Hello Mastodon, bye-bye Twitter
Why am I saying “Hello Mastodon”? Well, for a long time, I have felt that Twitter was just a lot of people shouting in a vacuum. Even though Facebook has groups, especially the groups for amateur radio enthusiasts, I didn’t find Facebook much better. Hurray: we now have Mastodon. My Mastodon account is at https://mastodon.radio/ and is a community of amateur radio operators and Shortwave Listeners. Having said that, being on https://mastodon.radio/ hasn’t stopped me from following other people such as Stephen Fry, who reportedly has also left Twitter. I know people have differing views, but if you are interested, Greta Thunberg’s verified Mastodon is easy to find.
To parody a certain advertisement from a long-gone mobile phone network, “The future is bright, the future is Mastodon”.
What is amateur radio?
Amateur radio is a popular technical hobby and volunteer public service. As a licensed amateur radio operator, you are permitted to transmit and receive radio signals on frequency bands allocated for use by amateur radio amateurs. Amateur radio operators use these designated bands of radio frequencies for non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, and emergency communications. A 1910 announcement by the then HM Postmaster General licensed “experimental wireless”, which still uniquely gives radio amateurs the ability to innovate without commercial or statutory controls even in the closely regulated environment of the 21st century. Amateur radio is the only hobby governed by international treaty.
Amateur radio operators use amateur radio bands for a variety of purposes:
- Contacting people all over the world by radio often leads to developing international friendships,
- Competing in international competitions to test the effectiveness of their equipment and their skill as radio operators,
- Technical experimentation — many of the leaps forward in radio technology have been initiated by radio amateurs,
- Communication through amateur space satellites or with the International Space Station (which carries an amateur radio station),
- Providing communications at times of emergencies and undertaking exercises to maintain that capability.
There is no better way to explore the fascinating world of radio communications than by becoming a radio amateur.
You can also find out more through the Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB) https://rsgb.org/
