Apakah itu Radio Amatur?

Sepuluh Perkara yang anda perlu tahu berkenaan Radio Amatur (dipetik dari risalah MCMC) Radio Amatur atapun juga dikenali sebagai Ham Radio ialah hobi berkenaan membina, menguji-kaji dan berkomunikasi melalui radio. Pengguna-pengguna Radio Amatur ini saling berhubung dengan rakan-rakan mereka seluruh dunia melalui beberapa set-set frekuensi radio yang telah ditetapkan. Bilakah Radio Amatur bermula? Sejarah Radio Amatur ini telah bermula semenjak perhubungan radio digunakan. Pada tahun 1912, Kongress Amerika Syarikat telah meluluskan undang-undang pertama bagi mengawal selia pemancaran radio di Amerika Syarikat. Bermula 1914, pengguna Radio Amatur telah mula berkomunikasi dan mengadakan satu system penghantaran mesej di antara mereka. Di Malaysia, radio amatur merupakan titik bermulanya perkhidmatan radio komersil. Apakah yang boleh saya lakukan dengan Radio Amatur? Tidak seperti teknologi perhubungan lain, Radio Amatur membolehkan anda berhubung dari mana-mana tempat, pada setiap masa! Pada waktu-waktu bencana, Radio Amatur amat berguna, terutamanya kepada agensi-agensi penyelamat. Pada ketika lain, anda juga kadang kala boleh bercakap dengan para angkasawan atau membalikkan isyarat dari bulan! Anda juga boleh menghantar fail ataupun gambar secara digital. Adakah hobi lain yang menyediakan sebegitu ciri sepertinya? Saya sentiasa sibuk. Adakah saya masih boleh menikmati hobi ini? Sudah tentu! Hobi ini tidak terikat kepada sesuatu masa, tempat dan pendapatan seseorang. Memandangkan ianya mudah dikendalikan, ramai yang sentiasa sibuk mendapati ianya seronok digunakan dan mengurangkan tekanan selepas seharian bekerja. Anda dan juga keluarga anda juga boleh menikmati dan mempelajari hobi ini. Apakah perbelanjaan yang diperlukan bagi hobi ini? Sebuah radio bersaiz telapak tangan yang baru mungkin sama harganya dengan satu TV 19 inci yang berkos rendah. Radio yang lebih besar adalah sama kosnya dengan satu komputer.

Selain dari itu, bahan-bahan pembelajaran berkenaan Radio Amatur adalah berpatutan dan yuran peperiksaan bagi mendapatkan Sijil Perakuan juga adalah rendah. Secara alternatif, sekiranya anda cenderung untuk menguji-kaji, seperti kebanyakaan pengguna Radio Amatur atau Ham Radio, anda boleh membuat unit Ham Radio anda sendiri. Siapa yang boleh membantu saya?

Kelab-kelab Radio Amatur terdapat di seluruh Malaysia dan bersedia untuk membantu anda. Ada di antara kelab-kelab tersebut mempunyai halaman web yang mengandungi maklumat mengenai hobi tersebut. Bagaimana saya boleh menjadi seorang operator Radio Amatur? Hanya mereka yang telah diperakukan boleh mengendalikan sesuatu alat Radio Amatur. Bagi mendapatkan Sijil Perakuan, anda haruslah warganegara Malaysia berusia 14 tahun ke atas dan lulus ujian-ujian berikut: * Ujian Teori Radio dan Kefahaman Peraturan Radio bagi Sijil Perakuan Kelas B; atau * Ujian Kod Morse dan ujian-ujian teori dan radio di atas bagi Sijil Perakuan Kelas A.

Siapakah yang mengeluarkan Sijil Perakuan itu? Sijil Perakuan tersebut dikeluarkan oleh Suruhanjaya Komunikasi dan Multimedia Malaysia kepada mereka-mereka yang telah lulus ujian yang diadakan. Adakah saya perlu membayar yuran? Ya, Sijil Perakuan tersebut haruslah diperbaharui setiap tahun. Yuran tahunan bagi Sijil Perakuan Kelas A adalah sebanyak RM36 dan bagi Sijil Perakuan Kelas B, yurannya adalah RM24 setahun. Apakah yang boleh saya pelajari sebagai permulaan? Anda boleh memulakan pelajaran anda dengan mempelajari fonetiks abjad yang digunakan oleh pengguna-pengguna Radio Amatur di seluruh dunia!

