Starting in amateur radio

If you've hit this blog by wondering and searching about amateur radio, then welcome!  

It's a great time to start getting yourself organised to pass a fairly straightforward test, or series of tests, to obtain your licence!

Why?

Because the Sun has, over the past month, swung from a deep sleep state into a waking state.  The number of sunspots has risen in October to around 15, up dramatically from the previous month's number of 1.  For the next few years, the Sun will rise to full activity before, somewhere in the early 2030s, going to sleep for a while once more.

In tandem with this is a background reduction in the number of days when there are no sunspots:

Number of days without sunspots, by year.  2020 clearly shows solar cycle 25 has begun in earnest.

 

More sunspots means better conditions for propagating your radio signals from here to there, especially at the higher HF bands (see PE4BAS' recent post about long-distance contacts at 10m), where the smaller wavelength means antennas are smaller and easier to erect.

This solar cycle also brings to the bands more digital (computer-based) signal modes than ever before.  This opens up opportunities to capitalise on very brief and borderline conditions where signals are able to cross large distances.  

So effective are these computer-based modes that no longer is there a strict requirement to put up a huge antenna or use enormous amounts of power; simple wires and a few Watts are all that are needed to enjoy global communications, provided you also exercise some effort and patience - this is not a 'switch-on-and-instantly-succeed' hobby.

A great educational hobby where computers and radios mix.  We really do need more young people, females, and those from minority backgrounds to come into the hobby, and all are very welcome!

 

Also, if you don't really have the time or inclination to have a 30-minute chat, maybe with an older person on the other end - which most young people, in particular, find very offputting - then there is absolutely no need to do so.  Digital modes let you make a contact that can be simply something like scoring a simple hit for a logbook, or something more meaningful, such as a keyboard-to-keyboard, internet-like exchange in real time.

If you want to pick up a magazine, Practical Wireless is a great publication that isn't stuffy and exclusive in its approach, but practical and friendly.  Even though it, like all other magazines carries adverts for sometimes very expensive equipment, you can get an effective new radio for about £650, or significantly less if you carefully opt for a used item.  All you then need is a power supply unit and some cheap wire to get started.  

And for even less money, you can talk to someone far away via a space satellite!  At the moment, radios of low power that will allow you to make some contacts this way are selling for just £19.99.

So, if you are thinking of joing in the fascinating, educational hobby that is amateur radio, search online and get in touch with your local club and ask about any training they provide.  This is one advantage of the Covid era - more clubs are now offering live or recorded lessons online for all, usually at little or, like this very popular site, no cost!

My view on why radio is great?  Your mind, if not your body, rides along with your radio waves to far away places you may never even have heard of, and learn about the world.   And there is a lot of world to learn about...