H. Ward Silver - Ham Radio For Dummies

Ham Radio For Dummies, 2nd Edition

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Copyright 2013 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey

Published simultaneously in Canada

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2013938107

ISBN 978-1-118-59211-3 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-118-59220-5 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-59204-5 (ebk)

Manufactured in the United States of America

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Introduction

Y ou may have come across ham radio in any number of ways. Maybe you browsed a website that has some ham radio content, such as a project on a do-it-yourself website or in a YouTube video. Hams also play key roles in movies such as Contact and on television series such as Last Man Standing, in which Tim Allen plays a ham who has stations in his basement and at work. Several cartoon characters on The Simpsons are hams, too! Youll discover hams and ham radio by reading about them in newspaper and magazine articles, by seeing them in action performing emergency communications services, by interacting with a teacher or professor, or maybe by talking to a friend or relative who enjoys the hobby. Interestingly enough, ham radio has room for all these activities. Ham radio includes a mad scientist or two, but most hams are just like you.

The traditional image of ham radio is of a room full of vacuum tubes, gears, flickering needles, and Morse code equipment, but todays hams have many more options to try. Although the traditional shortwave bands are certainly crowded with ham signals hopping around the planet, hams now transmit data and pictures through the airwaves; use the Internet, lasers, and microwave transmitters; and travel to unusual places high and low to make contact, even to and from the International Space Station.

Simply stated, ham radio provides the broadest and most powerful wireless communications capability available to any private citizen anywhere in the world. Because the worlds citizens are craving ever-closer contact and hands-on experiences with technology of all sorts, ham radio is attracting attention from people like you. The hobby has never had more to offer and shows no sign of slowing its expansion into new wireless technologies. (Did I say wireless? Think extreme wireless!)

About This Book

I wrote Ham Radio For Dummies, 2nd Edition, for beginning hams. If youve just become interested in ham radio, youll find plenty of information here on what the hobby is all about and how to go about joining the fun by discovering the basics and getting a license. Many books about ham radios technical and operating specialties are available, but this book introduces them briefly so you can get up to speed as quickly as possible.

If youve already received your license, congratulations! This book helps you change from a listener to a doer. Any new hobby, particularly a technical one, can be intimidating to newcomers. By keeping Ham Radio For Dummies handy in your radio shack, youll be able to quickly understand what you hear on the airwaves. I cover the basics of getting a station put together properly and the fundamentals of on-the-air behavior. Use this book as your personal radio buddy, and soon, youll be making contacts with confidence.

You can read this book in any order. Feel free to browse and flip through the pages to any section that catches your interest. The sidebars and icons are there to support the main story of each chapter, but you can skip them and come back to them later.

The book has five parts. Parts I and II are for readers who are getting interested in ham radio and preparing to get a license. Parts III and IV explain how to set up a station, get on the air, and make contact with other hams. Part V is the Part of Tens (familiar to all For Dummies readers), which presents a few tips and secrets of ham radio. The appendixes consist of an extensive glossary and a long list of excellent references both online and off for you to use as you branch out and expand your ham radio career.

Within this book, you may note that some web addresses break across two lines of text. If youre reading this book in print and want to visit one of these web pages, simply key in the address exactly as its noted in the text, pretending that the line break doesnt exist. If youre reading this book as an e-book, youve got it easy; just click the web address to be taken directly to the web page.

Foolish Assumptions

In writing this book, I made some assumptions about you. You dont have to know a single thing about ham radio or its technology to enjoy Ham Radio For Dummies, 2nd Edition, and you definitely dont need to be an electrical engineer to enjoy this book.