Licensed Ham Radio Operator
By Xavier Collantes
1/9/2024
Radio Is Everywhere!
- Wi-fi
- Bluetooth
- GPS
- Internet of things devices
- Garage door openers
- Work badge you scan to get in your office
- Tap-and-pay at the store
- Protocol used by kid on Twitter tracking Elon Musk's private jet
What do these have in common? They all communicate on some radio bandwidth.
I started my foray into ham radio due a few reasons:
- Understanding how fragile and vulnerable today's internet infrastructure is
- Learning the "old technology" of radio waves is embedded in every aspect of our modern lives
Modern Vulnerabilities
Given technological progress in the last several years, the internet IS the
infrastructure that holds up modern society. On average, a person spends about
7 hours in front of a
screen on the internet. Our work and leisure time is directly connected to some
extended activity with the internet. When we're not using the internet to
communicate, we're using cell phone towers to text or call.
These communications are subject to vulnerabilities from small inconvenient to
society-level dangers. When hiking in the woods for example, connection to cell
towers is unlikely let alone internet access. If you're in a remote area and
you have car trouble, you're not likely going to get service. Or when cell phone
towers were overloaded or unusable from the events of 9/11, ham radio operators
were one of the few methods left to
communicate.
Times like these are where ham radio operators excel. Like when a
family was stranded in -10°F (-23°C) weather and a ham radio operator came
across them and called for
help.
The American Emergency Radio Service or
ARES
is an organized network of volunteers who setup communications after disasters
when regular forms of communications stop working.
When all forms of communication fails, radio still
works.
- Ham Radio Operators Replace Communications During 9/11
- Ham Radio Operator Relays 911 Calls to Coast Guard Helicopters During Hurricane Katrina
- Old Man in Danger Uses Ham Radio to Get Help
Since 1897, a 100 Year Old Technology Thriving
Since 1897 when Guglielmo Marconi sent the world's first radio message compared
to today where 3
million
ham radio operators around the world following the regulations and conventions
of their respective country's radio laws.
In 2022, Ukrainian ham
radio operators use their skills to intercept and disrupt Russian military
communications.
A quirky application related to ham radio is the story of Jack Sweeney, the
20-year-old college student, who used ADS-B
Exchange data (which can be monitored by ham radio operators and pilots) to
tweet the location of Elon Musk's private
jet.
Sweeny later used this data to private jets belonging to Russian oligarchs
during the Ukraine-Russia War.
In 2022, a hacker was able to unlock a Tesla car remotely using the Bluetooth
Low Energy protocol in the keyless entry
system.
Bluetooth uses the 2.4 GHz band of the radio spectrum.
Ham radio is an art more than a science. We use our knowledge of
radio wave propagation, electrical systems, and physics to push our radios
farther by experimenting with different power levels, antennas (often
fashioning our
own), transmitting
in exotic locations to get a signal, and attempt to reach as far as we can with
as little resources. All of this just to get back on the radio and tell our ham
radio buddies what we accomplished.
I have made my own J-pole antenna out of a copper pipe. Cut at a length
optimized for the 70cm band. Copper is a good conductor and can pick up radio
transmissions.
Community of Radioheads
Most important in the ham radio field is a sense of community among its
operators. A ham radio operator can start transmitting and pick up another ham
radio miles away whom they've never met and have a full conversation.
All over the world there are what we call repeaters which is a hub for radios
to transmit on. Let's say your radio can only reach about 1 mile away but you
tune into a repeater and transmit through the repeater. That repeater could
potentially reach 10 to 30 miles (depending on terrain, wave propagation,
interference, etc.) thus carrying your transmission 10 to 30 miles away. There
is even a repeater on the International Space
Station which operators can use.
In radio, you can use even the cheapest of radios to talk to other ham radio
operators. As we say "height is might" because the higher the antenna, the
farther the signal can travel. Here I am in Boise, Idaho, talking with a man a
couple miles away. But despite my weaker $15 radio, I was able to talk with him
because of my increased altitude:
These repeaters which are usually large, tall structures on mountains and other
elevated features usually run by "repeater clubs" which are volunteer
organizations hosting "nets" where members and new-comers can "check-in" and
with a few minutes to speak about any subject the operator wants.
Think of it as Twitter before the internet except it's one person at a time
talking.
Space, The Final Frontier
Ham Radio operations aboard the International Space Station through
ARISS represent one of
humanity's most successful long-term space
communication
experiments.
You can actually use the ISS as a repeater to talk to other ham radio operators
on the ground or astronauts aboard the ISS which has a call sign of NA1SS. But
you have to time its position in
orbit with your position on the planet.
Thogh I myself have not been able to talk with the ISS, here is an instance of
Ham Radio Operator KB8M being able to talk with the ISS:
In case you are a licensed Ham and would like to try, here are the frequencies:
ariss.org/contact-the-iss.html
I'm Interested in Ham Radio
An extensive test needs to be taken to receive your FCC ham radio license. The
best preparation resource out there is https://hamradioprep.com/license-courses.
This is the resource I used to prepare for the test.
You will need to take the actual test in test center but since the COVID
pandemic, the FCC may procter the tests over video call.
The test will ask questions on regulations of FCC Part 97, all relevant
equations and formulas for electrical systems, radio speaking terminology, and
conventions.
All knowledge required is included in https://hamradioprep.com/license-courses.
Just be happy the Morse Code requirement was dropped in
1993.
Further Reading
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