Not your Grandfather's Ham Radio

Abstract

Scratch any older electronics or telecommunications professional and there’s a good chance you’ll find an Amateur Radio operator. Amateur Radio operators of our fathers or grandfathers era typically set-up transmitting stations in sheds down the backyard with wire antennas strung between the trees. Talking to people around the world on HF amateur bands was cool then, as even a phone call interstate was tricky; you needed to book a time with the telephone trunk operator, and it cost a small fortune. The more adventurous amateurs experimented with frequencies above 30MHz, and many pushed the limits of the available technology. In 1947, an Australian amateur (VK5KL) made a two-way contact on 50MHz with an amateur in Hawaii (W7ACS/KH6), a path of 9000 km. That was esoteric stuff - how times have changed!