What is a Radio Amateur?

One in approximately every 600 of your neighbours has passed Canadian government examinations giving them the authority to use radio equipment for self education, and service to the community. Amateurs are also known as Hams; some are elderly, middle-aged, just entering high school, blind or quadriplegic. There is no age limit to becoming a licensed Amateur Radio Operator.

The service Amateurs provides is unending and often unsung. Most of the time the radios are used for enjoyment and to talk to other amateurs across Canada and around the world. After talking with each other, Hams often exchange QSL cards (post-cards with the operator's callsign, address etc.) as confirmation of the contact. Canadian Amateurs have provided essential communications for: forest fires in B.C.; the devastating tornado in Barrie, Ontario, the San Francisco earthquake; the Mississauga, Ontario train derailment. Amateurs often help military personnel on active duty to communicate with their families. Every day, somewhere, Amateurs help neighbours by passing messages, or calling a service station for a motorist in trouble by using car radio equipment. Recently, one Amateur called up a search and rescue helicopter to lift an injured youngster from a cliff top.

Many Ham Shacks are uniquely decorated with QSL cards from around the world. Hams relay messages from one to another, until the destination is reached - essential practice for time of disaster.

When tornadoes struck Barrie, the local Amateurs were on the scene without waiting to be called. They went straight to the disaster area, risking their lives, not knowing if another tornado would strike. Power was provided by Amateur emergency generators and thousands of messages were passed on to the Red Cross, municipalities, police and fire departments and relatives desperate for news.

Groups of Amateurs build satellites to relay amateur communications worldwide. These are mostly multinational efforts, with Canadian, American, British, German, Japanese and Russian Amateurs. Contributing, for amateur radio knows no boundaries. Amateurs often connect computers to radio transceivers (packet radio); others send television pictures around the world and bounce signals off the moon.

One may find a Ham sitting beside his/her equipment, at home or in the car, talking to an Amateur perhaps a few thousand miles away. An Amateur's home is often identified by a tall tower with antenna(s) and the car often displays a license plate with a personal callsign such as VA3RAC, each province having a different number.

Amateur radio also has a friendly, social side. Many towns have an Amateur Radio Club where folks gather to talk, hear lectures on aspects of Amateur Radio, and plan emergency exercises and Field Day - a yearly event combining a good time and a test of emergency communication. Clubs sponsor classes for aspiring Amateurs and those who wish to upgrade their operators' certificates. Clubs organize and provide assistance to local groups planning marathons, street parades, patrol the town at Hallowe'en, and demonstrate Amateur Radio in schools and shopping malls.

The above acticle was copied from an information booklet published by the Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC).

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