{"id":2959,"date":"2012-09-16T15:58:39","date_gmt":"2012-09-16T15:58:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dev.rsgbtestzone.biz\/wordpress\/?page_id=2959"},"modified":"2026-04-09T11:22:43","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T10:22:43","slug":"gain-from-amateur-radio","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/rsgb.org\/main\/get-started-in-amateur-radio\/what-is-amateur-radio\/gain-from-amateur-radio\/","title":{"rendered":"What will I enjoy about amateur radio?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-37563\" src=\"https:\/\/rsgb.org\/main\/files\/2025\/03\/Ben-GW4BML-e1741013559465-300x186.jpg\" alt=\"Radio amateur using portable radio on top on a snowy mountain\" width=\"823\" height=\"510\" srcset=\"https:\/\/rsgb.org\/main\/files\/2025\/03\/Ben-GW4BML-e1741013559465-300x186.jpg 300w, https:\/\/rsgb.org\/main\/files\/2025\/03\/Ben-GW4BML-e1741013559465-1024x635.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/rsgb.org\/main\/files\/2025\/03\/Ben-GW4BML-e1741013559465-150x93.jpg 150w, https:\/\/rsgb.org\/main\/files\/2025\/03\/Ben-GW4BML-e1741013559465-768x476.jpg 768w, https:\/\/rsgb.org\/main\/files\/2025\/03\/Ben-GW4BML-e1741013559465-1536x952.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/rsgb.org\/main\/files\/2025\/03\/Ben-GW4BML-e1741013559465.jpg 2016w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 823px) 100vw, 823px\" \/><\/p>\n<h4>There are so many ways to take part in the hobby. Which aspects will you enjoy?<\/h4>\n<h4>Maybe you\u2019ll like using your radio equipment to <strong>make<\/strong> <strong>local contacts<\/strong>, either at home or on holiday.<\/h4>\n<h4>Or you might prefer to <strong>make worldwide contacts<\/strong> from the comfort of your home. Get to grips with the propagation of radio waves and your signal could be heard the other side of the world!<\/h4>\n<h4>If you like <strong>getting out and about<\/strong>, why not take your portable radio equipment trekking in the hills (see<strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/rsgb.org\/main\/beyond-exams-building-experience\/logbook-explorer-getting-started\/rsgb-logbook-explorer-summits-on-the-air\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Summits on the Air<\/a><\/strong>), to a national park (see <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/rsgb.org\/main\/beyond-exams-building-experience\/logbook-explorer-getting-started\/rsgb-logbook-explorer-parks-on-the-air\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Parks on the Air | POTA)<\/a><\/strong> or off camping?<\/h4>\n<h4>Do you spend time <strong>constructing <\/strong>or<strong> tinkering? <\/strong>You could learn to solder, build your own radio receiver or develop your programming skills. Take a look our at <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/playlist?list=PLmtHS6LSBybZimFeIejq4nsPmY4VkZiZh\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">useful practical skills videos<\/a> <\/strong>for inspiration!<\/h4>\n<h4>If you\u2019re a<strong> competitive person<\/strong>, why not take part in \u2018hide and seek\u2019 or amateur radio direction-finding activities, on the air contests or challenge yourself to gain an award?<\/h4>\n<h4>You could set your <strong>sights on space<\/strong>! With amateur radio you can communicate via satellites, including the International Space Station. Learn how to bounce signals off the Moon or use meteor showers to propagate your radio signal.<\/h4>\n<h4>Maybe you\u2019ll try using <strong>data modes<\/strong> as an alternative to speaking on the air. You could also learn to communicate using <strong>Morse code<\/strong>.<\/h4>\n<h4>You could use your skills support <strong>emergency communications<\/strong> efforts by joining <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.raynet-uk.net\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">RAYNET-UK<\/a><\/strong>.<\/h4>\n<h4>At first, you may just prefer to listen to the amateur radio bands, rather than speaking. <strong>Short wave listening<\/strong> (SWL) is free, and you don\u2019t need to be licensed (see <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/hackgreensdr.org:8901\/\">http:\/\/hackgreensdr.org:8901\/<\/a><\/strong> and <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.websdr.org\/\">http:\/\/www.websdr.org\/<\/a><\/strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.websdr.org\/\">)<\/a>.<\/h4>\n<h3 class=\"page-title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/rsgb.org\/main\/get-started-in-amateur-radio\/what-is-amateur-radio\/what-to-do-next\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">How do I get started in amateur radio?<\/a><\/h3>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There are so many ways to take part in the hobby. Which aspects will you enjoy? Maybe you\u2019ll like using your radio equipment to make local contacts, either at home or on holiday. Or you might prefer to make worldwide contacts from the comfort of your home. Get to grips with the propagation of radio [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":1085,"menu_order":4,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2959","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rsgb.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2959","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rsgb.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rsgb.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rsgb.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rsgb.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2959"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/rsgb.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2959\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46913,"href":"https:\/\/rsgb.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2959\/revisions\/46913"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rsgb.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1085"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rsgb.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}