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H.F. Amateur Radio (1.8 Mhz - 30 Mhz)
Nobody knows when Amateur Radio operators were first called "hams," but we do know that Amateur Radio is as old as the history of radio itself. Not long after Guglielmo Marconi, an Italian experimenter, transmitted the Morse Code letter "s" from Newfoundland to England in 1901, amateur experimenters throughout the world were trying out the capabilities of the first "spark gap" transmitters. In 1912 Congress passed the first laws regulating radio transmissions in the U.S. By 1914, Amateur experimenters were communicating nation-wide, and setting up a system to relay messages from coast to coast (whence the name American Radio Relay League). In 1927, the FCC was created by Congress and specific frequencies were assigned for various uses, including ham bands. Although the main purpose of Amateur Radio is
fun, it is called the "Amateur Radio Service" because it also has a serious
face. The FCC created this "Service" to fill the need for a pool of experts who
could provide backup emergency communications. In addition, the FCC acknowledged
the ability of the hobby to advance the communication and technical skills of
radio, and to enhance international goodwill. This philosophy has paid off.
Countless lives have been saved where skilled hobbyists act as emergency
communicators to render aid, whether it's an earthquake in Italy, a flood in
India or a hurricane in the U.S. |
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