Amateur (Ham) Radio

Amateur radio, also known as ham radio, is a technical hobby which effectively started around 1900. Marconi considered himself a "ham." It is described as someone who has a receiver and transmitter located in the basement or in a spare room, using a wire antenna in the backyard with one end up in a tree. The ham then contacts people far and wide. It is also used in emergencies when all else fails. Click HERE to see a short 6 minute video done in the UK about Amateur Radio. Watch it full-screen. After the YouTube video, return back here. I started when I was 11. It's been a lifetime of talking with folks in countries all over the world. In fact, if someone tells me about their trip to some remote and unusual country, it is very likely that I have talked with a radio ham in the same country: Tibet, Australia, China, South Pole/Antarctica, Pitcairn Island, Iceland, Croatia, Mozambique, Spitzbergen, and so on, to the tune of 270 different "countries."