Hams Across the Water

A ham flips on his transmitter and calls "CQ! CQ! This is BV2A Bravo Victor Two Alpha standing by." His voice travels up through the antenna and zips out into space electromagnetic waves.

The international name for these radio enthusiasts is "ham." Around the world there are at present about two million hams, including twelve new members from Taiwan.

This kind of broadcasting is not like that of regular commercial broadcasting systems, which entertain their audiences all day and all night long with music, interviews, and news programs. Rather, it is simply a matter of people from different nations using transmitters and receivers to make friends over the air. How, then, do hams come in contact with each other?

In principle, it is similar to listening to a report on the radio. Every ham is a broadcasting station, except that instead of having his own frequency, he shares a number of frequencies with all other hams. Because of this, when scanning the frequencies, a ham has only to "bump" into another ham and they can start talking. Each frequency can have more than two hams talking at the same time; but ham etiquette dictates "first come first served," so anyone who joins an occupied frequency will have to wait his turn.

The language of communication among hams is usually English, so a command of English is necessary for anyone who wants to operate a ham station. In addition, hams should also be proficient in sending and decoding morse code. After transmitting his message, a ham must transmit his QSL as proof of his having a ham license.

The country with the most ham operators is Japan, with over 700,000. Next is the United States, with over 600,000. Among them are 12-year-old novices as well as 83-year-old veterans. In the U.S., a 12-year-old can get a ham operating license, though licenses are divided into five classes, depending on operating ability. Hams have many of their own clubs, and often hold all kinds of competitions. There are also ham trade magazines.

Compared to most other countries, the ROC is still in the beginning stages of ham operation. There have been hams in the ROC since the thirties. For some reasons, when the government moved to Taiwan in 1949, there was not any ham station set up. In 1957 the Chinese Society for the Promotion of Radio Communication was founded. It established a "committee for amateur radio," and in 1960 set up the first amateur radio broadcasting station--BV2A--on the island. This station, however, could only use morse code to communicate with the rest of the world. The second station, BV2B, established in 1974, enabled spoken communication with other operators. These stations have been broadcasted only by the ROC's first ham, Tim Chen, tells how, when BV2B opened, he was so thirsty to speak to others that he often talked himself hoarse. One time, after talking with an operator from the Philippines for half an hour, he was given the nickname "the long-tongued ham" by some American operators.

Since until recently there was only one ham on Taiwan, anyone who came in contact with the station here spoke to Tim Chen. According to his own figures, he has talked with at least 50,000 hams over the years. But this situation has changed. In last year 25 people received ham operator licenses from the Ministry of Communications. As of yet, twelve of them have set up stations.

One local ham, Randy T.J. Wan, got his advanced operator's license while he was working in the U.S. He likes to take part in competitions, which the International Amateur Radio Union often holds to test the hams' skills. Wan says that the rules in each competition are different, but the usual procedure is to see who can contact the most number of hams around the world within a certain time limit. Because of the uneven distribution of competitors, points are allotted not only for the number of contacts made, but also for their distribution. Whoever makes the most contacts in the greatest area is the winner.

Tim Chen prefers the contact this type of competition produces, because no one knows who he will end up talking with. Because of the vast number of hams operating worldwide, at any moment there are tens of thousands of them transmitting and receiving. Add to this the breadth of the ham channels, and it is easy to see that you can never be sure who you will connect up with. It may be someone new, or it may be an old friend. "This is one of the most enjoyable aspects of ham operating," says Chen.

Besides entertaining themselves, hams can also provide immediate help when needed. As Chen explains, in case of a natural catastrophe, when all lines of communication are down, hams can set up stations to transmit reports on the situation to the outside world, thereby facilitating the prompt arrival of help.

"Amateur radio is also a great form of international relations," he says. "Every time I go abroad, I'm treated very warmly by ham operators everywhere."

U.S. Senator Barry Goldwater, a ham with 60 odd years experience, made a special visit to Chen's home during his last trip to Taiwan in January. He used Chen's station, from which Chen has talked with him many times, to introduce the ROC to ham operators around the world and encourage them to increase their contact with ham operators here. Even though he only talked for 20 minutes to five ham operators, it is estimated that over 100,000 hams listened to his conversations. To express thanks for Senator Goldwater's contribution the Ministry of Communications presented him with an ROC ham operator's license.

Besides Senator Goldwater, hams from Holland, Japan, Italy, and other countries have come to Taiwan to help operators here increase their presence on the global ham network. On each visit they have set up their own transmitters and antennas, and sent the message to hams all over the world to increase contact with hams here.

Ham operators uphold the principle of never discussing politics, profit or religion. According to the regulations of the IARU, any operator who doesn't strictly adhere to this principle will have his license revoked. Hams feel that this principle keeps relations between operators from becoming too intense. Outside of these three topics, they can discuss anything they want--their work, the weather, their families, anything.

Sound like fun? All you have to do to join in is learn the basics of radio operation, join a club or get the equipment, obtain a license, and--you're on your way!

[Picture Explian]

Tim Chen is the ROC's most highly qualified ham operator.

Every time two hams make contact, they must give their QSLs as verification.

Early this year, U.S. senator Barry Goldwater spoke to hams all over the world from the ROC (courtesy of Broadcast magazine)

Set up your antenna, and you can send messages through the heavens to hams everywhere.

Every time two hams make contact, they must give their QSLs as verification.

Early this year, U.S. senator Barry Goldwater spoke to hams all over the world from the ROC （courtesy of Broadcast magazine）

Set up your antenna, and you can send messages through the heavens to hams everywhere.