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Where were my QSO counter parts located
Where were my QSO counter parts located
Station History and Set Up at OE3FVU
Amateur Radio
Radio was the first word I ever spoke....

Amateur radio, often called ham radio, is both a hobby and a service in which participants,
sometimes called "hams," use various types of radio communications equipment to
communicate with other radio amateurs for public service, recreation and self-training.[1]

Amateur radio operators enjoy personal (and often worldwide) wireless communications with
each other and are able to support their communities with emergency and disaster [2]
communications if necessary, while increasing their personal knowledge of electronics and
radio theory. An estimated six million people throughout the world are regularly involved with
amateur radio.

The term "amateur" is not a reflection on the skills of the participants, which are often quite
advanced; rather, "amateur" indicates that amateur radio communications are not allowed to be
made for commercial or money-making purposes.

In all countries, amateur radio operators are required to pass a licensing exam displaying
knowledge and understanding of key concepts. In response, hams are granted operating
privileges in larger segments of the radio frequency spectrum using a wide variety of
communication techniques with higher power levels permitted. This practice is in contrast to
unlicensed personal radio services such as CB radio, Multi-Use Radio Service, or Family Radio
Service/PMR446 that require type-approved equipment restricted in frequency range and power.

Power limits vary from country to country and between license classes within a country. For
example, the power limits for the highest available license classes in a few selected countries
are: 2.25 kW in Canada, was 2 kW in the former Yugoslavia, 1.5 kW in the United States, 1 kW
in Belgium and Switzerland, 750 W in Germany, 500 W in Italy, 400 W in Australia, India and
the United Kingdom, and 150 W in Oman. Lower license classes usually have lower power
limits; for example, the lowest license class in the UK has a limit of just 10 W. Amateur radio
operators are encouraged both by regulations and tradition of respectful use of the spectrum to
use as by regulations and tradition of respectful use of the spectrum to use as little power as
possible to accomplish the communicatio

In many countries, amateur licensing is a routine civil administrative matter. Amateurs are
required to pass an examination to demonstrate technical knowledge, operating competence
and awareness of legal and regulatory requirements in order to avoid interference with other
amateurs and other radio services. There are often a series of exams available, each
progressively more challenging and granting more privileges in terms of frequency availability,
power output, permitted experimentation, and in some countries, distinctive callsigns

Callsign structure as prescribed by the ITU, consists of three parts which break down as
follows, using the callsign OE3FVU as an example:

OE – Shows the country from which the callsign originates and may also indicate the
license class. (This callsign is licensed in Austria1).
3 – Tells you the subdivision of the country or territory indicated in the first part (this one
refers toLower Austria).
FVU – The final part is specific to the holder of the license, identifying that person
specifically.
Many countries do not follow the ITU convention for the numeral. The United Kingdom
never has - the calls G2xxx, G3xxx, and G6xx may be right next to each other. In the
United States, the numeral indicated the geographical district until recently.

Unlike all other spectrum users, radio amateurs are allowed to build or modify transmitting
equipment, and do not need to obtain type-approval for it. Licensed amateurs can also use
any frequency in their bands (rather than being allocated fixed frequencies or channels)
and can operate medium to high-powered equipment on a wide range of frequencies, so
long as they meet spurious emission standards.

As noted, radio amateurs have access to frequency allocations throughout the RF
spectrum, enabling choice of frequency to enable effective communication whether across
a city, a region, a country, a continent or the whole world regardless of season or time
day or night. The shortwave bands, or HF, can allow worldwide communication, the VHF
and UHF bands offer excellent regional communication, and the broad microwave bands
have enough space, or bandwidth, for television (known as SSTV and FSTV)
transmissions and high-speed data networks.

1. Amateur Radio has been recognized by the international community as a Radio Service, equal to services such as diplomatic, shipping, aeronautical etc. In the internationally agreed and regularly update frequency regulations,
amateur radio has been allocated various ranges, all with their typical specifcs. Use by amateurs has led in the past and still is leading to new developments which have been an dstill being adopted by the
industry. Unfortunately, such developments have led numerous timesamateur radio to loose a part of the spectrum in favour of commercial services.

2. The recent disasters such as earthquackes in Turkey and Haiti, the 911 terrorist attacks, flooding such as in Indonesia (Tsunami) or even the USA (New Orleans) showed that professional help organisations can not rely on their
radio services. Radio Amateurs have been active in all these and many more situations as professional radio operators, allowing the officials to do their jobs. See it as if radio amateurs core business is to provide radio services under
the most severe conditions. Their understanding of the possibilities of radio (propagation, frequency use, antennas etc. etc) can be seen as their core business, while the other persons core business is to help the local people.

A separate service is the Amateur Radio Satellite Service, which is put on the same level of importance as other satellite services. Currently there are some 50 Amateur radio satellites -serving many many different purposes - in orbit.