1000 hobbies under one roof

Foundations of Amateur Radio

The hobby we call Amateur Radio is hard to explain to anyone outside. I was recently asked about what it was about the experience that had me hooked. I talked about Summits on the Air, SOTA, Islands on the Air, IOTA, World Wide Flora and Fauna, WWFF and satellite communications. DX hunting and competitions, but I never quite managed to capture what it all really means.

Since then I came across a really wonderful explanation about what it is that we have here.

Said simply, Amateur Radio is a thousand hobbies in one place, each with their own community, their own skills, their own gear, pursuits and club-songs.

For some it's the pursuit of making a contact using low power and Morse-code, for the next it's building the key to make that happen, the next person wants to build the radio, the amplifier, the twin-feed, the mast, go camping, etc. etc.

The characterisation of 1000 hobbies in one place under the umbrella also helps in other ways. It highlights that we're all different, with experiences that are both shared and unique. All coming together under the single, almost trivial moniker of: "I am a radio amateur."

The take-away from this is of course that you can do inside our hobby what interests you. Find people with the same outlook, or people who are smarter than you, or people who push you, or make you laugh, or make fun of you. All these things are within our hobby.

Your job is simple. Find your own place among us.

I'm Onno VK6FLAB