{"id":25,"date":"2015-10-20T17:28:07","date_gmt":"2015-10-20T17:28:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/umarc.eecs.umich.edu\/?page_id=25"},"modified":"2016-01-12T19:52:00","modified_gmt":"2016-01-12T19:52:00","slug":"become-a-ham","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/umarc.eecs.umich.edu\/index.php\/become-a-ham\/","title":{"rendered":"Become a Ham"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3 class=\"red\" align=\"center\"><a name=\"#rtntotop\"><\/a>Why become a ham radio operator?<\/h3>\n<p><a name=\"#rtntotop\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Below is a list of a <b>few<\/b> of the many advantages of becoming one of a select group of amateur radio hobbyists (or &#8220;Hams&#8221; as they are usually called):<\/p>\n<p><a name=\"#rtntotop\"><\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Enjoyable activities<\/b> &#8211; <i>There is an almost endless variety of things to do, something to trigger the interest of even the most discriminating person<\/i><\/li>\n<li>Contests\n<ul>\n<li>DXCC &#8211; Contact 100 countries or more<\/li>\n<li>WAS &#8211; Work all states &#8211; Contact every state in the US<\/li>\n<li>DXing &#8211; Make distant contacts<\/li>\n<li>Field Day &#8211; Set up communications in the field<\/li>\n<li>Fox hunting &#8211; Locate hidden transmitters<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Public Service\n<ul>\n<li>Help people in distress<\/li>\n<li>Provide communications during disasters<\/li>\n<li>Radio Amateur Communication Emergency Service (RACES) &#8211; Assist local emergency agencies<\/li>\n<li>Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) &#8211; Provide emergency communications<\/li>\n<li>Skywarn &#8211; Report severe weather conditions<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Various forms of Communication\n<ul>\n<li>Satellite &#8211; Utilize satellites for long distance communications<\/li>\n<li>Digital &#8211; Use digital techniques including computers for effective communications<\/li>\n<li>Television &#8211; Send and receive pictures<\/li>\n<li>GPS &#8211; Locate geographical positions of transmitters and receivers<\/li>\n<li>Morse Code &#8211; Communicate when other modes fail or where simplicity is desired<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Build things<\/b> &#8211; <i>Although much commercial ham equipment is available for purchase there always exists the opportunity to build specialized equipment<\/i><\/li>\n<li>Radio receivers and transmitters<\/li>\n<li>Television equipment<\/li>\n<li>Test equipment<\/li>\n<li>Antenna tuners<\/li>\n<li>Antennas<\/li>\n<li>Computer controls and interfaces<\/li>\n<li>And even amateur radio satellites (AMSAT)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ol>\n<li><a name=\"#rtntotop\"><\/a><b>Career networking<\/b> &#8211; <i>Hams serve as mentors, help find employment and even award scholarships (e.g., look at <b><\/b><\/i><i><b><a class=\"body\" href=\"http:\/\/www.farweb.org\/\">FAR<\/a><\/b> or <b><a class=\"\" href=\"http:\/\/www.arrl.org\/news\/arrl-foundation-awards-66-scholarships-in-2010\">ARRL<\/a><\/b>.) You&#8217;ll find Hams employed in all types of organizations:<\/i>\n<ul>\n<li>Industry<\/li>\n<li>Research<\/li>\n<li>Education<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>Lifelong friendships<\/b> &#8211; <i>Hams are constantly meeting new friends as they communicate with other hams from around the world. They can be<\/i>\n<ul>\n<li>Young or old<\/li>\n<li>Male or female<\/li>\n<li>In school<\/li>\n<li>Employed<\/li>\n<li>Retired<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>Foreign languages<\/b> &#8211; <i>What better way to brush up on or learn a foreign language than talking with people in other countries<\/i>\n<ul>\n<li>South America<\/li>\n<li>Mexico<\/li>\n<li>France<\/li>\n<li>Russia<\/li>\n<li>Japan<\/li>\n<li>Germany<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>Knowledge<\/b> &#8211; <i>It&#8217;s a great way to educate oneself. It&#8217;s a hobby that fosters learning. To name just a few<\/i>\n<ul>\n<li>Radio propagation<\/li>\n<li>Electrical and electronic principles<\/li>\n<li>Digital communications<\/li>\n<li>Geography, earth and space science<\/li>\n<li>Communication skills<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>UMARC Membership<\/b> &#8211; <i>Provides a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to receive<\/i>\n<ul>\n<li>Hands-on access to equipment\n<ul>\n<li>HF\/VHF\/UHF Transceivers<\/li>\n<li>Vertical, Yagi, rotary, discone, etc. antennas<\/li>\n<li>PSK-31, Echolink, CW, etc., digital modes<\/li>\n<li>Satellite transceiver systems<\/li>\n<li>Data loggers<\/li>\n<li>Complex test equipment<\/li>\n<li>And the list keeps growing<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Training on\n<ul>\n<li>All UMARC equipment<\/li>\n<li>The various modes of operation<\/li>\n<li>Contest and special events<\/li>\n<li>How to construct electronic equipment &amp; antennas<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Opportunity to learn from\n<ul>\n<li>Interesting Club meetings<\/li>\n<li>Membership informal discussion groups<\/li>\n<li>Participation in Club activities<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>As well as great fellowship and camaraderie among Club members<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<hr align=\"center\" size=\"2px\" width=\"50%\" \/>\n<p>O.K. So what are you waiting for? DO IT TODAY! Become an amateur radio operator in the next few weeks. It&#8217;s much easier than you might think&#8211;in fact it&#8217;s a snap! Simply take a simple 15-30 minute multiple-choice Technician test and, presto, you&#8217;re a Ham! And there is no Morse code testing required anymore, so don&#8217;t let fear of learning code hold you back!<\/p>\n<p>And while you&#8217;re at it, join UMARC.<\/p>\n<p class=\"body\">Turn to the &#8220;<a class=\"body\" href=\"https:\/\/umarc.eecs.umich.edu\/index.php\/become-a-ham\/how-to-become-a-licensed-ham-radio-operator\/\">How do I<\/a>&#8221; page <i>now<\/i> to see how simple it is.<\/p>\n<p class=\"blue\">Go Blue!<\/p>\n<p>73 de W8UM<\/p>\n<p class=\"small\" align=\"right\"><i>Last updated: 6\/16\/10<\/i><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Why become a ham radio operator? Below is a list of a few of the many advantages of becoming one of a select group of amateur radio hobbyists (or &#8220;Hams&#8221; as they are usually called): Enjoyable activities &#8211; There is an almost endless variety of things to do, something to trigger the interest of even [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-sc.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-25","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/umarc.eecs.umich.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/25","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/umarc.eecs.umich.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/umarc.eecs.umich.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umarc.eecs.umich.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umarc.eecs.umich.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/umarc.eecs.umich.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/25\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":578,"href":"https:\/\/umarc.eecs.umich.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/25\/revisions\/578"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/umarc.eecs.umich.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}