"CQCQCQ, here is BH9EMQ, call frequency on the friend station, receive please reply, over."
One morning, I took my own portable shortwave radio station as usual, set up a portable antenna in the park near the school, turned on the radio frequency to FM to 14Mhz band, and called out to guangdong friends who were 1300 kilometers away.
CQ means seek you; BH9EMQ is my call sign, my ID in the world of radio communications 丨pixabay
After a while, I was surrounded by uncles, aunts, big brothers and sisters who were practicing in the morning, and they took out their mobile phones to shoot this "original and novel" thing. Then, the patrol police sneaked up to me, asked for my operating license, and after checking that it was correct, he told me to "pay attention to safety" and left.
This is the fifth time I've been mistaken for a "spy."
I am a radio amateur, informally known as "HAM" (literally translated as "ham"). The reason we weren't taken away as "spies" was because it was perfectly legal for us to emit radio waves—we needed to get a radio operation certificate and apply for a license. In China, there are 170,000 certified HAM like mine, about 0.01% of the country's population, and nearly 3 million people worldwide.
Amateur radio, not "amateur" at all.
What do the "hams" do?
Ham's activities fall into three main categories: connectivity, competitions, and emergency communications.
Communication is the most important activity of amateur radio, which is simply to use amateur radio to use air waves to communicate with other enthusiasts. The content and form of communication are diverse, mainly voice, image, wireless telegraph (that is, the Morse code in spy movies), and digital mode, and enthusiasts generally exchange necessary information and discuss technology.
When I was a junior in college, as long as I didn't have classes, I would soak in the dormitory to operate the radio station, just to send the signal farther away, and sometimes there would be rare words such as Tonga, Brunei and other countries and regions, major event commemorative radio stations (the call sign of each country and region is the beginning of the wordhead), for example, the just-concluded Winter Olympics memorial station is BY1CRA/WO22.
I am in the dormitory radio equipment 丨 author provided
When a rare call sign appears in the airwaves, indicating that it is from a rare area, a large number of HAMs will immediately flock to it for radio connection. Many competition enthusiasts take pride in collecting the radio words they have passed, just like when we collected the "King of Games" cards when we were children, and the proof methods include QSL cards, ARRL digital communication records, etc.
When you have enough prefixes, you can apply for the appropriate level of award from institutions and websites such as ARRL, QRZ.COM. These awards are like medals, symbols of hamped operational skills.
I received a QSL card with a souvenir letter 丨 the author took
One evening in the summer of 2019, when I was guarding the radio station, I suddenly noticed a signal call from Iceland, and I immediately replied to the call sign and the quality of the signal received, but it lasted for several minutes, and the other party still did not reply. I was impatient.
That's when the sun goes down, when the ionosphere reflects short-wave signals in the atmosphere at its most efficient, and if this signal from as far away as Iceland misses the "window period" of connectivity, it's hard to say when it will be encountered again next time.
I hurried up to the top of the building to rotate the direction of the antenna, and fine-tuned the length of the antenna to resonate to the frequency of the other station, and then ran downstairs to stare at the waterfall of the radio, and the sweat wet the table and could not take care of it. Finally, after 15 minutes of "extreme pulling", the other station finally replied to my call sign and reported my signal quality. The excitement of that moment is still unforgettable.
And a Swedish enthusiast's communication record, her call sign is provided by the author of 3M3LIV 丨
During my two years of short-wave connectivity, I have successfully connected with 149 countries and regions, the easternmost republic of Montenegro, the westernmost part of Brazil, the southernmost Antarctic, the northernmost Norway, and some names that have never been heard before, such as the Isle of Man, Ceuta and Melilla.
Of the several ways to connect, my favorite is the FT8 digital mode. FT8 is a digital communication mode that uses computers and radio stations to cooperate with each other, and people communicate with remote station friends through the radio in the form of sending data packets, which is similar to fax. Its advantage lies in its strong immunity to interference and excellent modulation and demodulation mechanism, which can efficiently strip the effective signal from the noise.
With amateur radio, we can even communicate with astronauts on the ISS (International Space Station). But this is a great test of the overall technical level of the radio operator.
