Long before the Internet, dedicated hobbyists developed their own world wide web of amateur radio stations. Often using gear they had built themselves,
these radio amateurs — or hams — visited, exchanged
information, passed along vital communications, and
helped out in countless emergencies. Hams have contributed to fields of research as diverse as antenna theory,
sunspot activity, atmospheric conditions, rocketry, and
satellite communications.
Starting out in ham radio can be fun, but — as with
any high tech hobby — there are plenty of hurdles to overcome. Ward Silver’s new book, Ham Radio for
Dummies, published by Wiley, offers a well-written and
friendly guide to starting and growing your new hobby of
amateur radio.
Ward, known by his ham call sign N0AX, draws on his
decades-long ham career to explain the many aspects of
ham radio, demystify the licensing process, and describe
how to build and operate your own ham shack. His education as an electronics engineer provides the base
for the technical material in the book. He is also a
contributing editor and columnist for QST — a popular monthly ham radio magazine — and his writing
skills go a long way in making this book easy
to read.
The first section of the book introduces you to the
ham radio hobby. The material here provides an
overview of the hobby, not the fine details. You get a
general description of a ham shack; much more detail
appears in later sections.
Similarly, Ward devotes a few pages to topics such as
radio fundamentals, basic gadgetry, how to make contact
with others over ham radio, ham contests, and organizations dedicated to ham radio.
The second section gets down to the serious business of preparing for your ham radio exam. Operating
a ham radio station requires an amateur radio license,
which must be earned by passing an examination by
the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
There are several levels of licenses available, with
SEPTEMBER 2004
by Karl Lunt
increasing privileges granted to those passing the more
difficult tests. Ward spells out the different requirements
and privileges of the Technician, General, and Amateur
Extra Class Licenses. He follows this with excellent
material on preparing for the exam and what to expect on
exam day.
Once you earn your ham radio license, you are
ready to move to the third section of the book, where
Ward delves into the culture and vocabulary particular to
ham radio. Bagging a QSO (making a radio contact)
requires several skills — including patience and knowledge of how the different radio bands behave. Distant
QSOs can really test your technical abilities and Ward
provides pages of tips for working the different ham
bands.
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