- Build your own equipment.The Amateur Radio Service is the only radio service that allows you to
design and build your own transmitting equipment. - Low-power operations.Some amateurs enjoy the challenge of working with simple low-power (<5
watt) transmitters that they build themselves, just to see how much can be done with low power. This
is calledQRPoperation. - Contests.Many amateurs enjoy contests and winning awards, such as those you can win by contacting
another amateur radio operator in each state, or in as many different countries as possible. Some
organizations hold “contest nights”, where you conduct as many (very brief) contacts as possible in
one evening.
For more information on amateur radio, see the American Radio Relay League:http://www.arrl.org/.
Exams may be taken in this area from local examiners for free or for a small fee.
29.4 Robotics
Combining electronics with sensors and motorized parts involves the popular field ofrobotics. You might
want to build a robot that wheels itself around your house while avoiding obstacles, or you might want to
build a device that cooks your breakfast for you before you wake up in the morning. The possibilities with
robotics are almost endless. Many robotics kits are available to build specific kinds of robots, or you may
want to try designing and building your own robots.
To get started in robotics, try using Google to search the Internet for “hobby robotics”. You’ll find quite a
bit of information and a number of books and kits available. Also, HackerBoxes (http://www.hackerboxes.com)
offers a Robotics Workshop for beginners.
29.5 Amateur Rocketry
Model rocketry is another hobby that has become popular in the past few years, and amateur rocketeers
have begun building very powerful rockets that approach the power of professional sounding rockets. If
you’re interested in this, you can combine this hobby with electronics to build electronic payloads for model
rockets, allowing you to telemeter back to Earth information about the Earth’s atmosphere.
More information on rocketry is available from the National Association for Rocketry:
http://www.nar.org/.
29.6 Amateur Satellites
One very new hobby is the field ofamateur satellites. It is now actually possible to build your own spacecraft
and have it launched into orbit on a commercial rocket. You design and build the satellite from scratch,
including sensors, science experiments, electric power systems, attitude determination and control systems,
telemetry systems, and radio receivers on the ground. You do the design, building, and testing, then arrange
to have it flown “piggyback” on the same rocket along with a large commercial payload.
One popular amateur satellite configuration is called theCubeSat, which is constructed of cubical “mod-
ules” of size 10 cm10 cm10 cm, which is called “1 unit”, or 1U. CubeSat satellites can be made of
several modules connected together in 1U, 2U, 3U, or 6U configurations. One company, Pumpkin Inc., even
sells CubeSat kits to help you get started.
Amateur satellite work can be an expensive hobby. At the time of this writing, building a new satellite
and getting it launched will cost roughly as much as buying a new car.
For more information on amateur satellites, see the series of books by Sandy Antunes.