What is Ham Radio?
Ham Radio is just another name for Amateur Radio.
What is Amateur Radio?
Amateur Radio is a Hobby, and it’s a Service.
Hobby
As a Hobby, Amateur Radio is the hobby of a thousand hobbies! You can take Amateur Radio with you in your car, on your boat, hiking up a mountain, to a park – the possibilities are endless. You can build your own antennas and radios, or buy them commercially manufactured. You can talk with other hams across town, around the world, or even in space. You can communicate using Morse Code, Voice, Video or Digital (like texting on your phone). You can bounce signals off the ionosphere around the world, or communicate via Satellites. Just want to make new friends and talk – you can do that. Feeling more competitive? There are contests almost every weekend.
Service
As a Service, Amateur Radio provides valuable communications at Public Service events such as Parades, Road Races and County Fairs, and Emergency Communications during events such as Weather and Natural Disasters.
More Info
The ARRL (American Radio Relay League) has an excellent write-up on Ham Radio.
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