Amateur Radio Communications

Amateur Radio Communications 

communications established in the amateur bands using amateur radio transmitting and receiving equipment. The purpose of amateur radio communications is experimentation with transmitting and receiving equipment and with antennas, the conducting of competitions for radio amateurs, the establishment of communications with other radio amateurs (for example, through “hunts” for distant and “rare” countries), the fulfillment of qualifying requirements (such as the requirements for receiving an amateur’s license), and the collection of QSL cards. Amateur radio activities began in the USA in 1919. The first amateur radio station in the USSR went on the air on Jan. 15, 1925 (F. A. Lbov and V. M. Petrov, Nizhny Novgorod).

Amateur radio communications can be established when one amateur receives another’s transmission by chance, or they can be arranged by previous agreement. The modes of operation include telegraphy, using Morse code, and telephony, using amplitude, single-side-band, or frequency modulation (at meter wavelengths). In amateur radio communications, particularly in telegraphic operation, an amateur radio code is frequently used. The amateur usually states his name and city and gives information regarding the intelligibility of the communications, the strength and quality of the signal, weather conditions, and the transmitting and receiving equipment used. During competitions, the transmitted information is limited to control data (numerals). As a rule, these data include an evaluation of the signal and the order number of the communication.

REFERENCES

Kazanskii, I. V. Radiosport v pervichnoi organizatsii DOSAAF. Moscow, 1971.
Kazanskii, I. V. Kak slat’ korotkovolnovikom. Moscow, 1972.
Stepanov, B. G. Spravochnik korotkovolnovika. Moscow, 1974.
Reglament radiosviazi. Moscow, 1975.

I. V. KAZANSKII