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What is amateur radio? — edited Aug 29, 2026 by Unknown editor
This is the first recorded version, so every line is shown as added. Note: Imported from content/wiki
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Amateur radio — "ham radio" — is a radio service set aside by international treaty and, in the
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United States, licensed by the Federal Communications Commission. Licensees may build, modify and
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operate their own transmitters on frequency bands from below the AM broadcast band to the
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microwave region, and may communicate directly with other amateurs anywhere in the world with no
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network, subscription or carrier in between.
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## What makes it different from other radio
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- **You are the operator, not a customer.** No account, no monthly fee, no company that can turn
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the service off.
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- **You may build and modify equipment.** Amateurs are explicitly permitted to design and use
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homemade transmitters, which is unusual in radio regulation.
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- **It is non-commercial.** You may not be paid to pass messages and may not use the bands to
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conduct business.
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- **It is a service, not just a hobby.** The FCC's stated basis for the service includes
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emergency communication, technical training and international goodwill.
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## What it sounds like in practice
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A handheld radio talking through a hilltop repeater to cover a whole county. A wire antenna in a
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back yard reaching Europe on 20 metres. A laptop decoding a signal from New Zealand that is too
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weak to hear. A club providing communications for a marathon. A student tracking a satellite with
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a hand-held antenna. All of that is one license.
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## Where to go next
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- [Why get licensed](/wiki/getting-started/why-get-licensed)
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- [What you can do with a license](/wiki/getting-started/what-you-can-do)
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- [Licensing](/wiki/licensing) — the exam, the FRN and the paperwork