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Amateur Radio is a fun scientific hobby for everyone!
What is Amateur Radio?
It is a form of communication, a hobby, a community service and a vital service in the event of an emergency.
It could be a teacher in Nova Scotia making friends over the radio with another Radio Amateur in New Zealand; an Alberta teenager using her computer to upload a chess move through her radio which is retrieved by a fellow chess fan in Florida via an Amateur Radio space satellite; or a truck driver in Manitoba contacting Radio Amateurs in a hundred countries during a single weekend contest.
The appeal of Amateur Radio is the ability to communicate across the country, around the globe, and even with astronauts on space missions. Many Radio Amateurs build and experiment with radio.
Do you?
- enjoy the thought of communicating with people around the world without the use of phones or the Internet?
- like experimenting with electronics?
- like interfacing radio transmitters with your computer?
- want to serve your community at social events or during serious emergency situations?
- want to talk to astronauts in the International Space Station?
- look forward to developing new relationships and learning what is going on around the world through the airwaves?
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If you answered maybe or yes to any one or a few of these questions, then Amateur Radio may be for you!
Amateur Radio brings people of all ages together!
Amateur Radio brings people together!
“This is Star Covington, VA6SCC, of Edmonton, Alberta and I’m an 11 year old new ham. On April 1, 2023, I got to interview a man who may be the World’s Oldest Living Ham! You can read all about it in the article provided below.”
Amateur Radio and Youth
Amateur Radio is a scientific and technical hobby and service, made especially for youth, that brings people, electronics and communications together.
Nobel Prize winners – Michael Brown (Physiology 1985), Joe Taylor (Physics 1993), George Smith (Physics 2009), William Moerner (Chemistry 2014) – discovered Amateur Radio in their youth and credit it for their lifelong interest in science.
Through Amateur Radio, you will learn and practise a set of lifelong skills that will help you throughout your future: STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) principles that are taught in school, including the basics of electronics and wave propagation.
You will also make many lifelong friends and connections to your community. You will be prepared for, and can contribute during emergencies that arise. Amateur Radio will provide you with many opportunities in your community.
The RAC Youth Education Program (YEP) provides teachers, youth and community leaders with an innovative way of learning by introducing them to the wonderful world of Amateur Radio. It provides financial and personal support to teachers in schools and leaders in community youth groups. Teachers who wish to include an element of radio technology in their programs will be eligible for assistance in acquiring the necessary equipment, books and other resources.
For more information, please visit https://www.rac.ca/youth/
It is also a form of communication and a vital service in the event of an emergency.
“Amateur Radio: A 21st Century Hobby”
The Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB) has created an excellent video describing the wide range of activities and skills involved in Amateur Radio.
“Whether you enjoy writing software, getting hands-on with practical equipment, developing new technology or simply want to use what’s already there to communicate with others across the world, you’ll find all of this – and more – within Amateur Radio. It is also great fun. Why don’t you try it?”
RSGB video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8x6x_6mDVlQ&feature=youtu.be
RSGB video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8x6x_6mDVlQ&feature=youtu.be
Courtesy of the Radio Society of Great Britain:
Summits On The Air in the Canadian Rockies: A Fun and Challenging Activity for Radio Amateurs
Summits on the Air (SOTA) is a fun and challenging activity for Radio Amateurs and shortwave listeners that encourages portable operation in mountainous areas. SOTA has been carefully designed to make participation possible for everyone – you don’t have to be a mountaineer!
There are awards for activators (those who hike to the summits) and chasers (those who operate from home, a local hilltop, or another summit). There are no fees and you can participate on your own schedule. The rules of the SOTA radio-sport make it interesting and accessible to all.
SOTA is now fully operational in many countries across the world. Each summit is assigned a point value according to its elevation. Certificates are awarded for various scores, leading to the prestigious “Mountain Goat” and “Shack Sloth” trophies. An Honour Roll for Activators and Chasers is maintained at the self-serve SOTA online database. For more information please visit: https://www.sota.org.uk
