Hamshpere Virtual Radio For Anyone Who Ever Wanted To Try Radio

  

When I was in my teens I got into radio not just listening to it but wanting to use it.  I got a CB radio and played with that for a bit then at 18 I got into ham radio my first call was VE2GOG.  Ham radio eventually led to professional broadcasting in the 90's and while that did not pan out very well the ham radio thing has actually be fun to do.  

These days I do not have a station on the air but, with the help of technology I am able to use my ham radio call I have today VA3UCT and get on the air so to speak.  What Hamsphere is?  Well it's a virtual representation of the bands as we call them.  You're able to use the 160M through 70CM bands.  Now to be clear these are not the actual full bands only portions of them due to the fact that your using the internet and bandwith does cost money.  But, there  is enough space to find a spot and have a chat or connect with a station in a rare part of the world.

Here are the cool things about Hamsphere and it's apps.

1. You do not need a license to operate.

2. It's a plug and play system.  You get a radio and you get a couple of plugins to start with to use.

3. The Hamsphere apps come in PC Mac and they have a mobile version for Android and IOS.

4. The 4.0 version uses an algorithm that connects and emulates real time propagation it actually uses the data associated with https://www.voacap.com a professional tool that predicts and offers current radio propagation conditions so operators know what bands to use to make contacts.  This data is plugged into the app and gives a real time feel for what the atmosphere is doing re radio.  Very realistic.

5. You can add plugins for a fee and also get antennas to try and use.

6. You can even use the Broadcast Band and play music on the simulated shortwave band.

There is only one band not open it was added but no antennas exist for it and that is the 6M band.  2M and 70CM are much like the real bands with repeaters on them.

Yes you will see the 11M band and can use it as at one time Hamsphere offered CB calls, they do not do so any longer.  Most non ham calls begin with a number and HS in the middle like 14HS1234.  Interestingly this call 14HS1234 is real it is a French station that is not active any longer, operator is Jean.  

So if you want to give Hamsphere a go head over to https://www.hamsphere.com and register.  Yo do get a free trial and you can get a membership if you want to and start your journey on this unique form of radio.  Yes I know many hams will say this is not real radio.  But, it's pretty darn close to it.

Note the radio pictured is the one I created after registering.  It was really easy to do.

C. T.