Amateur radio, also known as ham radio, is a hobby of personal accomplishment and enjoyment and one of the most exciting and popular pastimes in the world. There are over 1.5 million hams worldwide, operating from nearly every country on earth. In the U.S.A. alone there are over 700,000 amateurs. Licensed hams communicate via two-way radio stations from their homes, from their cars and from the outdoors, talking with other hams as close as across town and as far as around the globe. Getting your first amateur radio license is not difficult.
Hams operating on the amateur shortwave bands have the ability to talk all over the world.
While long distance communications does occasionally take place on the VHF ham bands, these usually used for local communications. Above the VHF portion of the radio spectrum lie still higher frequencies. Hams have additional bands in this region. Hams use UHF for local contacts, transmission of TV signals, satellite communications and experimentation. Hams use several methods to communicate with each other.