Amateur radio. I mean, is that what truckers use to spot bears on their six?
Not quite. Most truckers actually use Citizens Band or CB radio, an unlicensed
set of channels set aside for use by the general public. Amateur Radio, also
known as ham radio, is a non-commercial
but licensed radio service which uses allocated frequencies that aren't being
used by things like AM and FM to allow
radio enthusiasts to provide emergency communications, improve their technical
skills, and enhance international goodwill by having discussions across
country borders about national snack foods or whatever the case may be. Now,
you may be wondering then, why is amateur radio still relevant when I can
just go on my computer and talk or play games with my friend across the border
like that? Well, believe it or not, even in 2016, there are over 700,000
licensed ham radio operators in the United States, over 1.2 million in
Japan, and an estimated combined 3
million worldwide. And part of the reason there's still a vibrant amateur
radio community is due to its simplicity
compared to things like the internet. Ham radio relies on no pre-established
communication grids and a simple radio can be made out of spare electronic
parts in a pinch. Not to mention that ham radio can be quite reliable compared
to some more modern forms of communication in times of crisis. For
example, during the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center, cell phone service
was overloaded and utterly crippled. So,
amateur radio operators helped victims contact their families and provided
communications for emergency personnel participating in search and rescue
operations. And while emergency communications is normally cited as a
primary reason for amateur radio, it's not by any means the only aspect of the
hobby. There are radio sport contests
where operators try to contact as many people as possible during a certain
period of time. Um, some operators enjoy
making a game out of making contacts
which they'll use to get different awards such as, you know, worked all US
states or worked all continents. And if
you operate on the high frequency spectrum in combination with a computer,
you can actually send digital signals including data packets. Amateur radio
has even found uses well above the Earth as astronauts aboard the International
Space Station are ham radio operators and occasionally use it to make contact
or send pictures. Other operators have moon bounce or EM and meteor scatter
setups where they bounce signals off the moon and meteors to make contacts around
the world repurposing space rocks as
satellites. Cool, right? I mean, not to
everyone, but to some people for sure. But whether you're sending signals into
outer space or just talking to someone down the street, the point is there's a
great deal of flexibility and fun in the ham radio hobby. And it can be, I mean,
like anything, it can get expensive, but it can be done quite affordably. Many
operators are running DIY setups consisting of Arduinos, Raspberry Pies,
and other microcontrollers. These can be utilized to build GPS trackers which are
placed in their cars or even high altitude balloons to transmit their
location through amateur radio. You can even rig up a ham to extend the range of
a drone if you find that your Wi-Fi connection just isn't powerful enough.
So, if any of this sounds intriguing and you're already sitting there coming up
with ways you would use an amateur radio license, getting a license is actually
relatively easy depending on which country you live in. So being in charge
of your own little radio station sounds appealing. Check it out. Just make sure
that you do have your license first as you don't want a dark suited Gman at
your door because you are making, you know, pirate radio broadcasts about how
much your ISP is ripping you off. Speaking of ISPs, don't you hate it when
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their site when you're over there. So, thanks for watching, guys. If you like the video, like it. If you disliked it,
dislike it. If you want to check out other channels, boom. If you want to comment with video suggestions for
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