HAM Radio

Ham Radio, also known as Amateur Radio, consists of several radio Bands covering, thousands of frequencies and all equipment neccessary to access those frequencies within the bands. Anyone may receive (abbreviated Rx), termed, "listening" by Ham Operators. However, those wishing to Transmit (abbreviated Tx) or broadcast anything over Ham Band Frequencies must pass testing and certification protocols set by the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) in the United States or a similar Communicatons Control Board within the country that they wish to Tx from within.

In the US, there are three classes of Certification for Operating Amateur Radios. These classes begin with the Technician Class which allows those certified to operate Radios on the 6m, 2m, and 70cm Bands. The second level of Certification is known as General. This level allows Hams to operate on the same bands as Technician Class licensing but adds the HF bands which are needed to communicate with other Hams at long distances (abbreviated Dx). These long distances can be 100 miles away but are typically thousands of miles, allowing communication between countries across the globe. The third and final level of certification, Extra, allows those certified to not only operate on HF, VHF, and UHF bands but also adds MF and a few other bands. An operator with Extra certification can use Satellites to establish links with nodes, repeaters, and stations anywhere in the world and outer space. Yes, Space Stations use Ham Radio to communicate as well. The Extra Class allows Hams to use any and all Ham equipment at their disposal. However, it is not necessary for those wishing to utilize Ham Radiowaves to communicate across the country or world daily or even just during emergencies, a General license, with the proper equipment and antennas will allow such communications to take place. Even those with a Technician Class license and the proper equipment and antennas for the Bands covered by their class can communicate across tw country, with neighboring countries and Space Stations. As a sidenote, the plural use of Space Station is not to infer that there are currently multiple Space Stations operated by NASA orbiting our planet, it is merely a term used by the FCC as apart of the testing process for those seeking to become licensed Ham Radio Operators. Space Stations, as defined by the ARRL and FCC, are any Ham capable radio equipment setups, located more than 50km from the surface of the Earth. As you can see, by definition a space station could be a Tri-Band HF/VHF/UHF HAM Radio operated from the Moon, Mars or even a Space Shuttle located outside Earth's atmosphere (it could even been light years away and traveling at Warp Speeds).

Kcrow11 (talk) 20:54, May 24, 2013 (UTC)