CQ CQ. The internet is down, and cell phones aren't working. What can we do? Oh no, we don't even have a landline anymore! If this were to happen, it would indeed be like an SOS. Mayday, Mayday! The day would no longer be fun.
Don’t worry; if such a situation arises, we still have plenty of ways to communicate. The ham radio (amateur radio) is one of them. Terms like CQ, SOS, and Mayday are used by radio operators, whether they are ham, commercial, or military. CQ is a call for attention. But why "CQ"? Some suggest it's from the French "sécurité" or "c'est qui". The origin of the abbreviation was popularly changed to the phrase "seek you"
SOS doesn’t require much explanation. Even those unfamiliar with Morse code might recognize this distress signal (… --- …). One of the original distress calls was CQD, which combined CQ with the letter D for "distress." The International Radio Telegraphic Convention approved SOS in 1906. However, it wasn't until 1912, following the Titanic disaster, that SOS became universally recognized, leading to the gradual disappearance of CQD. Jack Phillips, the Titanic's radio operator, sent both CQD and SOS signals to eliminate any potential misunderstanding.
"Mayday" is another distress code, primarily used by aircraft. Why "Mayday"? In French, "m'aidez" translates to "help me." Perhaps American aviators during World War I picked it up from their French comrades and mispronounced it?
Speaking of ham radio, some may think of it as a grandpa’s hobby. However, just a few years ago, the LA Times reported that a 5 and a half-year-old girl from Long Beach was believed to be the youngest licensed ham operator in the US at that time. Both Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts offer radio merit badges or patches. The International Space Station even has an amateur radio station, and licensed ham astronauts occasionally make contact, mostly with students in schools.
Amateur radio – truly a 21st Century hobby.
Ham radio essentially creates a friendly worldwide community that offers numerous exciting activities. Communicating with people around the globe using radio waves is one of them. Some individuals even claim to have spoken with airline pilots while their airplanes were crossing the Atlantic Ocean. Additionally, one can use a Raspberry Pi in ham radio for satellite tracking. Moreover, Python libraries are available for ham radio programming projects.
The Radio Amateur's Code.
Finally, 73 to you.
What does 73 mean in ham radio? I'll wait for you to find out.
