You can provide assistance to your community during emergencies. You can also place personal phone calls through many repeater systems. Or report a forest fire. If you like to tinker, ham radio affords many opportunities to construct, modify or enhance radio and antenna systems. You can meet new friends and visit with hams in countries throughout the world.
Many hams combine ham radio with their other hobbies, such as sailing.
Licensing To operate a ham radio transmitter, you must hold a government issued licensed. In the United States, the Federal Communications Commissions administers the licensing process. There are five main categories of licenses. Your operating privileges vary by the class of license you hold. To obtain a license, you must pass the necessary written examination, and probably a Morse code test, depending on the license class.