Wilbraham Peach Festival Amateur

HAM RADIO

Representatives of MTARA
(Mt. Tom Amateur Radio Association and HCRA - Hampden County Radio Association)
will be at the Peach Festival all weekend! Come on down and meet them!

What is Amateur Radio?

Amateur Radio is a communications hobby that can take you in many directions. You can talk to your friend across the street or on the other side of town. You can make a friend anywhere around the world. You can use your voice, send pictures, or use digital communications. You can also build your own equipment and experiment with electronics. It's a hobby that fits many different people with many different interests and abilities.

Who's the Typical Ham?

Amateur Radio operators come from all walks of life — movie stars, missionaries, doctors, students, politicians, truck drivers and just plain folks. They are all ages, sexes, income levels and nationalities. They say Hello to the world in many languages and many ways. But whether they prefer Morse code on an old brass telegraph key, voice communication on a hand-held radio, or computerized messages transmitted via satellite, they all have an interest in what's happening in the world, and they use radio to reach out.

Is your neighbor a Ham?

There are 35 licensed Hams in Wilbraham alone. There are 650,000 amateur radio licenses in the United States and more than 2.5 million worldwide. Although most of the day-to-day conversations dwell on friendly talk, our hobby is rooted in emergency communications. Amateur radio operators play an important part in the nation's emergency services network. During severe summer thunderstorms, Hams help the National Weather Service report local conditions and damage and the verify images provided by radar.

Where Do I Get More Information? The best ways to learn about Amateur Radio is to talk to hams face-to-face. Hams take pride in their ability to "Elmer" (teach) newcomers the ropes to get them started in the hobby. There is probably an Amateur Radio club near you that Will welcome your interest. (There are forty-eight radio clubs in Massachusetts, eleven in Western Mass.) The American radio Relay League (www.arrl.net) has a wealth of information.