and data over FM on amateur radio bands (144/220/440) and has wideband transceiving coverage: 136-170MHz, 200-260MHz, 400-520MHz. HamShield is an open hardware project.HamShield is a FM voice and data transceiver Arduino shield for three amateur radio bands (144MHz, 220MHz, and 440MHz) with wideband transcieving capability across 136-170MHz, 200-260MHz, 400-520MHz. It connects the FM transceiver to the ADC and PWM lines (filtered) and also features a TRRS jack for use with a smartphone headset.The HamShield also can operate at low power. We have used a 2.5 watt solar panel (4.5" x 7") to power the HamShield while transmitting a test morse code signal. You could easily build a solar powered packet radio station with a similar setup.