Astronaut Reid Wiseman (call sign KF5LKT) connected with HAM in June 2014 丨 NASA
Generally speaking, if astronauts have amateur communication plans, they will be announced in advance at ariss.org, and enthusiasts around the world need to prepare more directivity Yagi antennas and radio equipment, understand their orbital operation through satellite monitoring tools, and call astronauts within a few minutes of iss skipped over themselves on the day of communication, and finally complete the communication.
Yagi antenna 丨 Wikipedia
It should be noted that you can't make small talk with astronauts, such as asking him "what did you eat at noon", because there are still many HAM waiting by the radio, and taking up the frequency for too long is an uncivilized behavior and will be despised by insiders. In radio circles, everyone seems to adhere to one rule: communication should be concise, efficient, and nonsense-free.
In order to improve the efficiency of communication, HAM has also created a set of common English acronyms: GM = Good Morning, 73 = Best Regards, 88 = Love and Kisses, and so on.
If you have a set of equipment that can connect astronauts, you can also receive backhaul data from noAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) weather satellites, and then play back the recorded audio to the computer decoding software, you can get a clear satellite cloud map. You can do a simple "weather forecast" at home.
Although amateur radio is a small circle, it is still constantly attracting enthusiasts who love it. Every year, enthusiastic new HAM flocks to the race field.
Use FT8 mode at home for shortwave communication competition 丨 Author shooting
Whether it is an international or regional event, amateur radio competitions run throughout the year, including competitions organized by global organizations such as the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) and the American Amateur Radio Association (ARRL), as well as regional competitions held by official organizations such as the Amateur Radio Branch of the China Radio Association (CRAC).
Contestants represent their own countries and regions, compete with HAMs around the world, and usually connect as many radio stations and regions as possible at the same time, either individually or collectively.
I also made a video of my experience playing amateur radio and posted it to my B-station channel "HamZone", remembering that there was such a message in the popular message: "At the end of the world, it is up to you to contact each other." ”
The "bottom-pocket" technology in the face of the disaster
Amateur radio is a communication resource scattered among the people and can operate as a separate unit. In the event of sudden catastrophic events, especially when the rest of the modern means of communication are destroyed, it is the means of communication with the highest survival rate and the strongest self-resilience.
Amateur radio stations around the world share frequency resources, there are a certain number of radio stations on the frequency at every moment, and many enthusiasts also have good discrimination ability for weak signals, which makes it easier to respond to distress signals sent by disaster areas.
In 2008, the devastating earthquake disaster in Wenchuan, Sichuan Province, paralyzed communication within a radius of nearly 200 kilometers of the epicenter, and the bad weather conditions prevented the satellite from taking effective pictures, and the information in the hardest-hit areas could not be sent.
Within 12 minutes of the earthquake, HAM in Chengdu established an emergency communication network in the VHF (very high frequency)/UHF (ultra-high frequency) band, quickly learned the direction and situation of the major disasters, and drove to the earthquake area with amateur radio equipment.
Figure | Unsplash
(VHF / UHF frequency band is the frequency band used by intercoms and car radios, the antenna is easy to set up, plug and play, and it is compatible with military and government radio frequencies upwards, and can talk to ordinary consumer walkie-talkies downwards)
In the following days, HAM from other parts of Sichuan, Beijing, Henan, Jiangsu, Hong Kong and other places also formed a squad and drove to the scene of the hard-hit area to set up a temporary VHF/UHF amateur relay station to provide communication services for the rescue through mobile radio. In many areas such as Hanwang, amateur radio became the first platform for radio emergency command communication and information release systems opened after the earthquake.
Later, the American Amateur Radio Association awarded the 2008 Humanitarian Medal to amateur radio amateurs in China and Sichuan Province.
The advantages of amateur radios are the flexibility of the configuration and the relatively standardized degree of organization. When basic communications are not working properly due to disasters, people can still use local amateur radios to transmit large amounts of information.
In July last year, when a heavy rainstorm broke out in Zhengzhou, the city suddenly lost the Internet, and Internet applications such as payment, taxi, and hotel reservations failed almost instantaneously.
