I scored a plastic bag worth of free HAM-related books on a recent visit to the local public library. The books and magazines were free due to the publication dates ranging from 1965-1985.
Thumbing through an FCC self-study guide I recognized similar test questions that appeared on the Amateur Radio Technician test I took in 2004. Questions covered were over electronics theory, radio wave propagation, FCC rules/regulations, and antenna design. Amazingly the information was just as relevant today as it was 20-40 years back.
I started reading an Amateur Radio Novice examination book and found the electronics theory sections to be very well written and easily understood. It was literally a sense of nostalgia reading dated material on the Novice license which is now obsolete. I found the illustrations and electronics explanations to be very enlightening. This is coming from someone who has read countless electronics books (GE, ARRL, IEEE, DOD, Naval, and Air Force manuals). I concluded that this book was written for readers with little to no electronics background. In other words, the material was presented in a way to educate inexperienced readers on electronic ideas - the likes of which they had never seen or heard of. I'm talking about foundational information.
Here's an interesting observation: one magazine booklet (CQ Magazine) had articles that were relevant to today's HAMS. For example, I read of a California HAM who received a permit to erect a 50 foot tower, but the city later recanted it after a majority of the community opposed the permit. Turning to today's headlines, last month's QST magazine (printed by the ARRL) ran an article covering a HAM who had received a tower erection permit that was later recanted after neighbors complained. The ARRL was planning to provide legal and financial services to fight the city.
Another article I read, and that hit closer to home, was on the playing of chess over the radio (73 Magazine). I had written about radio chess over on QRZ.COM and even supplied rules that I had collected from yet another HAM a few years back. It was refreshing to see that my ideas were shared by HAMS whom I consider to be pioneers of radio.
And for my final example, there was of course a two-page spread (CQ Magazine) detailing how a heroic HAM assisted in locating and medivacing a sick person from another country. This ties in with a recently well-publicised story of a mountain hiker who had fallen and broken his leg. Luckily the hiker was a HAM who had his QRP rig with him. He used Morse code to contact another HAM and request help. This other HAM was located in another state and relayed information between the injured HAM and the rescue teams.
I guess what I am trying to convey is that when you become a HAM it's like being inducted into a prestigious group filled with brilliant men, women, and even children who share in the same successes, frustrations, insights, and nostalgia of everything that is encompassed by HAM radio. This happens because the foundation of the group is based on rock-solid laws and theories in electronics. So while the equipment and components mature (or shrink for that matter) over time, the understanding and knowledge to use, make, and understand them will always stay the same.
Deion "Mule" Christopher
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4 days ago
