Ham Radio Operator Future Prospects: Types, Courses, Jobs, Salary, Skills, Recruiters

Q: If I want to operate a ham radio anonymously how can I do that?

You can operate an amateur radio station anonymously as a third party under the direct supervision of a licensed operator who would be required to use his/her call sign to identify the station.

Ahana Bhaduri

Senior Content Specialist

Ham radio or amateur radio is the use of radio frequency spectrum for the purposes of non-commercial exchange of texts, wireless experimentation, self-training, private recreation, radio sport, contesting, and emergency communication.

In order to become a Ham Radio Operator, aspiring candidates can pursue various associate's degrees or a Undergraduate degree in the field of electronics technology or engineering or Sound Engineering courses.

The average annual salary of Ham radio operators is INR 4,00,000 for freshers and an experienced Ham radio operator earns INR 5,00,000 to 10,00,000.

Table of Contents

What Does a Ham Operator Do?
Types of Ham Radio Operators
Ham Radio Operator Future Prospects

3.1 Courses to be Pursued

3.2 Jobs for Ham Radio Operator

Ham Radio Operator Average Salary

4.1 Specialization Wise

4.2 Organization Wise

4.3 Experience Wise

Skills Required to Become a Ham Radio Operator
Ham Radio Operator Top Recruiting Companies
Ham Radio Operator Future Prospects FAQs

What Does a Ham Radio Operator Do?

Ham Radio Operators are the workers in the radio station who use some equipment and waves to communicate with the other radio operators. They are responsible:

To transmit and receive the communications while using radiotelegraph equipment.
To operate and maintain the communications equipment and electronic testing equipment.
To work a traditional 40-hour work schedule as a ham radio operator, or you may have to work nights and weekends to address the technical issues during odd-hour radio broadcasts.
To help people in an emergency. To help people from any natural disaster, accident etc. by connecting with them.

Types of Ham Radio Operators

After earning a ham radio license one can become a ham radio operator in the different radio stations. Average salary of ham radio operators is from INR 4 to INR 9 lakh per annum in India. The job positions are described below.

Ham Radio Operator: Ham radio operators are responsible to connect two-way connections by receiving and transmitting the radio waves using equipment. They are also responsible for the repairing of damaged ham radios.
Radio Officer: The responsibilities of a radio officer are to monitor the communications aspect in a ship. They have to receive the signals, record and update the time and check the weather reports so that a ship can smoothly sail in the sea.
Radio Engineer: The responsibilities of a radio engineer are to maintain and operate the electronics and broadcasting equipment that keeps radio stations on the air.
Radio Repeater: The task of Radio Repeater is in a radio station. They are responsible for improving the coverage of communication in the radio systems. Communication can be improved by using the radio waves or frequencies.

Ham Radio Operator Future Prospects

Ham Radio Operators offer various job prospects once the aspiring student completes the necessary training and qualifications as discussed above. Mentioned below are the future prospects of becoming a Ham Radio Operator.

Courses after being a Ham Radio Operator

Any candidate who wishes to study more after becoming ham radio operator can pursue any one of the following courses:

Extra Amateur Course: Extra Amateur Course is a top-level Ham Radio Course and after the completion of this course, the middle level ham radio operators can use Very High Frequency and Ultra High Frequency radio waves to communicate with the people. To pass this course, there's no need to take any Morse Code test.

The Ham Radio Operator or Technician Course: This course is offered to the entry level learners of ham radio. In this course, one can learn about the very high frequency and high frequency bands and also, can learn how much power can be used to connect with the people.

Ham Radio Operator- General Course: The candidates can learn General Course only after earning the technician ham license. The course covers how to communicate in AM, SSB, FM using medium power output of 50 watts in different allotted high frequency-HF bands and very high frequency bands. In this course, the students get to learn the Morse codes as well as voice to communicate with the people.

Jobs after being a Ham Radio Operator

The job opportunities after pursuing a course related to Ham Radio are mentioned below.

