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IST 605: Amateur Radio (HAM)

ARRL-What is Ham Radio

This source gives a brief overview of amateur radio and connects you to information that is helpful to any level of knowledge. The ARRL (The American Radio Relay League) has a reputable history spanning to the early years of amateur radio in 1914. They are a non-profit organization that represents the interests of amateur radio operators. The ARRL is also a big promoter in the hobby, offering educational tools and services to clubs and people around the country. What makes this source great for beginners is that it also includes two videos that talk about the hobby and the fun community around it. From the outside, amateur radio seems very technical, and yes, it can be, but these videos also show how much joy comes from the community around it. There is a lot of information, with most focused on educating people about getting licensed and understanding regulations. Overall, this makes it a reliable reference on such topics. It covers most of the important topics within its scope well, but it can be hard sometimes to navigate its aging website layout. 

Red Cross Call in Puerto Rico

HAM - Official Documentary

This short documentary interviews amateur radio operators and explores what made them interested in the hobby and why they love the community surrounding it. Throughout the video it also shows the many disciplines within amateur radio such voice, morse code, and satellite pinging. For people new to amateur radio it shows the wide scope amateur radio entails and the possibilities with this technology. It also covers some of the challenges in the community as less younger people are getting involved in the hobby. This is a good video to introduce to people new to the hobby. Only criticism is it would of been nice to see some links to resources for getting started with amateur radio in the description.

Ham Radio's Technical Culture by Kristen Haring

This book gives a history of amateur radio culture with less focus on the technical side of the hobby. It explores topics on how this hobby was formed and why people are so attracted to the amateur radio community. This look into the history of amateur radio is a good source for people curious about how amateur radio has evolved through the decades and how it came to be what it is today. Its main limitation is that it does not provide much knowledge on the technical side of amateur radio, so it won't be a good source for answering those kinds of questions.

Ham Radio Call Signs

Becoming licensed means you are assigned a callsign that's used to address yourself on the air. This website provides information on how callsigns are generated and their origins. They have an accompanying video as well that shares the same information. This is a useful and not too in-depth overview of callsigns that's good for beginners and as a reference to look back on. The main limitation of this source is that much of the other material on this website costs money to access. That is to say, the information they block behind a paywall can be found elsewhere online. I would Google "ham radio practice exams" or "amateur radio practice exams" if you want to find those kinds of resources.