How Ham Radio Works ?

Amateur Radio (ham radio) is a popular hobby and service that brings people, electronics and communication together.


In general, radio communications is a pretty complicated subject; one that can hardly be covered in a single article. That being said, I want to answer some of the most common questions  about Ham Radio.

We often receive questions like: “Why do I need Ham Radio when I have a cell phone?” or “Didn’t the internet kill Ham Radio?” While these modern forms of communication may have shifted the attention away from Ham Radio, by no means did it make it unnecessary. In fact, during a disaster, it’s very likely that these modern forms of communication will be the first ones to fail.

When all other forms of communication fail, Hams are often the ones who are called upon to help communicate in and out of the disaster zone.

When the grid goes down, the Ham Bands will still be alive and very active.

How can ham radio contribute to my emergency plan?

Your radio can be a lifeline, whether you're helping others, or you're the one in need of help. This can apply to walkie-talkies, satellite phone, CB radio, and broadcast radio, as well as ham radio. 

Many of us hams, however, participate in periodic nets, in which we practice contacting each other by ham radio in an organized and regulated manner. Through this and other training, we learn how to communicate effectively and efficiently, to become familiar with our equipment and how to jump into action during a moment of crisis.

There are so many different activities in amateur radio that it’s tough to make a comprehensive list. Some hams concentrate on one or two activities exclusively, while others prefer to sample the entire buffet. Here’s a brief list of just some of the things that hams are doing. 

FM and Repeaters FM (frequency modulation) first became popular among amateur radio operators in the late 60’s and early 70’s. Using small VHF and/or UHF FM rigs, including handhelds, hams can communicate over moderate distances by passing their transmit signals through repeater stations. 

The good voice quality and static immunity of this mode, combined with the relatively low cost of equipment, the ready availability of repeaters, and the fact that virtually all repeaters are on frequencies accessible to Technician class licensees, makes FM a natural first operating mode for many a new ham. 

AM Operation When hams first started using voice communication back in the Cretaceous Period, amplitude modulation, or AM, was the mode they used. 

The voice quality of AM is very good; unfortunately, AM has a relatively wide bandwidth (i.e., it takes up a significant amount of space on the band) and is somewhat wasteful of power, and for those reasons has dropped greatly in popularity over the years. 

CW Operation The earliest form of amateur radio communication, CW, or continuous waves , is the sending and receiving of Morse code. At one time this mode was so dominant in ham radio, and Morse code skills so essential, that Morse sending and receiving tests were part of the amateur radio exams. 

While Morse testing is no longer required, many hams continue to operate CW, for several reasons:  CW is a fairly efficient mode, in that you can communicate over long distances with relatively· modest power output and so-so antennas.