Ham Radio

Amateur (Ham ) Radio

For the unacquainted	My "Shack"	Getting Started
Links		CB Radio
Cap Bomb

KC9SNB

     I have, been coasting along with a technician class ham license, the lowest grade of ham, but it's a start. With this rating, I am mostly limited to the "Local" VHF frequencies, and am, mainly on 2 meter, at the moment. Technicians have very limited privileges on HF, and are usually confined to CW (Except on 10 meter). Needless to say, I am studying for my general license. I am a big fan of short-wave, CB radio, police, and air band scanners. The addition of the more sophisticated, powerful, and long range gear available to the licensed ham should greatly enhance some of my boating and outdoor activities. This section should grow a bit after I upgrade my license. In the meantime, I have provided some links, and set down some of what little I know. I do eventually want to put up some frequency charts, and try to give a better idea of the rewards of this fascinating hobby.
     Notice the gentleman ham operator to the right. He is wearing a tie, and sitting in his comfy chair. It is after work, and he is about to relax with a beer, kindly brought in by his wife. It just shows you how times have changed. This is not how I operate my ham radios. For one thing, most of my operations take place in the wee hours of the morning, and I tend to be bleary eyed, unshaven, and slouching at the mike in front of my desk. I do not wear a tie. Sometimes I do not wear pants. Amateur radio is a hobby that you can enjoy in your underwear. It is also a great hobby for middle aged guys like myself, because it can largely be done while sitting down, and requires no great physical strength or stamina - though it is amazing how long some guys can talk without having to take a breath.
     While I have poked a little fun, the picture is accurate in a couple of respects. Ham radio operators tend to be gracious, helpful, and responsible. Most are conservative, intelligent, and technical or professional. The hobby draws a large number of engineers and technicians. Sadly, they also tend to be older. There are not a large number of younger people in the hobby at the moment. There is a traditional, even old fashioned, aspect to the hobby. This may be part of its draw.
     Gentlemen of the airwaves existed in the twenties, thirties and forties. Radios were developed by men who wore suits to work and labored in workrooms filled with brass and wood. When working a difficult problem, these men rolled up their sleeves and went to work. These days, there are no sleeves to roll up, as we all go to work in polo shirts, sweats or scrubs. Ocean liners had wireless rooms were highly trained operators kept contact with civilization from the far parts of the Earth.
     Today, everyone is involved with computers, and there is little elegance about it. A computer is a plastic box, containing electronics about which most users know little to nothing. Where ham operators were always tweaking, adjusting, rebuilding, or enhancing, most computer hobbyists are not technically astute. Though amateur radios operators call themselves ham radio operators, none would suffer the indignity fo being referred to as a hacker. The whole hacker and computer hobby culture is very much a thing of the late seventies and early eighties.
     Though I have been a computer hobbyist for decades, I have to admit that the computer version of the photo above would consist of a younger guy in a sloppy t-shirt, unshaven and surrounded by junk food, in the midst of a cluttered room. His girlfriend (or possibly his mother) would be bringing him another two liter bottle of Mountain Dew. Instead of maps and contact cards on the walls, there would be Star Trek posters. He would be in his 18th straight hour of on-line gaming, and will probably call in sick for work again.
    The table below shows some, but by no means all, of the frequencies available. The ranges given are not allowed to all users. Transmission on some frequencies, or in some modes, may require the General, or Extra ratings. I have not shown the extremely high frequency ranges, since most hams do not use them, and I am not yet certain what their ranges or limitations are. I also have not listed power levels for VHF and UHF, because they are often determined by region or area. I plan on going into more detail on these as I add to my knowledge. In the meantime, I direct the curious to my links section. A very good general guide to the frequencies available and the types of emissions allowed is at http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Hambands_color.pdf .

The ham bands (and some other services)

