Foundations of Amateur Radio

Recently I was asked: "What do you know now that you would have liked to have known when you started in amateur radio?"

The hobby of amateur radio is one filled with generosity. Extreme forms of it. People go out of their way to help, to explain, to loan equipment, to help out, to repair stuff and to participate. In the past I've spoken about the negative aspects of this hobby as well. Belligerence, the warlike aggressively hostile nature of individuals and groups in amateur radio is like nothing I've ever encountered elsewhere, and it needs to be acknowledged.

In many ways amateur radio is about extremes, generosity against belligerence, very polarising, confusing and challenging.

That said, amateur radio is a hobby like no other.

It sits in a field of exploration, of discovery, of invention, challenge and experimentation. Amateur radio navigates between scientific and empirical learning. It's regulated to encourage research and at the same time encourages new entrants into the field with a weekend course. The range between learner and professional embodies the amateur radio community.

One of the things that caught me by surprise about amateur radio is that nothing is set in stone. You would think with a field based around physics that would not be the case, but given the vast range of variables at play, often "suck it and see" is a perfectly valid way of finding out if something works. I'd hazard a guess that the most frustrating part of asking a question as a new amateur is the answer: "Try it and find out."

In 1920 H.L. Mencken said: "there is always a well-known solution to every human problem - neat, plausible, and wrong".

With that in mind be sceptical if an amateur gives you the definitive answer on how to do something. Often the number of variables is infinite and your situation is subtly different from theirs. In that context, the answer "Try it and find out." is perfectly valid, frustrating as it is.

I started in this hobby just over seven years ago and since then I've continued to collect what I think of as puzzle pieces, bits of information that I carry around. For example, a dit is the letter e because it's the most common letter in the English language. Voltage equals current times resistance. You need a carrier to measure the standing wave ratio. Remember to bring the head unit connecting cable when you go into the field.

There are thousands of bits of information like that floating in my head. When two collide, I gain some knowledge. The most recent example of that was my explanation on how you could use the offset within a side-band signal to determine if a radio was on the correct frequency. It took a while for me to understand it enough to explain it and when I could, I did.

For example, right now I'm working through the various types of decibel. You might have thought of a decibel as a particular unit, but actually there is more than one. The deeper you dig, the more crazy it gets. For example, the definition of a decibel in relation to sound appears to exist within an ISO standard, but you can't get that standard unless you buy it. Seriously, a physical standard that you have to buy in order to know what it is.

Another example is the definition of the Ampere, which involves infinite length wire and the force between them. The mind goes cross-eyed thinking about how to calibrate an ammeter.

So, to answer the question: "What do you know now that you would have liked to have known when you started in amateur radio?"

It's complicated. It's challenging and it's like nothing else. Find your own way, talk to people, ask questions and be prepared to be amazed and annoyed at the same time.

One final comment, amateur radio has its share of "Mostly Harmless" crocodiles, all mouth and no ears, but the overall apt description that comes to mind to describe this fascinating community is "generous and welcoming".

I'm Onno VK6FLAB