Hamming It Up

Hamming It Up was Originally Posted on October 21, 2013 by lavarock

Recently I upgraded my Ham license so I could get to the next higher license class. The FCC changed the requirements by dropping the Morse Code requirement. I am not very active and live in a radio deprived area on the island and don’t have a shortwave radio.

A Ham friend here suggested I load up “echolink” software. Without a technical discussion, it allows Hams to transmit and receive calls through a remote transceiver. Because the equipment actually transmits radio waves at the remote location, you must be a licensed Ham to use the software.

I loaded the software on my PC and fired it up. I connected to a repeater (transmitter/receiver) in Frederick Maryland and heard someone in Baltimore call to see if anyone was on the air. I replied and we spoke fro 20 minutes or so. I don’t think he was driving, rather he might have been using the same software I am. Still, we triggered the transmitter in Frederick and anyone listening to that frequency would have heard us and been able to join in.

I tried calling my friend in that area on the phone to have hi get on the air for a surprise, but he surprised me. He is in Dayton Ohio at the moment and he doesn’t have a radio with him. He could load the software on his smart phone or laptop, but I think he was heading to bed.

So what makes this different from Skype? Well I can join in a conference of people driving or walking around. I can be readable no matter that I am 1/4 way around the world. In an emergency, as long as their internet connection is still working, I could make telephone calls fro people in trouble, or just check in to see what the weather is.

So if you are a Ham, check out Echolink.