subject: Ham Hobbies For The Enthusiast [print this page] Ham Hobbies For The Enthusiast Ham Hobbies For The Enthusiast
Ham or amateur radio is largely a hobby. The majority of time is spent making new contacts from around the world. The usual custom in two way communications are identifying their location and station, zone, region and place.This is usually follow by a more casual conversation. If the contact is made because of a contest or to make as many two way communications as possible, this is what is talked about.
DX-ing and DXpeditions-
An amateur Ham operator's usual goal is to talk to as many stations from as many parts of the world as possible. DX stands for Distant Stations. This is usually followed by the QSO. Or a Q Code. which means a conversation.
DX-peditions are a more targeted approach. For example trying to make contact with some speacil or rare stations and regions.
Radio Frequency Scanners that are available now are a huge boost in these attempts. The scanner will keep scanning for a strong signal until it is found.
QSL cards-
The Q code is a standardized collection of three-letter message encoding, and suprise all 3 start with the letter Q. It was first developed for commercial radiotelegraph communication, then later adopted by other radio services, more specifically amateur radio. In today's audio signal transmission age the Q codes are not as important, however still used as a sort of tradition.
As a part of DX-ing and DX-peditions the QSL card or the proof of contact card is shared. QSL is one such Q-code that means "I acknowledge receipt". The usual custom was that the ones who made contact at a particular frequency exchange a QSL card in the mail to confirm their contact and conversations. These QSL cards can be used as a proof of their making contact and amateur operators who make contact with a certain number of other amateur radio operators in a specified time is awarded. Moreover, they are distinguished and honored since they are deemed to be efficient amateur radio operators.
Remote Region Contacting-
Some countries are sparse on amateur radio operators, and making contact with them is considered a huge deal. So when an operator from these regions make contact they are swarmed with other operators trying to get in touch. If you can contact with someone in an isolated region it has its own awards and special considerations.
