Learning Morse code and passing a test on it has long been a barrier to entry for new hams. Over time, the popularity of morse code - also called simply code or CW - has waned and interest in voice communications - an analog mode as opposed to the on/off digital of CW or RTTY (radio teletype) - has grown. They chat, they invent, they have contests to see how many stations they can contact within a given time frame, and when natural or man-made disasters occur, they are usually the first to establish any kind of communications between the stricken area and the rest of the world.Įarly hams used Morse code sent by CW almost exclusively. Hams communicate by radio, but only on government-allocated frequency bands where they are allowed to operate. The ARRL, which is the national association for amateur radio in the United States, was founded in 1914 and counts 150,000 active members today. There have been amateur radio operators for as long as there has been radio. I’ve included a brief glossary of terms used in this story, but for the inquisitve, here is a link to a more complete reference work explaining ham jargon.Īccording to Wikipedia, there are about 3 million amateur radio operators - or hams - around the world. Here’s the story behind both the rising popularity of “sound card” digital modes in amateur radio and how Fldigi lets you enjoy enjoy them on Linux.Hams use their own jargon, which is just as obscure to non-hams as IRQ, USB, or DDR are to non-computer geeks.
Dave Freese has just released version 1.2 of Fldigi, a popular new program for Linux and FreeBSD which enables amateur radio operators to join their radios and their computers at the hip and create a new kind of ham shack: a digital ham shack.
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