Ham Radio's Cutting Edge Technology

Can you imagine being on an ocean beach during a storm and listening to the roar of the waves hitting the beach. Can you then imagine someone whispering to you at 1/100th the volume of the ocean waves. You probably wouldn't hear it, would you? Well, in a way, that's what Hams (Amateur Radio Operators) are doing on the short wave bands.

Most all of us have listened to a short wave radio at one time or another. The noise or hiss that's heard when there are no signals is there all the time. Even on broadcast radios. The Hams are decoding digital signals that are up to 1/100th the level of this short wave noise. Or in other words, signals that are way below the noise level.

To decode these very weak signals requires the Hams to interface their computers to their radios and then run some software that analysis the audio received. The software then detects the signal and decodes it. Using this method enables Hams to send and receive messages over thousands of miles that would not be possible otherwise.

Interfacing computers to radios and using sophisticated software makes the difficult common. Hams are even bouncing signals off the Moon and meteor trails to communicate with other Hams.

You too can become part of this Ham community and use some of this cutting edge technology. Use Google to locate and contact a local Ham club to find out how.