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I can remember a time in my youth when my mum was involved with radio. I was about 9 at the time and it was up to me or my younger brother to go outside and turn the antenna for her. Then one night she came home from work and I ran out to meet her. She was talking on the CB (Citizens Band) Radio and I was asked if I wanted to say hello. That was my first time on air and it was to a guy in Western Australia.

I didn’t get too involved myself until I was about 15 when I was given and old hand held CB. From then on I was totally hooked. Never in any major way but it was in the blood for sure.

Some self education and a bunch of encouraging from some friends. I have only recently taken the step of obtaining my Amateur License. To this day I still can not believe how easy it was. A big pat on the back to the relevant authorities for the introduction of the Foundation License. A short exam with some theory and practical followed by a wait of 3 weeks for the allocation of my call sign (VK5FUEL) and that was that.

These days I am able to pick up the microphone and talk to any state in the country with minimal effort. Then there’s the DX (Long Distance). Very dependent on the conditions you can talk to people around the world. Places like the Europe, The South Pole or even the International Space Station (ISS). The options are endless.

If you like stimulating conversation, experimenting with electronics or just want a new hobby. I suggest you take a look at some of the links I have put up. There are literally thousands of people who are more than happy to point you in the right direction. Remember that it’s easier than it sounds.

VK5ARD

Michael

The Birth Of Amateur Radio
In 1901 Marconi bridges the Atlantic, a feat which caught the world's attention and fueled the imagination of thousands of potential amateurs, who took their first steps into wireless. His transatlantic triumph came on the 12th December 1901 when the morse letter 'S' was transmitted from Poldhu, in Cornwall and received by Marconi himself at St. John's, Newfoundland, who recorded the historic event in his pocket book simply "Sigs at 12.20, 1.10 & 2.20".

Marconi's original transmitters used high voltage spark gaps to generate 'Hertzian Waves'. The first experimental sets used induction coils with vibrating contact current interrupters to generate the high voltages.

In 1906 first wireless communication of human speech (and music) on December 24, 1906. Fessenden spoke and broadcasted music by radio from Brant Rock, Massachusetts, to ships in the Atlantic Ocean using a two kilowatt (100 kHz) alternator developed by Alexanderson. Fessenden modulates continuous wave. 23 1906 November 3. The "Berlin International Wireless Telegraph Convention" 4 defined call letters, operating procedures and signals for Coastal Stations and ships at sea. The committee decided that henceforth the term "Radio" would better describe wireless. Radio is derived from the Latin radius (ray or beam of light). The term wireless lingered for many years, but by 1912 the term Radio was used in legislation. Some countries even today are fond of the word wireless. Radio Shack probably gets its name from maritime lore dating back to the invention of the radio at the turn of the century. At the time, wireless equipment aboard ships was generally housed above the bridge in a wooden structure that was called the "radio shack".

For the full story go to the site of AC6V

Updated 2 August 2007