Amateur Radio for Model Railroaders and Railfans

Radio is everywhere in the modern world: from FM and AM radio broadcasts and television for entertainment and information, to your fire or police department, who rely on it for voice and data communication. Your cell phone is a two-way radio. Airlines use radio to communicate with their flights, and airport towers use it to tell pilots where they may go and when. And for many railfans, there are the railroads that you listen to on your scanner.

All of these forms use a specific section of the radio waves that are available. These specific sections are assigned to "services." Among the services are broadcasting, public safety, business, and transportation.

These services are governed in the United States by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). There are similar agencies in other countries. Radio waves don't stop for political boundaries, so an international organization, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), coordinates worldwide use of these services.

In most countries, the Amateur Radio Service (ARS) is one to which some portions of the available radio space are assigned. ARS is somewhat like two other services which you may be familiar: Citizen's Band (CB) or Family Radio Service (FRS), both of which allow users to transmit to another user. Unlike CB or FRS, ARS has a wider range of frequencies and power options. Both CB and FRS are intended for short-range exchanges, a few miles at most. The range of frequencies and output power available in the ARS allows for choices: you can talk to someone around the world in some portions, and in others you can talk locally.

Another difference is that using ARS requires a license. Getting a license requires passing an examination (more about this below), but there is no minimum age requirement. ARS operators can use the radio system for almost any non-commercial exchange. And, guess what — that can include your other hobbies, like railfanning and modeling. You can use a mobile or handheld radio to talk to fellow railfans while traveling or fanning. There are many more frequencies available than on CB or FRS, and they're a lot less crowded. Because of the license requirement, amateurs are, by and large, more polite, so you won't have someone jumping in just to play around. You can connect to a repeater (a radio that relays signals from a wide area) and get directions, or listen to storm spotters. There are regular "nets," or on-the-air meetings to talk about trains and many other topics.

There are other benefits. Most amateur radios are able to receive the railroad frequences, and offer far better reception than any scanner. (It should be noted that an ARS license does not authorize you to transmit in the railroad band.) Also, most states which have a law restricting scanner use exempt amateur licensees. And where that's not sufficient, the FCC has exempted any licensee who uses a radio that can transmit on the ARS bands as a scanner. (Most amateur radios have enough memory slots to accommodate all of the railroad frequencies along with the others that you'd use.)

While you can spend $10,000 or more on a radio and antenna, you can also spend much less than you would for a scanner. Once you have a license, you can also use Amateur Radio VoIP systems such as Echolink to communicate around the world, even if your only radio is a small, low-powered handheld (the same one you might use as a scanner). There are railfan nets on Echolink, too.

If that's not enough to keep you busy, after you tire of building your own DCC system, you can build your own radios. Consider the possibilities, as there are Amateur Radio frequencies available for remote control and television. You don't have to be an electrical engineering graduate to do this, either. If you wish, you can buy everything you need, ready to go, just as with model railroading.

As noted, Amateur Radio requires a license issued by the FCC (or the appropriate agency if you live in another country). To obtain the license, you must past an exam. In the US, the first category is "Technician," which is a 35-question multiple choice test. There are two higher levels, with different exams; but everyone must pass Technician first. There is no longer any requirement to pass a Morse code exam, although you can still use it if you wish. All of the questions are drawn from a publicly-available pool, and many books (or software programs) are available that explain the basics and the answers. Exams are given by volunteers who are Amateur Radio operators, thus the frequency can vary. When I took the first exam, there were places available within twenty miles on a weekly basis. In other areas, it may be monthly or quarterly, or even less, but it also depends on how far you can travel.

Check out these links if you're interested.

• FCC Amateur Radio Service page: the governing agency in the US; the site contains mostly regulatory information;
• Radio Amateurs of Canada: the Amateur Radio association in Canada;
• American Radio Relay League: a national association, sort of like the NMRA (in both good and ill aspects), offers study guides and many other materials, a good place to find exam sessions, hamfests (just like train shows), and contact someone for help if you get stumped;
• W5YI: a Texas-based group that also handles exams and sells study materials;
• AC6V's Reference Guide: a portal to a variety of sites about most aspects;
• FCC Part 97 (ARS Rules): you don't need to have these, but you need to know them. You can buy a copy, but this is a lot cheaper;
• Scanner laws and other radio-related laws across the US;
• Railfan.net Radio Forum.

Common Amateur Railfan Frequencies

• local repeaters, U.S. Repeaters is one of many sites that list what's around;
• 146.490 2 meter Primary (this and the frequencies below are low-power and you must usually be nearby to hear anything);
• 146.565 2 meter Secondary
• 223.620 1.25 meter
• 446.050 70 cm
• 1294.425 23 cm