Michael's Amateur Radio Pages

When I tell people in general that I am an amateur radio operator, often what I get at first is a blank look. Not to mention when I use that radio equipment to talk to other amateurs in public... A lot of people are familiar with the idea of specific groups having access to two-way radios to talk to others within the same group, like a police officer making a call for reinforcements. But a civilian? And what does all that talk about QTH, QRV and Age-I mean?

Amateur radio is a hobby, much like photography or collecting stamps. Indeed many hams (as amateur radio operators are often called, for reasons long forgotten) do something akin to collecting stamps: they collect countries. Some countries, like the one they are in, are easy to contact. Other countries are more difficult, like North Korea (which is one of the few countries in the world that have no licensed radio amateurs). Those who have contacted a certain number of countries (or parts of a country, or made a certain number of contacts, among many other criteria) can apply for a wide variety of awards. In order to prove that they have made the required contacts, hams often use so-called QSL cards. QSL is an old telegraphy abbreviation that means I confirm receipt, and in this sense what is being confirmed is that a contact has taken place. My own QSL card, shown to the right, will have to serve as an example; some day I hope to get to scan in the cards I have, but that will have to come later. See my QSL policy if you would like one.

The major difference between amateur radio and many other recreational endeavours is the sheer breadth of the hobby. In photography, all you can do is make photographs. Granted, there is a lot of ground to be covered there too, but it still puts some rather serious limits to what you can do if you wish to do photographing. Amateur radio, on the other hand, encompasses many different endeavours: you can chew the rag (just passing time talking to someone about a shared interest, like computers or playing a musical instrument), or take part in national or international contests, or build your own radio equipment (transmitters, receivers, power amplifiers, antennas, and a number of other parts that make up a complete two-way radio station). While using it, you can make use of natural phenomena like high-frequency radio signals being bent back towards Earth by the upper layers of the atmosphere (the ionosphere, to be exact), or use terrestrial or spaceborne repeater stations, or just plain old line of sight communications with no real spectacles at all. Or, you can bounce signals off the Earth's only natural satellite, the moon. All of these activities and more are practiced by radio amateurs world-wide, today, every day.

Personally, I like to chat with others on the radio, be it for a minute or for several hours. I am also active in contests from time to time and it has happened that I put together some station equipment of my own. I am also active in the local amateur radio club, trying to take part in as many activities as possible, be it to help out or as a visitor. More recently, it has often ended up being both.

Recently, new regulations for Swedish amateur radio stations were proposed by our governing agency, PTS. The major differences are the removal of the Morse code proficiency requirement (for access to the short, medium and long wave amateur bands) and the introduction of two new prefix series (SA and SB, in addition to SM) for individual amateurs, although other differences exist. The comment period ended March 12, 2004, and the current regulations are also on my web site, but neither in an English translation, sorry.