65 Great Things About Ham RadioFive years ago, on CQ's 60th anniversary, we ran a feature throughout the year titled "60 Great Things About Ham Radio," in which we listed five "great things" each month. The series was quite popular and we have continued to receive requests to reprint it. So now, in honor of our 65th anniversary, we're repeating the list—with a few updates as well as five more "Great Things About Ham Radio."1. It works when nothing else does 2. It makes you part of a worldwide community 3. The opportunity to help neighbors by providing public service and emergency communications 4. Some of the nicest people you'll ever meet 5. Some of the smartest people you'll ever meet 6. Some of the most interesting people you'll ever meet 7. Some of the most generous people you'll ever meet (along with some of the cheapest!) 8. Lifelong friendships 9. Friends around the world (including those you haven't met yet) 10. The opportunity to go interesting places you might not otherwise go to 11. The opportunity to do interesting things you might not otherwise get to do 12. The opportunity to expand your knowledge of geography 13. The opportunity to expand your knowledge of earth and space science 14. Practical uses for high school math 15. Practical uses for high school physics 16. A good way to practice a foreign language 17. A good way to keep in touch with faraway friends and relatives 18. A good way to get driving directions when visiting someplace new (with or without GPS) 19. A good way to find the best places to eat when visiting someplace new (with or without GPS) 20. Finding "non-touristy" off-the-beaten-path places to stay, eat, visit, etc. 21. A good way to learn about virtually any topic 22. A good way to bridge the generation gap 23. A good way to keep tabs on elderly/infirm people 24. People named Joe (Walsh, Rudi, Taylor) 25. How many of your non-ham friends have actually talked to someone in some remote place such as Cape Verde or the Seychelles? 26. How many of your non-ham friends might have talked to an astronaut aboard the space station? 27. How many of your non-ham neighbors might have a satellite uplink station in their basements—or in the palms of their hands? 28. How many of your non-ham neighbors might have a TV studio in their garage? 29. What other hobby group has designed, built, and had launched its own fleet of communication satellites? 30. Where else can you play with meteors? 31. Moonbounce 32. Informal way to improve technical skills 33. Informal way to improve communication skills 34. Introduces a variety of career paths 35. Offers unparalleled opportunities for career networking 36. Opportunities for competition in contesting and foxhunting 37. A good way to collect really cool postcards from around the world (despite the growth of electronic confirmations) 38. Nearly endless variety of different things to do, on and off the air 39. Hamfests 40. Dayton 41. Field Day 42. Working DX 43. Being DX 44. DXpeditions 45. Contesting 46. Award-chasing 47. Double-hop sporadic-E 48. Worldwide DX on 6 meters (once or twice every 11 years) [The current extended sunspot minimum has shown that mechanisms other than F2 propagation can offer intercontinental DX on the "magic band" at any point in the solar cycle.] 49. Tropospheric ducting 50. Gray-line propagation 51. TEP, chordal hops, etc. 52. Getting through on CW when nothing else will 53. Unexpected band openings 54. Building your own gear 55. Using gear you've built yourself 56. Operating QRP from some remote location 57. Experimenting with antennas 58. Working DX while mobile or while hiking 59. Experimenting with new modes and new technology 60. The opportunity to help build an internet that doesn't rely on the internet 61. DXing on your HT via IRLP and Echolink 62. Contributing to scientific knowledge about propagation 63. Keeping track of other people's GPS units via APRS 64. Ham radio balloon launches to the edge of space, and as always... 65. Reading CQ! Permission is hereby granted to reprint this list in amateur radio club newsletters, provided credit is given to CQ magazine. Online editions must include a link to the CQ website, https://www.cq-amateur-radio.com. |
![]() |