Ham Radio For Dummies, 3rd Edition

Chapter 2

Getting a Handle on Ham Radio Technology

IN THIS CHAPTER

Getting familiar with ham radio gear

Discovering radio waves

Understanding the effects of nature on ham radio

Ham radio covers a lot of technological territory — one of its most attractive features. To get the most out of ham radio, you need to have a general understanding of the technology that makes ham radio work.

In this chapter, I cover the most common terms and ideas that form the foundation of ham radio. If you want, skip ahead to read about what hams do and how we operate our radios; then come back to this chapter when you need to explore a technical idea.

Getting to Know Basic Ham Radio Gear

Although the occasional vintage vacuum-tube radio still glows in a ham’s station, today’s ham radios are sleek, microprocessor-controlled communications centers, as you see in this section.

Basic station

The basic radio is composed of a receiver combined with a transmitter to make a transceiver, which hams call a rig. (Mobile radios are called rigs too.) If the rig doesn’t use AC line power directly, a power supply provides the DC voltage and current.

The topmost image in Figure 2-1 shows the equipment in a station ...