At that time, the amateur emergency frequency was activated immediately as part of the disaster communication network: the Zhengzhou Radio Administration temporarily coordinated four pairs of emergency communication frequencies for HAM, which were used to cooperate with the actions of the flood prevention and disaster relief department, provide communication services with the permission of the relevant departments, and provide temporary information services for local residents.
How do I become a HAM?
Many people are unfamiliar with the five words "amateur radio": "Radio? Or the amateur kind? ”
Radio, is the use of electromagnetic waves for communication and transmission of signal technology, has long been deeply rooted in every corner of our lives, in addition to the most easily conceived broadcast, "drop" a sound on the successful card bus card, Wi-Fi, and even the satellite of the internet of heaven and earth are built from the radio application.
The name "amateur" is not "unprofessional" but more like "civilian". HAM uses their own radio equipment and antenna feed systems (referred to systems where antennas radiate electromagnetic waves into the surrounding space), voice calls within legally defined radio bands, send Morse codes, discuss technologies, connect competitions, and so on. These activities are purely personal hobbies and cannot be made for profit.
Radiocommunications began in 1897 with Marconi's successful radiocommunications test across the Bristol Strait over a distance of 14 kilometers.
The first radio transmitter built by Marconi could transmit radio signals through Morse code 丨 Wikipedia
Just as cars need traffic rules to a certain extent, invisible and untouchable radio waves need to be regulated. In 1903, amateur radio services were established by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) through the Radio Regulations, in which all countries and territories acceding to the United Nations should negotiate frequency division and communication.
By 1982, the domestic silent collective amateur radio (unit application radio) was allowed to resume, in 1992 the amateur business was fully opened, and in the following twenty years the number of amateur radio stations and operators in the country increased sharply by more than two orders of magnitude, and the popularity expanded rapidly, and since then a large number of enthusiasts, especially young enthusiasts, have continuously entered the HAM ranks.
Up to now, about 170,000 people in China have obtained legal operation procedures at all levels of radio management departments and obtained their own call signs.
The proportion of HAM in the global total丨 Author's chart
More and more people are driving into the wild, but those areas often don't have public networks, so it's essential to buy an on-board radio station to keep information flowing. However, if people want to use radio stations, they must first obtain the "People's Republic of China Amateur Radio Station Operation Certificate", then purchase relevant radio equipment that meets national standards, and submit materials to apply for the "People's Republic of China Radio Station License", which can be officially used after the application is passed.
In 2018, I learned about amateur radio online and immediately decided to become HAM because I was surprised to find that I could explore the world in a way that was completely disconnected from the Internet. One is that radio communications do not require a base station, actually emit radio waves, and do not rely on any network; second, they can pull themselves back from the over-immersion internet.
Domestic regulators and amateur radio associations issued licenses 丨 author shoots
That year, I "swiped" the question bank provided by CRAC's official website, got a Class A operating certificate, assigned it to call signs, and assembled a radio and antenna system, often active over Zone 9. Half a year later, I successfully obtained a B-level operation certificate, which can use more frequency bands, and the communication distance is no longer so limited. I can connect with HAMs around the world.
Amateur Zone Map of China | Amateur Radio Branch of the Radio Association of China
Some people jokingly call radio an "infinity mat", and after buying an entry-level hand station and radio station, they will continue to pursue more advanced equipment. In three years, I spent about thirty thousand dollars on the equipment.
Gandhi and Zhou Haiying both have call signs, not the whole one?
"Is it that the mobile phone is inconvenient, or the computer is not good, what is the use of these things?"
Such questions often appear in the ears of HAM people. Compared with today's high-speed and convenient mobile communication networks, amateur radios are so "primitive". The Radio Society of Great Britain made a video interview with HAM, and one interviewee said what I thought: "I like amateur radio because I want to have a better perception of advanced technology. We spend a lot of time on smartphones and computers, often not knowing exactly how they work. ”
Wrapped up in technology, a lot of things are encapsulated. For example, artificial intelligence, one of the most famous black boxes of technology in this era, controls the flow of information on mobile phones and controls the user's attention, but most people do not understand what its essence is.