Abjad yang----------------Kod digunakan------------------Cara sebutan A-------------------------------Alfa--------------------------AL FAH B-------------------------------Bravo------------------------BRAH VO C------------------------------Charlie-----------CHAR LEE atau SHAR LEE D-------------------------------Delta-------------------------DELL TA E-------------------------------Echo-------------------------ECK OH F-------------------------------Foxtrot----------------------FOKS TROT G-------------------------------Golf-------------------------GOLF H-------------------------------Hotel------------------------HOH TEL I--------------------------------India------------------------IN DEE AH J-------------------------------Juliet----------------------JEW LEE ETT K------------------------------Kilo--------------------------KEY LOH L-------------------------------Lima------------------------LEE MAH M-------------------------------Mike------------------------MIKE N-----------------------------November-----------------NO VEM BER O------------------------------Oscar------------------------OSS CAH P------------------------------Papa-------------------------PAH PAH Q------------------------------Quebec----------------------KEH BECK R------------------------------Romeo-----------------------ROW ME OH S-------------------------------Sierra----------------------SEE AIR RAH T------------------------------Tango-----------------------TANG GO U------------------------------Uniform------------------YOU NEE FORM V------------------------------Viktor-----------------------VIK TAH W-----------------------------Whiskey---------------------WISS KEY X-----------------------------X-Ray------------------------ECKS RAY Y-----------------------------Yangkee---------------------YANG KEY Z-------------------------------Zulu----------------------ZOO LOO

History of amateur radio

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Throughout the history of amateur radio, amateur radio enthusiasts have made significant contributions to science, engineering, industry, and social services. Research by amateur radio operators has founded new industries,[1] built economies,[2] empowered nations,[3] and saved lives[4] in times of emergency. Amateur radio is a hobby and, by law, completely non-commercial. Individual amateur "ham" radio operators pursue the avocation for personal pleasure through building their own radio stations and communicating with their fellows globally, and for self-improvement via study and practice of electronics, computers, and radio and TV wave behavior. Radio amateurs are, thus, "amateurs" in the true sense of the word: pursuit of an activity only for the love of it. Radio amateurs can not broadcast or transmit music and other general public entertainment programming. The amateur radio use of the air waves is for personal satisfaction and for forwarding the "state of the art" of electronics and communication techniques. Amateur radio operations can be detected in designated bands throughout the radio spectrum, using a variety of modulation methods including Morse code, voice and digital modes, and image modes such as television and facsimile.

Beginnings[edit]
The birth of amateur radio and radio in general was mostly associated with various amateur experimenters. There are many contenders to being the inventor of radio, that honor has been disputed between not only the original experimenters, Heinrich Rudolf Hertz (1888), Nikola Tesla,[5] and Guglielmo Marconi, but also Amos Dolbear, Reginald Fessenden, James Clerk Maxwell, Sir Oliver Lodge, Mahlon Loomis, Nathan Stubblefield,[6] and Alexander Popov.[7] In the beginning of 1895, Tesla was able to detect signals from the transmissions of his New York lab at West Point (a distance of 50 miles).[8] Marconi demonstrated the transmission and reception of Morse Code based radio signals over a distance of two or more kilometers (and up to six kilometers) on Salisbury Plain in England in 1896. Marconi, by 1899, sent wireless messages across the English Channel and, according to his reports, the first transatlantic transmission (1902).[9] Following Marconi's experiments (19001908) many people began experimenting with radio. Communications were made in Morse Code by use of spark gap transmitters. These first operators were the pioneers of amateur radio.[10] In 1910, the Amateurs of Australia formed the first radio society, now the Wireless Institute of Australia.

RMS Titanic (April 2, 1912).

In 1912 after the RMS Titanic sank, the United States Congress passed the Radio Act of 1912[9] which restricted private stations to wavelengths of 200 meters or shorter (1500 kHz or higher).[11] These "short wave" frequencies were generally considered useless at the time, and the number of radio hobbyists in the U.S. is estimated to have dropped by as much as

88%.[12] Other countries followed suit and by 1913 the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea was convened and produced a treaty requiring shipboard radio stations to be manned 24 hours a day. The Radio Act of 1912 also marked the beginning of U.S. federal licensing of amateur radio operators and stations. The origin of the term "ham", as a synonym for an amateur radio operator, was a taunt by professional operators.[13][14][15]

World War I[edit]

By 1917, World War I had put a stop to amateur radio. In the United States, Congress ordered all amateur radio operators to cease operation and even dismantle their equipment.[16] These restrictions were lifted after World War I ended, and the amateur radio service restarted on October 1, 1919.
German amateur radio and ski enthusiast in 1924

In 1921, a challenge was issued by American hams to their counterparts in the United Kingdom to receive radio contacts from across the Atlantic. Soon, many American stations were beginning to be heard in the UK, shortly followed by a UK amateur being heard in the US in December 1922. November 27, 1923 marked the first transatlantic two-way contact between American amateur Fred Schnell and French amateur Leon Deloy.[17] Shortly after, the first two way contact between the UK and USA was in December 1923, betweenLondon and West Hartford, Connecticut.[18] In the following months 17 American and 13 European amateur stations were communicating. Within the next year, communications between North and South America; South America and New Zealand; North America and New Zealand; and London and New Zealand were being made.[19] These international Amateur contacts helped prompt the first International Radiotelegraph Conference, held in Washington, DC, USA in 1927-28.[9] At the conference, standard international amateur radio bands of 80/75,40, 20 and 10 meters and radio callsign prefixes were established by treaty. In 1933 Robert Moore, W6DEI, begins single-sideband voice experiments on 75 meter lower sideband. By 1934, there were several ham stations on the air using single-sideband.[20]

