What Does an Amateur Radio Operator Do?
When you come across the term amateur or ham radio operator, youre likely to conjure up images of a retired neighbor with a giant beam antenna making nighttime calls via HF radio with like-minded individuals hundreds of miles away. However, amateur radio operators do much more; for instance, youll find them operating land mobile radio repeaters, wireless Internet connections, and video links.
Why Are Amateur Radio Transceivers Still Important?
Its true that the smartphone can serve as a calendar, alarm, watch, portable music player, daily planner, and even your computer. Better yet, it is at our fingertips. With the internet, satellite cable and the smart computers at our disposal, and its become almost hard to imagine situations where these might not work, such as in times of extreme, inclement weather. Here are some of the reasons why transceivers are still important to you:
- Being aware of local emergencies: Knowing about a local emergency can often mean a lot. But finding out about them in time can be hard. TV news is usually slow to report on events at times, and social media can be a cesspit of hoaxes and misinformation. Ham Radio is different. Its both fast and reliable. Youll be hearing about events from people who live near where theyre taking place or are witnessing it from their automobiles, as many ham operators carry in-car handsets such as Yaesu ham radio. In addition, many government agencies use the same UHF and VHF frequencies amateur radio equipment picks up in order to let people know about disaster and extreme weather situations.
- Staying connected when disaster strikes: When disasters happen, they cause an unfathomable amount of damage to the infrastructure. Homes are left without power for weeks, and communications are severely disrupted. However, with a Ham amateur radio, your local community and around the world using an HF transceiver which transmits on all the amateur bands from 1.8 MHz, 28 MHz, and 50 MHz.
What is the Difference between a CB Radio and a 2-Way Radio?
- CB (Citizens Band) radios: These appear primarily in vehicles for communicating with other mobile radios, or for communicating with a home-based unit. Most CBs aim to be connect to an external antenna, which can offer range far greater than that of a 2- way radio.
- 2-Way or walkie-talkie radios: These are usually handheld and can be extremely compact in size. This allows them to work as portable radios without the necessary need for an external antenna.
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