I'm not going to "nerd out" on ya'll too much and get down the weeds of the technical end of it. Maybe one day I'll write a post or story on the more technical side of things but today's story is not about the how, but the why. Not just my "why" but quite a few other's. Besides, I'm still very new to Amateur Radio having only had a license to operate and call sign (KN4HPJ) since November of 2017. There is so much I am just now starting to understand, that I don't want to make a fool out of myself.
My story of why started out as a kind growing up around Citizen's Band (CB) radios and being into talking on the radio as a teen. We had a base station at home and in our trucks. There where no cell phones, so CB was a great way for us to communicate. I made some of the best life long friends though radio back then. (see my past blog "The Man in the Middle) I like so many folks moved away from radio with the proliferation of new tech like cell phones and the internet. The fascination of using this form of communication never really left me and I have always known folks into Ham Radio and have always wanted to learn more and that started this journey. The fact I have been around VHF and UHF radios for the past 30 years in my job with EMS and Volunteering with Fire and Rescue has just helped fuel the fire to learn more.
This past June, one of the biggest weekends of the year for Amateur Radio Operators was held. The annual event is call "Field Day." To put it simply, Field Day is a weekend where Ham Operators all over the US take their skills out of their homes and operate in conditions that would simulate operating under adverse conditions. Ham Radio has long been known as the only line of communications that would still be operating if the entire grid and conventional communications went down due to some disaster. The idea is to make as many contacts from across the country as you can on as many different radio bands as you can in 24 hours. Hams also take this opportunity to showcase their equipment and skills in different modes of communications. The event is open to the public and to my surprise, there were quite a few visitors young and old alike that showed genuine interest in what we were doing. I was able to participate in this event and learned more than I ever thought I would. A good bit of what I learned was technical in nature. I learned more about the different modes I have not had much experience with like CW ( Continuous Wave or morse code) and the many newer digital modes. I learned how to send information and emails over the airways without the internet using only a computer and a radio. To be honest as cool as that was, those were not the best things I learned this weekend. I learned more about people than I did Ham Radio.
I started asking the many local operators of all ages, male and female, what it was they liked most about Ham Radio. I got many answers that may surprise you. One gentleman I asked answered that his favorite part was all of the people he was able to meet. He was able to make friends not only at the local level that were into the same hobby as himself, but to meet people from all walks of life from all over the world. He also said that Ham Radio made the world a little smaller for him and was assurance that the world was still full of good people. A common recurring theme was, "It's the people you meet, that makes this one of the best hobbies in the world."
Two or three folks I talked to answered that their favorite part of the hobby was the technical parts of it. They enjoyed figuring out how it all worked. Some were into the digital modes using computers. Some were more into helping develop infrastructure such as emergency radio repeaters for use in times of emergencies. A few were fascinated by how you can communicate around the world by bouncing radio signals off the earth's ionosphere with absolute regularity. "It's just cool that you can talk around the world with a High Frequency Radio and a long strand of wire."
A few of the folks I asked stated that working with disaster relief was their passion and driving force behind why they loved the hobby. Disaster relief and public service is a major part of Ham Radio and as stated above it is well known that when all forms of communications are down... Ham Radio gets the messages and vital information though. These folks all stated they enjoyed the training they have completed and the disaster relief deployments they have been through where fulfilling and even life changing.
One gentleman that I met when I first got into the hobby gave one of the best answers yet. Mr Ernie (KR4W) has had an interesting life and radio has been part of it for a very very long time. Mr. Ernie is a US Army Special Forces Vietnam Vet. He was a radio man during the war and his knowledge of how radio works and technical skills of the hobby boggle my mind. He has many stories and is always ready to share with a wink and a smile. Mr Ernie gave one of my favorite answers. "I like DX" (long distance communication outside of the country you are operating from) "I have traveled the world in my life and I have seen many things Now I travel to these places though the radio. I talk to people of different cultures and meet folks from all over the world." After a bit he looked at me and said, "When I was a boy we had a shortwave radio at home. I used to sit up at night and listen to broadcast from far away places. I thought there was magic in that box. We would listen to news reports and music from Europe and the BBC. Sometimes we would listen to the Voice of America radio broadcast. Sometimes we would get lucky and hear a far away signal come from the other side of the world. Those nights where special." He then looked at me and I could see he was taking me on a long trip far back into his past. "You see Joe, I now know the science behind how RF works, and antenna theory, and the sun's effect on the ionosphere, but ..... I also still know.... There is magic in that box."