World War II[edit]

During the German occupation of Poland, the priest Fr. Maximilian Kolbe, SP3RN was arrested by the Germans.[21] The Germans believed his amateur radio activities were somehow involved in espionage[22] and he was transferred to Auschwitz on May 28, 1941. After some prisoners escaped in 1941, the Germans ordered that 10 prisoners be killed in retribution. Fr. Kolbe was martyred when he volunteered to take the place of one of the condemned men. On October 10, 1982 he was canonized by Pope John Paul II as Saint Maximilian Kolbe, Apostle of Consecration to Mary and declared a Martyr of charity.[21] He is considered the Patron saint of Amateur radio operators.[22]

Two radios in the ARC-5 series. Unit on the left is a BC-453-B, covering 190-530 kHz; the one on the right is a BC-454-E, covering 3-6 MHz. Both have been modified for Amateur Radio use by replacing the front connector with a small control panel.

Again during World War II, as it had done during the first World War, the United States Congress suspended all amateur radio operations.[11] With most of the American amateur radio operators in the armed forces at this time, the US government created the War emergency radio service which would remain active through 1945. After the War the amateur radio service began operating again, with many hams converting war surplus radios, such as theARC-5, to amateur use.

Post war era[edit]

A U.S. Postage Stamp from 1964, commemorating amateur radio.

In 1947 the uppermost 300 kHz segment of the world allocation of the 10 meter band from 29.700 MHz to 30.000 MHz was taken away from amateur radio. During the 1950s, hams helped pioneer the use of single-sideband modulation for HF voice communication.[23] In 1961 the first orbital amateur radio satellite (OSCAR) was launched. Oscar I would be the first of a series of amateur radio satellites created throughout the world.[24] Ham radio enthusiasts were instrumental in keeping U.S. Navy personnel stationed in Antarctica in contact with loved ones back home during the International Geophysical Year during the late 1950s.[25]

U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer Adrey Garret uses a ham radio at Williams Air Operating Facility during the 1956 winter. Ham radio was the only means of voice communication with friends and family back in the U.S. for navy personnel living and working in Antarctica in the days before satellite telephone technology became common.

Late 20th century[edit]

At the 1979 World administrative radio conference in Geneva, Switzerland, three new amateur radio bands were established:30 meters, 17 meters and 12 meters.[26] Today, these three bands are often referred to as the WARC bands by hams. During the Falklands War in 1982, Argentine forces seized control of the phones and radio network on the islands and had cut off communications with London. Scottish amateur radio operator Les Hamilton, GM3ITN[27][28] was able to relay crucial information from fellow hams Bob McLeod and Tony Pole-Evans on the islands to British military intelligence in London, including the details of troop deployment, bombing raids, radar bases and military activities.[29] However, radio hams usually avoid controversial subjects and political situations and discussions as a part of the code of politeness of radio communications. Major contributions to communications in the fields of automated message systems and packet radio were made by amateur radio operators throughout the 1980s. These computer controlled systems were used for the first time to distribute communications during and after disasters.[9] American entry-level Novice and Technician class licensees were granted CW and SSB segments on the 10 Meter Band in 1987. The frequency ranges allocated to them are still known today throughout much of the world as the Novice Sub Bands even though it is no longer possible to obtain a Novice class license in the US. Further advances in digital communications occurred in the 1990s as Amateurs used the power of PCs and sound cards to introduce such modes asPSK31 and began to incorporate Digital Signal Processing and Software-defined radio into their activities..

Recent[edit]
For many years, amateur radio operators were required by international agreement to demonstrate Morse Code proficiency in order to use frequencies below 30 MHz. In 2003 the World radiocommunications conference (WRC) met in Geneva, Switzerland, and voted to allow member countries of the International Telecommunications Union to eliminate Morse Code testing if they so wished .[30] On December 15, 2006, the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a Report and Order eliminating all Morse code testing requirements for all American Amateur Radio License applicants, which took effect February 23, 2007.[31] The relaxing of Morse code tests has also occurred in most other countries, resulting in a boosting in the number of radio amateurs world-wide. While there is no longer a requirement for hams to learn "the Code," it remains a popular communications mode. Most of Europe allows licensed operators from other countries to obtain permits to transmit in Europe during visits. Residential permits are available in many countries globally whereby a valid license from one country will be honored by other countries under international treaties. In early 2010, only North Korea had an absolute ban on ham radio operator licenses, although many countries still maintain careful records of ham licensees, and limit their activities and frequency bands and transmit power output.