What Amateur Radio Is Radio station design and construction Specialized and Advanced Activities

– Satellite communications (amateur satellites, shuttle, ISS), microwave and “Moonbounce”

Contests, Awards, and Special Events

– Field Day, QSO parties, etc. Public Service—A tradition in amateur radio

– Provide emergency communications (natural disasters, civil defense and homeland security)

– Public event communications (races, parades, etc.)

– Military-affiliated radio services (MARS)

Amateur Radio is not....

• Broadcasting (as in your local TV or FM radio station)

– Amateur radio uses two-way communication

– Still, hams enjoy listening to intl. shortwave

• “CB” (non-licensed, limited radio service)

– “CB” is informal, at times bordering on “R”-rated!

– Ham's abide by on-the-air operating practices established over many years

– “CB”; a narrow band of freq. ~ 27 MHz

– Amateurs have frequency allocations from 1.8 MHz to 20 GHz and beyond!

Amateur Radio Operator's Communicate

Radio communication using a wide variety of “modes” Voice (called “telephony”) Digital (using computers with a radio “link”) Morse code (many reasons hams still use code!) Television (“slow-scan” and “fast-scan”) Many other specialized sub-categories

Amateur Radio Operator's Communicate

And a variety of frequencies! Amateur Radio is allowed on a wide range of radio

frequencies; 1.8MHz to light! HF (“high frequency”) or “shortwave” very popular,

useful for long range communications, in fact all over the world!

VHF/UHF for local communications Microwave (local and satellite)

Ham Radio Can Be...

As technical as you want it to be! Some Ham's buy radios, antenna, etc. Other's build......

Many hams still build all of their radio receivers, transmitters, and other station hardware including antennas!

“From scratch” or from kits Great way to obtain a more intuitive hands-on

understanding of electronics Most do both!

The Amateur Radio Club at UCF

Membership in the Amateur Radio Club at UCF provides a venue: To explore amateur radio To participate in fun activities To meet and exchange ideas To discuss questions about the technology and to

practice amateur radio operation.

Recent activities: Field Day

Recent projects

• Wifi antenna

• Moxon antenna

• Folding J-Pole antenna

• Single board 20m PSK-31 transceiver

• Portable PVC tower

• Satellite tracking system

• 2m FM receiver

The Club Station• Located in ENGR1-456A (access restricted)

• 146.640 2m repeater

• Icom IC-754 HF multimode transceiver

• Icom IC-706 portable multimode HF/VHF/UHF transceiver

• Kenwood TS-2000 multimode HF/VHF/UHF transceiver

• Loaner 2m FM handheld transceivers

• Fixed HF and portable HF antennas

• ..... and more

How do I join?

• Attend a meeting

– The club currently meets in ENGR1-456A at 5:30 pm each Friday (excluding holidays and semester breaks)

• Fill out the form; get added to the mailing list

• Participate!

• Optionally, get you “Ticket”

– (Aka Amateur Radio License)

Do I need a License?• Yes and No!

– You DO NOT need a license to build equipment and antennas or receive amateur radio signals

– You DO need a license in order to transmit (send signals) on any amateur radio frequency

• The ARC@UCF encourages everyone to get their amateur radio operator’s license.

– Enjoy all the benefits of amateur radio

– It is not difficult, all it takes is a little time to study

– “Do I need to learn Morse code to get my license?” No, but feel free to learn CW!

More information:

• About the ARC @ UCF:

– http://www.k4ucf.ucf.edu

• About Ham Radio:

– http://www.arrl.org

– http://www.wedothat-radio.org

• Amateur Radio Operation in times of emergency.

– http://emergency-radio.org/