Foundations of Amateur Radio

One of the many vexing issues associated with getting on-air and making noise is actually making that happen.

So, let's look at a completely restricted environment. An apartment building, seven stories off the ground, no ability to make holes, an unsympathetic council, restrictive local home owners association, et cetera, et cetera.

On the face of it your amateur radio hobby is doomed from the start.

In reality, it's only just beginning.

So, to hear HF right now, today, you can go online and listen to a plethora of web-based software defined radios. There's the canonical WebSDR in Twente and a whole host of others using the same or similar software. There's KiwiSDR, AirSpy, Global Tuners, and many more.

This will give you countless radios to play with, coverage across the globe, the ability to compare signals from different receivers at the same time on the same frequency, the ability to decode digital modes, find propagation, learn about how contests are done, the sky's the limit. I'll add that you don't need an amateur license for many of these resources, so if you're considering becoming part of the community of radio amateurs, this is a great way to dip your toe in the water. Think of it as a short-wave listening experience on steroids.

I hear you say, but that's not amateur radio.

To that I say, actually, it is. It's everything except a physical antenna at your shack or the ability to transmit.

Permit me a digression to the higher bands. If you want to listen to local repeaters on UHF and VHF, listen to DMR and Brandmeister, you'll find plenty of online resources as well. You can often use a hand-held radio to connect to a local repeater which can get you onto the global Echolink, IRLP and AllStar networks. Failing that, there's phone apps to make that connection instead.

Of course if you want to expand your repertoire to transmission, beyond a hand-held, you can.

There are online transmitters as well. Many clubs have their club station available for amateurs to use remotely using a tool like Remote Hams. You'll get access to a radio that's able to transmit and you'll be able to make contacts, even do digital modes and contests. You will require an amateur license and access to such a station. Some clubs will require that you pay towards the running of such a service and often you'll need to be a member.

Then there's actually going to the club, you know, physically, going to the club shack and twiddling physical knobs, though for plenty of clubs that's now also a computer since they're adopting software defined radios just like the rest of the community is. Using a radio via a computer can be achieved directly in the shack, but there's no reason to stay on-site. You can often use these radios from the comfort of your own shack.

If you do want to get physical with your own gear, receiving is pretty simple. A radio with a wire attached to it will get you listening to the local environment. I have for example a Raspberry Pi connected to an RTL-SDR dongle that's connected to a wire antenna in my shack. It's listening across the bands 24/7 and reporting on what it hears.

If you want to use an actual transceiver and you don't have the ability to set-up an antenna, kit out your car and go mobile. Failing that, make a go-kit with batteries, which as an aside will stand you in good stead during an emergency. Take your go-kit camping, or climbing, or hiking. Plenty of opportunities to get on-air and make noise.

I hear you asking, what about having an antenna farm?

Well, you can set one up in a farmers paddock and connect to it remotely - you will need permission from the land-owner - there's plenty of amateurs who use their country abode as a remote station.

If you want to make noise at your actual shack, the antenna might be a piece of wire hanging from the balcony after dark, or an antenna clamped to the railing. You can use a magnetic loop inside your house. Some enterprising amateurs have tuned up the gutters in their building, or made a flagpole vertical, or laid a coax antenna on the roof. Have a look for stealth antennas, there's a hundred years of amateurs facing the same problem.

My own station is very minimalist. There's literally a vertical antenna clamped to the steel patio. Using that I'm working the world with 5 Watts, 14,000 km on 10m, no kidding.

Getting on-air and making noise doesn't have to start and finish with a Yagi on a tower. There's plenty of other opportunities to be an active amateur.

I'm Onno VK6FLAB