Amateur radio

Summary

Amateur Radio can be described as a public service and as a hobby for millions of people worldwide by use of the public airwaves that is primarily self-regulating and receives access to certain frequencies through telecommunications agencies such as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). Organizations such as the (ARRL) Amateur Radio Relay League in the United States, and the (RAC) Radio Amateurs of Canada in Canada are responsible for the efficient use of the bandwidth provided through their respective telecommunications regulation agencies. Amateurs use a wide variety of modes to communicate to other amateurs across the globe. Modes are typically divided into two categories, Phone, Digital, and Image. Phone modes are those where voice is the primary means of communicating, such as (SSB) Single Sideband, or (FM) Frequency Modulation. Digital modes are much like (CW) morse code, where the primary mode of communication is the pattern and arrangement of discrete audio tones such as with (RTTY) Radio Teletype, or more advanced modes such as Packet Radio. Image modes involve the transmission of pictures by means of either a digital or analog method. (SSTV) Slow Scan Television is a popular way of transmitting images over lower frequency bands, in higher bands (ATV) Amateur Television is becoming a more sophisticated alternative allowing for real time video to be transmitted over UHF and VHF bands.