Ham Radio?

So, are there any people on ATS/BTS that are Ham radio operators? I just recently passed my Element 2 exam and got a no-code technician lisence.

When I was fifteen living in Micronesia, I got a General (KC6UZ), which required Rules & Regulations, Theory, and 13 WPM in 1959 or 1960. There were still people who used the old mnemonic alphabet, and sometimes I would hear "King Charlie Six Uncle Zebra", rather than "Kilo Charlie Six Uniform Zulu".

There was only one FCC examiner in all of what was then the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands and he was my Dad. He wanted to make absolutely sure that no one could say he'd cut me any slack, so he made me send and receive at 21 WPM rather than the 13 that was the requirement.

Back then, of course, there were no satellite communications, no cell phones, and no international long distance to the remote parts of the Pacific; so MARS and AREC were important things for ham operators to do. Nowadays, it doesn't seem to be a big thing any more, and from what I hear, ham radio isn't all tha popular.

By the way, my old Dad had his Ham ticket for seventy straight years; he got it when he was fifteen in 1921 and kept it until he died in 1992.

Actually HAM radio is still popular around some circles, especially truckers it seems as lots of my fathers buddies have their license. I've also heard that some hospitals have radios for the HAM freqs so that in cases of emergency where phones may become unreliable there is a backup system for communication.

I was just discussing the idea of trying for my Technician or possibly General class license after the first of the year if the move to remove the code requirements is passed, so that I can communicate with my dad across the country and up into candada when he makes the long runs.

Have fun with your license Toxic Fox, it can be a fun hobby and a good way to meet intersting people.

The key thing about Ham Radio is, as mentioned, it's usefulness and versatility in emergnecy communications. Power lines can fail, towers can loose power, telephone circuits can become damaged or overloaded. Simplex radio communications is a lot harder to crack. There are also quite a few repeaters out there now that have backup power or even solar power that can operate in an emergency without grid power.

I'd like to get into Ham. I work with a guy that has his lisence and trying to get me in to it. He was telling me that you dont need a lisence to listen to transmitiions and that I can get software for the pc for listening.
I been searching for the listening software but alas I'm not sure of exacly what to look up.