In the second part of my visit to the headquarters of the National Association for Amateur Radio we get on the air at W1AW station and make my first international contact. Following that we take a look at what the ARRL envisions to be the new digital future for amateur radio.
Some may consider amateur radio an obsolete technology given all of the ways we can connect to others over the Internet. Unlike the Internet nobody owns amateur radio and it’s relatively easy to reach people over super long distances with nothing more than a low cost radio and a wire in a tree. As I’m typing this I’m remotely logged into a PC in the basement making contacts in South America using a digital mode called FT8.
Working within the limitations of small bits of bandwidth and the physics of radio communications is a ton of fun for those of us who like tinkering with technology.
You can watch my full series on amateur radio and software defined radios here.