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"CQ, CQ, CQ, this ve4cdp in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada calling CQ, CQ, CQ 20 meters."
At one time a few years back the above initial call was very similar to what other armature radio operators used to open the air with. In earlier times a Ham operator was one of privilege because of the technology that was required to obtain his Ham license. In Canada, there was two classes of license. One was basic armature and the other was advance armature. The difference between the two was the privileges each license gave. The advance armature was the one that all the ham operators would try and obtain because this game them all voice privileges on the alloted frequencies that were assigned to the ham operators. However, in early 1990's things changed drastically. The Department of Communications in Canada decided to come up with a no Morse code license. Previously, an operator had to be able to send and receive 10 words per minute for a basic license and 15 words for an advance license. A lot of the old time operators were not really in favor of this license because we did not to see the bands flooded with

operators who were not really serious about the hobby. However, this license only gave the operator permission to use the frequencies in the UHF and vhf bands plus the 6 meter band. One organization which really benefited from this no code license was the Armature Radio Emergency Service. These operators really provided a great community service when their help was requested. One occasion that they were really required was during the 1997 Winnipeg flood.
All ARES members were basically on 24 hours notice while the city was in an emergency state.
This area of having the ability to provide communications when an emergency should happen is what still makes Ham radio a valuable service.

There is now a computer program called "Echo-link" which allows Ham operators with station licenses to talk to other Ham's all over the world by just using their computer.

But all in all, armature radio is still a very rewarding hobby and one I think should be checked out.

'73's

Cam

Learn more about this author, Cam Pope.
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