Many HAM in the process of "playing" found that at first it was just to transmit radio signals, but in retrospect, they will realize that they have learned a wide-area knowledge of antenna technology, radio frequency circuits, basic physics, communication engineering, computer technology, foreign languages, geography and so on. They understood where their signals came from and where they went. It's not hard to see why HAM is thrilled just because of successful connectivity and simple communication.
Before that, they had spent a lot of time and energy in exchange for the connection, even if it was short, they knew what it meant: that simple, short-lived air contact was actually to open a packaged black box of technology.
This hobby with the word "amateur" has also cultivated countless talents: Mr. Lu Xun's son, Mr. Zhou Haiying, who loved amateur radio stations as a child, was admitted to the radio major of the Department of Physics of Peking University in 1952, and his call sign was BA1CY, "Indian Mahatma" Gandhi, call sign UA1LO; Sony founder Akio Morita, call sign JP1DPJ; Nobel Laureate Professor Martin Ryle, call sign G3CY.
Above is a good electromagnetic environment of the radio waterfall chart, clean spectrum is light blue; below is the electromagnetic environment in my place, interfering with the | the author provided the picture
I live in Xi'an City, which has a population of tens of millions, and electromagnetic interference is very serious. What is less well known is that people like inferior electric vehicle chargers and switch power supplies for shop numbers are all sources of interference. Because such devices generally do not do the corresponding electromagnetic shielding process to save costs, the stray signals they produce will "full-band blocking" interference with our commonly used radio wave frequencies. Many of the airwave signals of HAM are also drowned in frequencies.
A small electric vehicle charger can affect hundreds of meters in all directions at extremes. When the epidemic first broke out in 2020, I moved the shortwave radio station to my home in Xi'an, and the electromagnetic interference of the community could even drown out the signal of the Central Radio Station at night.
Shortwave radio stations are set up outdoors for communication| courtesy of BG7XWF
Some HAM, which pursues an excellent signal-to-noise ratio, will "escape" from the urban area and carry dozens of kilograms of equipment to the coastline, reservoirs, national natural parks and other places around the city to set up a platform connection. Many people jokingly call amateur radio "simply a sport."
Later, I couldn't stand the electromagnetic interference of the city and sold the short-wave equipment. When I have a stable place to live after graduation, I will get the radio back. Looking forward to meeting you in the air.
BY BH9EMQ
bibliography
[1] Part of the data is from http://www.iaru.org/
[2] Radio Regulations https://www.itu.int/pub/R-REG-RR-2016
[3] The Measures for the Administration of Amateur Radio Stations http://www.gov.cn/flfg/2012-11/08/content_2260255.htm
[4] "Striving for Recognition, Promoting Development Together: The 40th Anniversary of the Resumption of Amateur Radio Activities" http://www.crac.org.cn/News/Detail?ID=9b8f95fdd9814a628f34440dc9caea84
[5] "Research Report and Overall Scheme of Amateur Radio Subsystem of Public Emergency Information Radio Release System" http://www.crac.org.cn/wp-content/uploads/2014/04
[6] The Introduction to Amateur Radio http://www.bjtzh.gov.cn/bjtz/n644/n8895306/n8898237/c8899064/content.html
[7] Temporarily coordinated emergency communication frequencies 4 pairs, and the Zhengzhou Radio Administration supported flood prevention and disaster relief https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/Z_WP_nYf_bYAFTvWtE1zyQ
[8] Tong Xiaoyong; CHEN Fang. Amateur Radiocommunications Fourth Edition. Beijing: People's Post and Telecommunications Press.] 2015 [2017-07-07]. ISBN 9787115386359. OCLC 953252675
[9] Ward, Silver, H.; Debra, Johnson. What do hams do?. The ARRL Ham Radio License Manual Third edition. Newington, CT: American Radio Relay League. 2016: 1–8 [2018-08-20]. ISBN 9781625950130. OCLC 883414262
[10] Hawaii's False Alarm Missile Threat Highlights Use of Ham Radio | NBC Left Fieldhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dO09aMGMizM
[11] 1901 Marconi Demonstrates His Telegram Machine www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsiAwqyTVNo
[12] Wars in the history of Chinese Army www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Z99xOfLWaI
[13] Amateur Radio - a 21st Century Hobby https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8x6x_6mDVlQ
Author: Li Yanping
Edit: biu
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