{"id":1313,"date":"2021-01-27T15:29:54","date_gmt":"2021-01-27T15:29:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aurorasaurudev.wpengine.com\/?p=1313"},"modified":"2023-12-26T21:56:20","modified_gmt":"2023-12-26T21:56:20","slug":"ham-it-up-on-the-air","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.aurorasaurus.org\/?p=1313","title":{"rendered":"Ham it Up\u2014On the Air!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Amateur Radio for Students and the General Public
\n<\/span><\/i>By Laura Brandt (museum educator), Connie Atkisson (teacher), and Liz MacDonald (scientist)<\/span><\/p>\n

Last fall, Dr. Liz and Laura got their Technician (entry-level) ham radio licenses as part of auditing a class for teachers, grad students, and undergrads on The Physics of Ham Radio taught by Rice University professor <\/span>Dr. Patricia Reiff<\/span><\/a>, a NASA collaborator. Laura and one of our classmates, fifth grade teacher Connie Atkisson, approached the class without prior experience in college level physics. As we learned about the practice of amateur radio, Connie and Laura also discovered ways to make it easier. In this post, we\u2019ll introduce ham radio and provide resources for folks who have focused on other fields.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What is ham radio?\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

Ham radio is the affectionate nickname for amateur radio, an exciting hobby that combines sport, innovation, space weather science, and technology, and which is practiced by volunteers. Amateur radio operators, known as \u201chams,\u201d have been important players in the development of radio from around the <\/span>turn of the 20th century<\/span><\/a>. Today, there are a little under <\/span>770,000<\/span><\/a> licensed ham radio operators in the United States, and many more worldwide. The community is constantly growing and innovating new ways to modernize radio technology.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
Meme<\/a> by Daniel Goldman, whose ham radio \u201ccall sign,\u201d or user handle, is AC2YB<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Importantly, hams are volunteers who <\/span>perform crucial roles<\/span><\/a> in society. While each of the following programs is all-volunteer and requires special training, public service is central to the ham community and its charter from the FCC. During emergencies when communication networks are down, amateur radio signals still work. Hams <\/span>step up<\/span><\/a> and relay vital information between emergency services. They practice for these eventualities by providing communications to large community events like festivals and marathons. Astronauts who travel to the International Space Station are trained in amateur radio communications, and hams connect classrooms directly with the astronauts through the <\/span>ARISS<\/span><\/a> program.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This doesn\u2019t mean that ham radio operation is all serious, however. Amateur radio operators engage in \u201c<\/span>contesting<\/span><\/a>,\u201d or fun competitions, in addition to building friendships and community over the air.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Did you say aurora science?\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

Yes! Hams are acutely aware of the aurora and space weather, because for long-distance communication, they bounce radio signals off the ionosphere, the part of the Earth\u2019s upper atmosphere at which it occurs. Auroras can mess with their signals\u2014or make irregularities in the ionosphere dense enough to send signals even farther distances!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
Diagram of radio signals reflecting off two different layers of the section of the Earth\u2019s upper atmosphere called the ionosphere. From \u201cRadio Waves and the Ionosphere<\/a>,\u201d by Ian Poole G3YWX, ARRL.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In addition to this, there are auroras beyond the ones we can see, called radio auroras. With powerful equipment, amateur radio operators can observe these phenomena. There are even citizen science projects like <\/span>HamSCI<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Radio JOVE<\/span><\/a> that study changes due to the Sun, solar eclipses, Jupiter, and aurora using radio signals. For example, with the HamSCI <\/span>Personal Space Weather Station<\/span><\/a> project, currently under development, very technically advanced volunteers will be able to help make measurements of Earth\u2019s space environment. The <\/span>HamSCI 2021 virtual workshop<\/span><\/a> will include more information on this project. Note that non-hams can listen but not transmit over the air, so you don\u2019t need a license to observe the science for some projects, like the HamSCI Personal Space Weather Station, Radio JOVE, and <\/span>EclipseMob<\/span><\/a>. You can also listen to short-wave radio receivers over the internet for free at <\/span>KiwiSDR<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n