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The DIY Magic of Amateur Radio

ARRL launches “Do It Yourself” theme.

There are a LOT of similarities between hams and the growing Do It Yourself (DIY), Maker communities.  We can learn from each other and share tools and ideas in our enjoyment of creating things for ourselves and not simply purchasing mass-produced products. 

ARRL's new video, “The DIY Magic of Amateur Radio,” is an 8-minute video that follows some of the innovative, imaginative and fun ways “hams” use radio technology in new and creative ways. The presentation is directed toward the DIY (do it yourself) movement, which is inspiring a new generation of creators, hackers and innovators. The message should be helpful for existing members to shape the ways they understand and talk about ham radio. 

But wait - there's more!

There's a printed flier, powerpoint, speaker notes, buttons and more available for you.  We hope you will use them to find, contact and reach out to the Maker/Hacker/DIY communities in your area. 

Start here by exploring short stories and videos about some of the projects and activities pursued by today’s radio amateurs. From satellite communications to sophisticated wireless digital networks, you’ll quickly find that when it comes to ham radio…WE DO THAT!

Or go directly to the DIY materials page at www.arrl.org/DIY

DIY Magic video

Download

Hams and Makers have a lot in common. See how Makers are using ham radio as a tool in their creations. For download options, see www.arrl.org/DIY

We Do That!

  • Not what you thought it was...-

    Amateur Radio (often  called "Ham Radio") is really many hobbies and passions under one name.  From studying the stars and creating new computer applications to bouncing signals off meteorite trails, hams enjoy using and creating technologies in new ways.  Here are some of the ones you probably did not expect....

     

    To find as club or group near you, go to www.arrl.org/find-a-club


  • The New Photonic Communications+

  • A new satellite for Radio Amateurs+

  • ANDE-2 Experiments and Amateur Radio+

  • Compass-1+

  • Sounds from Space: APRS via the ISS+

  • Want to bone up on wireless tech? Try ham radio+

  • Amateur Radio and Computers – a natural match.+

  • Rock & Roll meets Ham and Radio+

  • An Asteroid Named "ARRL"+

  • Discrete-Method Signal Analysis+

  • Who ya gonna call? Hams!+

  • VoIP+

  • Radio Sport by John Donovan, K6YLG+

  • ARRL Teachers Institute on Technology+

  • EETimes – Great SuitSat Article+

  • Project Blue Horizon Sets Record+

  • Ham Satellites+

  • Meteors and the Moon – WSJT+

  • D-Star+

  • APRS+

  • NBEMS+

Orbital Angular Momentum

Download

Italian hams find ways to put 2 distinct messages onto one frequency

  • But Wait - There's MORE...-

    The Do It Yourself or “DIY” movement is nothing new to Amateur Radio.  For just over a century, “hams” have been working in basements and attics, taking things apart and putting them back together in new ways for the fun of it.  The enjoyment of seeing your own creation work –or even if it fails- always surpasses being a mere user of corporate products.  The joys of making and modifying things for themselves run deep in the ham community.  Today’s hams continue to use technologies in new and creative ways that can become the consumer products of tomorrow and, in the meantime, they have FUN doing it!

     

    Hams were the original Makers and Hackers, using new, used and scavenged parts to make transmitters, receivers, and antennas capable of communicating with other hams anywhere on Earth, and beyond.  In this hobby, communicating is the keyword.  And, when computers came along, they fit right in to the ham's wide world.  Using their technical skills and imagination, hams put together advanced communication networks connected by radio waves instead of wires.  

     

    From microchips and robotics to time and space itself, the Makers within the Amateur Radio ranks build and explore new ways to play with the radio spectrum such as bouncing UHF signals off a meteorite trail or sending email without the Internet – just for fun.  They can contact astronaut hams on the International Space Station or set world distance records for communications using microwaves. Hams are even developing whole new systems where a computer IS the radio.  If you want a new radio, you’ll be able to download it!

  • MiMo & Mike Kassner+

  • SDR – Download a new radio? Sure!+

  • SETI – Project ARGUS+

  • QEX -the journal of Ham Radio creativity+

  • Reach for the Heavens+

  • 13.56 as a Cancer Cure?+

  • What is A.L.E. ???+

  • Amateur Radio in Space+

  • What is Ham Radio?+

  • SDR – downloading a radio?+

  • Take one used Spacesuit….+

  • Time is a frequency+

  • Ham Radio & Music? We do that!+

  • ARISS+

  • Green Radio? -We Do That!+

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