What can I do if I become a Ham Radio Operator ?    

* Talk around the world - With HF radios hams can talk to other hams in literally any part of the globe.

    * Talk around town - With small portable VHF and UHF transceivers hams enjoy extremely reliable communications within their local community.

    * QRP - Communicating with "very low power" is a challange that many hams enjoy. QRP is usually practiced on the HF bands.

    * Packet radio - The internet over ham radio? Not really ... but ham radio operators enjoy a digital network of their own, all without wires!

    * Internation morse code - Forget it ... You can get a license without knowing one beep or boop of morse code. If you want to, though, it's still allowed.

    * Amateur television - It's just like real television because it is real television.

    * Slow Scan TV - Send pictures around the world for little or no cost.

    * Contests - You can put your radio operating skills up against other hams and teams of hams.

    * Order pizzas - It used to be a long standing joke around ham radio operators about what you can not do over ham radio ... Now it's perfectly legal! You can call you favorite pizzaria on your ham radio and order take-out dinner on the way home from work. Hopefully you'll use your radio less for calling your doctor, the police, emergeny road-side assistance, 911 and other telephone-linked services.

    * Emergency and other volunteer services - Floods, huricanes, mudslides, earthquakes, ice storms ... when ever `normal' communcations go out, hams are ready to use their radios to provide emergency communication services to their communites.

    * Satelite communications - Hams have their own satelites ... really! (Amateur's satelites are easy to use too.

    * Traffic handling - "Ham telegrams" are used to send messages to people around the world at no cost to the sender or the recipient; all done by ham radio operators volunteering their time and resorces.

The RCARC is a fun place