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34 | LIFE IN SOLERA | JANUARY 2022 | Amateur radio is a hobby for people who like to talk using radio transmitters. Many people enjoy using amateur radio to talk to other amateur radio hobbyists in other countries; I personally have contacted radio operators in Canada and Japan from my home in Solera. Amateur radio is often called Ham Radio. People use their amateur radios for fun. Those who use radios are called amateur radio operators, hams, or amateurs. Why do they call it Ham Radio? The word "HAM" applied to a group of radio pioneers in 1908. The first amateur wireless station in American was operated by amateurs of the Harvard College Radio Club. They were Albert S. Hyman, Bob Almy And Poogie Murray. They decided to use only the first letter of each name to identify their radio station name or callsign as "HAM." There are many ways to have fun with Amateur Radio. Operators participate in radio games and contests. Amateur Radio operators try to talk with as many others as possible. They mail each other postcards called QSL cards to confirm the contact. Contesters may try to see how far they can talk, or to how many different people they can talk to. Some radio operators hide a transmitter, which sends out a radio signal; others will try to find it using radio receivers. This is called radio direction finding, Fox Hunting or Radio Sport. Sometimes the event is done with cars, or as a foot race. Such games sharpen the skills necessary to use in locating stranded victims in the desert or a lost hiker in our local mountains; I participated in such a rescue in the Big Bear area last year. Amateur radio operators can talk to each other with their voice, others use telegraph devices, computers, or television signals. Most use shortwave radio signals and bounce them off the atmosphere. Some bounce off the moon or a satellite. Amateur radio satellites are called OSCAR's - Orbital Satellites Carrying Amateur Radio. Hams can also talk to astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS). This article was brought to you by Ray C. Gayton-Jacob (N6KZM) of the "SOLERA RADIO CLUB." Club members are poised to provide communications options when critical systems become inoperable. "When All Else Fails – Think: Radio Communications." Learn more about the club, at http://www.soleraradio.com/ or send a message to hams@soleraradio.com RADIO CLUB

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