Amateur radio, often called ham radio, is a hobby enjoyed by about 3 million people throughout the world. An amateur radio operator, also know as a ham or radio amateur, uses two-way radio equipment to communicate with other radio amateurs for public service, recreation and self-training.

History

---

Throughout its history, amateur radio enthusiasts have made significant contributions to science, engineering, industry, and social services. The economic and social benefit derived from research by amateur radio operators has founded new industries, built economies, empowered nations, and saved lives.

The birth of amateur radio and radio in general has mostly been historically associated with various experimenters. There are many contenders to being the inventor of radio, that honor has been disputed between not only the original experimenters, Heinrich Rudolf Hertz (1888), Nikola Tesla , and Guglielmo Marconi, but also Amos Dolbear, Reginald Fessenden, James Clerk Maxwell, Sir Oliver Lodge, Mahlon Loomis, Nathan Stubblefield, and Alexander Popov. In the beginning of 1895, Tesla was able to detect signals from the transmissions of his New York lab at West Point (a distance of 50 miles). Leland Anderson, "Nikola Tesla On His Work With Alternating Currents and Their Application to Wireless Telegraphy, Telephony, and Transmission of Power", Sun Publishing Company, LC 92-60482, ISBN 0-9632652-0-2 (ed. excerpts available online) Marconi demonstrated the transmission and reception of Morse Code based radio signals over a distance of 2 or more kilometres (and up to 6 kilometres) on Salisbury Plain in England in 1896. Marconi, by 1899, sent wireless messages across the English Channel and, according to his reports, the first transatlantic transmission (1902) . In the period following Marconi's experiments (1900-1908) many people throughout the world began experimenting with radio. Communications were made in Morse Code by use of spark gap transmitters or high frequency alternators. These first amateur radio operators are the roots of the modern international phenomenon of amateur radio.

More on [ Amateur radio ]

Amateur Radio - Twitter Search

Spectrum Defence Fund - Amateur radio news from the RSGB: http://bit.ly/5EpU00 via @addthis
Mikesndbs (Mikesndbs) Wed, 23 Dec 2009 21:28:51 -0000
Spectrum Defence Fund - Amateur radio news from the RSGB: http://bit.ly/5EpU00 via @addthis
RT @wa5ray Ham Radio Ireland - doing the test, becoming an Amateur Radio ...: I have decided to study for, and sit,... http://bit.ly/6A2jkO
twitirl (twitirl) Wed, 23 Dec 2009 18:34:32 -0000
RT @wa5ray Ham Radio Ireland - doing the test, becoming an Amateur Radio ...: I have decided to study for, and sit,... http://bit.ly/6A2jkO
Southgate Amateur Radio News | Essex CW Amateur Radio Club: The Essex CW Amateur Radio Club is a new club for anyon... http://bit. Subscribe to Amateur_Radio RSS feed