Amateur Radio Communications

The first radio amateurs came along with the radio’s invention — people wanted not only to listen, but to go on air themselves. Amateur radio communication in Soviet times was a legal opportunity to look behind the Iron Curtain. Nowadays, amateur radio remains as independent and free as ever. The limitless and seemingly free worldwide Internet is an illusion that is under corporations and states control.

Amateur radio operators in Russia have an average age around 60+. In Soviet times, support for radio amateurs was provided by the DOSAAF (Voluntary Society for Assisting Army, Air Force and Navy), now the radio business rests on the enthusiasts' shoulders. There are few young people who go into radio communications, getting a call sign and passing exams has become easier than in Soviet times, and putting your “antenna” in a big city is becoming a problem.

At the same time, amateur radio communication opens up many opportunities: participation in competitions from small to international, getting sports degrees, learning foreign languages to communicate with foreign colleagues. Solving complex engineering and technical problems to pump their equipment. Collecting unique connections, unique communication methods, for example, communication through reflection from the northern lights.