I have discovered that amateur radio is an adventure in itself. I’ve continued my quest to get an antenna set up, and I’m working on a pitch to the HOA to allow me some latitude in the placement. Ham radio, like practicing law, has a very broad spectrum of activities one can choose from. In law, you can practice Family Law, Corporate Acquisitions and Mergers, Intellectual Property, Personal Injury, Estate Planning or many other paths, all of which are very different, but still have things in common. In ham radio, you can pursue emergency preparedness, use of the radio on hiking or other adventures, travel centered around radio contacts, or just making friends on the air. One group of enthusiasts does Summits On The Air, hiking to peaks where they set up a portable station and try to make contacts with “chasers” from there. Another group does Islands On The Air, and last year during the National Park Service’s 100th anniversary, they set up National Parks On The Air, attempting to broadcast from every national park. Contacts were made from all but about 30 national parks and monuments in the U.S. during the year.
Some people really don’t even talk on the radio much—they are more interested in building and designing things and getting them to work. This won’t come as a surprise, but I am particularly interested in learning about the use of computers with radios, and even in that, there are many avenues. I am also very interested in getting involved in community emergency preparedness. All of these things involve a radio, but they are very different facets of the hobby. I’m just a beginner, so I have a long way to go to even start looking at more esoteric aspects of the hobby, but there are many podcasts, YouTube videos and publications to help. This hobby is one of the things that has been keeping me busy in retirement.
I recently made contact on the air and by email with my local emergency management group, so I will be following up on that in the near future.
