Activities
Activities
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this great hobby is its flexibility. It can provide excitement, challenges or relaxation. It all depends upon what the individual operator is looking for. Some of the more popular activities are listed below, together with a brief explanation of what they entail.
Awards : Winning awards is a time honored amateur tradition and for those who enjoy individual pursuits national societies and other organisations offer a wide range of awards ranging from the coveted to the humorous. Perhaps the most popular is the DXCC (DX Century Club) range of awards with the IOTA (Islands On The Air), WAC (Worked All Continents) and the Commonwealth Contest each having their devoted supporters. The WAC award is simple, Work one station in each of the six continents. DXCC is more difficult, You must work at least one station in each of 100 countries
.
Contests : People enjoy the thrill of competition and amateur radio provides all sorts of challenges in the form of operating contests. The bigger contests normally take place at weekends as they can run for anything from 12 to 48 hours but some shorter contests of 2 to3 hours duration may be held on weekday evenings. Contests are scored primarily on the number of stations worked but other factors may also be taken into account.
Direction Finding : DFing is the art of locating a signal or noise source by tracking it with portable receivers and directional antennas. It is fun but also has a practical side in hunting down signals from aircraft emergency locator transmitters and so on.
DXpeditions : This is where groups of amateur radio operators journey to countries with few or no hams, put an amateur radio station on air and make thousands of contacts, often within a few days. .
Nets : A net is simply a group of hams who meet on a particular frequency at a particular time.
Ragchewing : Defined as the fine art of the long contact. This is where old friends get together on air to catch up on current events.
QSL’ing : QSL cards are another amateur tradition. They are sent to confirm that contact was established between two stations and show the callsigns of the stations in contact together with the date and time of the QSO, the mode of transmission used and the signal report received. The QSL card may also state what power level was used in the contact. For many amateurs the receipt of a QSL card is the final courtesy of a QSO. QSL cards confirming contacts made must be produced when claiming ham radio awards.
Rallies and Conventions : Clubs and Societies often organise rallies and conventions where amateurs may meet to discuss current issues affecting the hobby, see and try some of the latest equipment coming on the amateur radio market and buy, sale or exchange radio or radio related gear. (Computer equipment is now also appearing at more and more rallies). Many of theses events are organised as fundraising events by local clubs.
Updated 13 June, 2010 21:33:01 GMT