Band	Frequencies	Power allowed	Modes Used	Usage
13 cm	2.3ghz -2.45ghz			local
23 cm	1.24ghz- 1.3ghz			local
33cm	902mhz-928mhz		AM,SSB,FM,voice,cw,fstv	Local
70cm**	420mhz-450mhz		AM,SSB,FM,voice,cw	Local
1.25 meter	219mhz-225mhz			local
2 meter**	144mhz-148mhz		AM,SSB,FM,voice,cw,digital,sattelite	Local
4 meter	70mhz-70.5mhz		Not a US ham band	local
6 meter**	50mhz-54mhz		AM,SSB,FM,voice,cw	Local, DX
10 meter**	28.0mhz-29.7mhz	2kw	AM,SSB,voice,cw,sstv,fax	Local, DX
12 meter**	24.89mhz-24.99mhz	2kw	AM,SSB,voice,cw,sstv,fax	Local, DX
15 meter**	21.0mhz-21.450mhz	2kw	AM,SSB,voice,cw,sstv,fax	Local, DX
17 meter**	18.068mhz-18.168mhz	2kw	AM,SSB,voice,cw,sstv,fax	Local, DX
20 meter**	14.0mhz-14.35mhz	2kw	AM,SSB,voice,cw,sstv,fax	Local, LR, DX
30 meter**	10.1mhz-10.15mhz	200 watts	AM,SSB,voice,cw,sstv,fax	Local, LR, DX
40 meter**	7.0mhz-7.3mhz	2kw	AM,SSB,voice,cw,sstv,fax	Local, LR, DX
60 meter**	5.3mhz -5.4mhz	50 watts	USB	Local, LR, DX
75/80 meter**	3.5mhz-4.0mhz	2kw	AM,SSB,voice,cw,sstv,fax	LR
160 meter**	1.8mhz-2.0mhz	2kw	AM,SSB,voice,cw,sstv,fax	LR
11 meter** (CB)	26.965-27.405 mhz	4watts(am)12watts(SSB)	AM, SSB voice	Local (CB radio)
FRS**	462.5625-467.7125mhz	500mw (FM)	FM voice	Local, short range
AM Radio	.530mhz-1.7mhz	250w to 50kw	AM voice	Local,LR,DX
FM Radio	88.1mhz-107.9mhz	6kw-100kw	FM voice	Local
Television (VHF)	54mhz-216mhz		FM fstv	Local
Television (UHF)	470mhz-806mhz		FM fstv	Local
GMRS	460mhz	5 - 50 watts	FM	Local
MURS	151.82 - 154.6 mhz	2 watts	FM voice Data	Local
The Shortwave Bands
90 Meter (3.2-3.4)	144 feet (A)	31 Meter (9.4-9.9)	48 feet (A)
75 Meter (3.9-4.0)	118 feet (B)	25 Meter(11.6-12.1)	39' 6" (B)
60 Meter(4.75-5.06)	91 feet (C)	19 Meter (15.1-15.8)	30' 6" (C)
49 Meter (5.9-6.2)	79 feet	16 Meter (17.48-17.9)	24 feet
41 Meter(7.2-7.45)	65 feet	13 Meter	19 feet
Marine Radiotelephone (SSB)
150 meters	2.0 MHz - 2.9999 MHz		LSB,voice,cw,fax	LR, DX
75 meters	4.0 MHz - 4.9999 MHz		LSB,voice,cw,fax	LR, DX
50 meters	6.0 MHz - 6.9999 MHz		LSB,voice,cw,fax	LR, DX
37 meters	8.0 MHz - 8.9999 MHz		LSB,voice,cw,fax	LR, DX
25 meters	12.0 MHz - 13.9999 MHz		LSB,voice,cw,fax	LR, DX
18 meters	16.0 MHz - 17.9999 MHz		LSB,voice,cw,fax	LR, DX
14 meter	22.0 MHz - 22.9999 MHz		LSB,voice,cw,fax	LR, DX
Marine VHF
1.75 meters	156 MHz - 174 MHz	25 watts	FM voice	Local

The Citizens Band Services

Some of the Citizen's Band Radio Services can be confusing. They go by discreet channels, rather than being tunable by frequencies. The table below shows the channels and power levels allowed. GMRS, and FRS, are particularly confusing, due to the sharing of some frequencies, and the split channel operation of part of the GMRS. You might note that FRS/GMRS are rather near the 70cm amateur frequencies, while CB is rather near the amateur 10 meter frequencies, and MUR is rather near the 2 meter ham frequencies. It is possible, and sometimes legal, to extend the range of some amateur radios and use them with these other services. IN the golden age of CB radio, many users would set up amateur 10 meter radios, or 10 meter linear amplifiers to use far more than the maximum legal power allowed on CB.

Service	Channels	Mode	Power
GMRS	Split Frequencies Designator Lower Frequency Upper Frequency "550" 462.550 MHz 467.550 MHz "575" 462.575 MHz 467.575 MHz "600" 462.600 MHz 467.600 MHz "625" 462.625 MHz 467.625 MHz "650" 462.650 MHz 467.650 MHz "675" 462.675 MHz 467.675 MHz "700" 462.700 MHz 467.700 MHz "725" 462.725 MHz 467.725 MHz Simplex Frequencies Designator Frequency "5625" or "FRS 1" 462.5625 MHz "5875" or "FRS 2" 462.5875 MHz "6125" or "FRS 3" 462.6125 MHz "6375" or "FRS 4" 462.6375 MHz "6625" or "FRS 5" 462.6625 MHz "6875" or "FRS 6" 462.6875 MHz "7125" or "FRS 7" 462.7125 MHz	FM Voice	5 to 50 watts License
MURS	151.820 MHz 151.880 MHz 151.940 MHz 154.570 MHz 154.600 MHz	FM Voice, Data	2 watts No License
FRS	1. 462.5625 2. 462.5875 3. 462.6125 4. 462.6375 5. 462.6625 6. 462.6875 7. 462.7125 8. 467.5625 9. 467.5875 10. 467.6125 11. 467.6375 12. 467.6625 13. 467.6875 14. 467.7125	FM Voice	500mw No License
Classic Citizens band (CB)	1. 26.965 15. 27.135 28. 27.285 2. 26.975 16. 27.155 29. 27.295 3. 26.985 17. 27.165 30. 27.305 4. 27.005 18. 27.175 31. 27.315 5. 27.015 19. 27.185 32. 27.325 6. 27.025 20. 27.205 33. 27.335 7. 27.035 21. 27.215 34. 27.345 8. 27.055 22. 27.225 35. 27.355 9. 27.065 23. 27.255 36. 27.365 10. 27.075 24. 27.235 37. 27.375 11. 27.085 25. 27.245 38. 27.385 12. 27.105 26. 27.265 39. 27.395 13. 27.115 27. 27.275 40. 27.405 14. 27.125	AM, SSB, Voice	4 Watt 12 Watt P.E.P.