Online Trumpet Lessons

Amateur Radio

Nobody knows when Amateur Radio operators were first called "hams", but we do know that Amateur Radio is as old as the history of radio itself. In 1912, the United States of America's Congress passed the first laws regulating radio transmissions in the USA. By 1914, amateur experimenters were communicating nation-wide, and setting up a system to relay messages from coast to coast.

I have been a "Ham" since I was in eighth grade in 1982. My first Novice Class call sign was KA6VWY at the time when Morse Code was still required for every class of radio license. (Morse Code is still a necessary mode of communication.) I kept my Novice Call Sign until earning my Advanced Class license, while in my Freshman year in high school. It wasn't until after college that I finally increased my Morse Code speed in order to pass the 20 Words Per Minute exam that was required at that time. I then changed my call sign to my current Extra Class Call Sign, which is AC6IW.

This is a great hobby with a great community of helpful people worldwide. Hams continue to provide needed communication help in all the world's great disasters. It is my desire that other people will see the value in this great hobby and service. There is no other form of communication that allows you to communicate worldwide despite power failure, telephone failure, internet failure and even local emergency personnel communication failure.

Amateur Radio Relay League
Federal Communications Commission