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| Yaesu FT-1802, one of the best 2 Meter rigs money can buy. |
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| Yaesu FT-890AT, my favorite HF radio ever made. |
Something I have noticed is the misunderstanding of HAM radio. People seem to think the hobby is for mouth breathing nerds who think they're radio DJ's with no life. While, sadly, this is half true for most of the HAM radio community, it's also a service to the community.
Many HAM radio operators are the first to respond in times of emergency and disaster. Radio waves are not dependent on existing infrastructure such as phone lines and cell towers. In the event of major power outages. HAM radios are easily converted to battery power. I can have my radios running on car batteries in 5 minutes with no preparation. In major disasters such as Haiti, entire portions of the HF bands were reserved for emergency radio traffic. Many operators within the US act as middle men, forwarding messages to stations that were otherwise unreachable by the original station. Organizations such as REACT often perform drills and volunteer for local events such as parades, festivals, and other major events and also act as communications and support in the event of a major disaster.
With that said, in the event of a major natural disaster in your hometown, look for the HAMs! They can still talk to the outside world.
who listens to radio these days though?
ReplyDeleteWell, it's not your average FM radio you have in your car. HAM radio operators talk to other operators over the air. In an emergency, they coordinate aid and resources and are the only source to an outside world.
ReplyDeletelol @ the neighbors complaining about the "dangers of radiowaves"
ReplyDeletelol the radiowaves. Loads of people listen to HAM and pirate music stations are going strong in the uk as well - people love to communicate and connect over the air
ReplyDeleteGreat post! Was a really good read! thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeletethat was a very good read!
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed this post, definitely learned something. Can't wait to see what you come up with next.
ReplyDeleteI have never met a radio geek. o.O
ReplyDeleteI listen only to online radios
ReplyDeleteI was once too on the edge to become a geek with this stuff. ^^'
ReplyDeletei love these radios
ReplyDeletei used to love messing with these radios
ReplyDeleteWhen I was youngh I used to play with the old resistor-radio of my grandmother. You could digitally tune to any frequency you wanted to. I never realised how much loud crap there actually is travelling through the skies. Be lucky you can't hear it!
ReplyDeletehaha i love screwing around with these, we used to do it at cadets
ReplyDeletefollowed
My dad is a ham operator :3
ReplyDeleteAll those buttons and stuff, too complicated for me!
ReplyDelete;D
Lol at the neighbors. You should give them routers and a prepaid cell phone for christmas :D
ReplyDeleteI always thought it would be good to have a HAM radio handy, but I never really got into is. Is there some kind of introductory book or something that you can recommend?
ReplyDelete