Amateur Radio for Those Who Don’t Know What It Is
Amateur (ham) radio operators are private individuals who build short wave, two-way radio stations that they use to communicate with each other, often over long distances. The modes of communications can be voice, digital typewriter modes, Morse code, television, etc. In order to operate, they must pass examinations on radio theory, obtain licenses, and be assigned call letters for their stations. Besides being a hobby, ham radio is also an important resource in emergencies, providing communications when other services have broken down.
W6ODJ
I got into ham radio as a teenager. I was first licensed in 1948. My first call was W5PIG, in Seminole, Oklahoma. I let the call lapse in the 1950s, but took up the hobby again when I retired from my university professorship in 2004. My current call is W6ODJ and my license level is “extra class.” I operate on Morse code, digital, and voice modes.
Station
I have two transceivers (transmitter and receiver integrated in one box), both made from kits sold by the Elecraft Corporation of Aptos, California. The original one, now part of my battery-powered emergency rig, is an Elecraft K2 with an output of 10 watts. The current one is a K3 with 100 watts maximum output.
My primary antenna is a resonant dipole fed off-center by an RF transformer arrangement of my design. It covers the 40, 20, 15, and 10 meter amateur bands. The secondary antennas are a set of interchangeable 30 inch and smaller circular loops of 1/4 inch copper tubing tuned to resonance by a variable capacitor and fed by a shielded loop of coaxial cable. They cover the 40, 30, 20, 17, 15, 12, and 10 meter bands.