Job Profile	Description	Average Salary
Jr. Communication Engineer	Junior communications engineers are responsible for the research, design, development and production of communications equipment and systems.	INR 380,989
Jr. Amateur Radio Operator	Jr. Amateur Radio Operators are responsible to operate radio equipment in order to communicate with ships, aircraft, mining crews, offshore oil rigs, logging camps and other remote operations.	INR 5,00,000
Satellite communications technician	The Satellite Communications (SATCOM) Technician provides operational & maintenance support for satellite-based and terrestrial telecommunication systems terminals CONUS and OCONUS	INR 2,00,000 to 10,10,000
Manager, Radio Access Network	Provide technical leadership for on-going radio communications engineering & development initiatives to maintain agency readiness to communicate under any contingency operation or plan.	INR 424,780

Salary of Ham Radio Operators

Here is the salary structure of the ham radio operators in different organizations and according to their job experience.

Specialization wise

Specialization	Average Annual Salary
Ham Radio Operator	INR 5,00,000
Radio Officer	INR 4,00,000
Radio Engineer	INR 5,00,000
Indian Army Radio Operator	INR 5,00,000
Radio Repeater	INR 3,90,000

Organization Wise

Organization	Average Annual Salary
Government	INR 5,00,000
Private	INR 6,00,000

Experience Wise

Experience	Average Annual Salary
Fresher	INR 4,00,000
Experienced	INR 7,00,000

Skills Required to Become a Ham Radio Operator

The list of skills required to become a good Ham Radio Operator are tabulated below for your reference,

Good communication skill	Maintenance Skills
Knowledge of codes, signals used during receive and transmit of communication	Setup of hardware and software in the systems
Detail Oriented	Able to work dexterously with small parts

Ham Radio Operator Top Recruiting Companies

Tabulated below are the top companies who hire fresh as well as experienced Ham Radio Operators,

The National Association for amateur Radio	NJ Transit
County of Orange	Georgia Tech Research Institute
Bushtex	Acuity International
Peer Solutions Groups	GigaParts

Ham Radio Operator Future Prospects: FAQs

Ques. Why a HAM?

Ans. HAM Radio is a technical hobby. Most of the people become HAMs for the pleasure of it, whether it is the ability to talk to the local friends over the radio waves only by using a hand-held transceiver, communicating digitally with packet radio to exchange the personal texts or vital information in an emergency, talking to other hams anywhere in the world, or engaging in the contests with the other Radio Amateurs over the airwaves, there is something for everybody.

Ques. Is Ham radio only about emergency communication?

Ans. No, Ham radio operators involve themselves in a wide variety of activities including, but not limited to, bounce signals off the moon, talk using satellites, contest in various radio competitions, build their own radios, operate mobile radios from remote places and chase weak signals from the distant ends of the globe.

Ques. What you cannot do in Ham radio?

Ans. Hams are not allowed to do anything with their radios that makes them money in any way because Ham radio is just a hobby. Ham radio operators are not allowed to ‘broadcast’ to the public. This means that ham radio transmissions are meant to be received by the other ham radio operators only. You are not allowed to talk politics, religion and any sort of indecent conversations.

Ques. Which country is the best to become a Ham Radio Operator?

Ans. The best countries to be a ham radio operator are, USA, India, Australia, Canada, Japan, UK, China, Spain, Germany.

Ques. What are the set of skills required to become a radio engineer?

Ans. You will be working with high tech equipment and much of your job will require skills in information technology, computers, and electronics.

Ques. How Can I Turn This into a Profession?

Ans. You could find paying work as a radio operator, who uses a variety of equipment and tools to transmit information, and also repairs radio equipment, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Radio operators typically undergo on-the-job training and do not need formal education beyond high school.

Ques. How many Ham Radio operators are in the US and why are they important?

Ans. Ham radio during disasters has proven worth when all else has failed. Hams provide communications and lifelines when the other means have failed. That effort by Hams is free. No charge service by Hams who are prepared for the emergencies. I read recently that there are about 700,000 licensed Amateur radio Licensees in the USA.

Ques. How can I become a ham radio operator?

Ans. No educational qualification is specified to become a ham radio operator. Any individual who has attained 12 years of age can become a ham radio operator only after passing the Amateur Station Operator's Certificate (ASOC) Examination which is conducted by the Ministry of Communications, Govt. of India. You only have to send a "Birth Certificate" or the class X certificate (which mentions your date-of-birth) as a proof of your age.

Ques. With the Internet, why would anyone want to take up ham radio as a hobby?

Ans. The reasons for which anyone want to take up Ham Radio as a hobby are:

Because chat doesn't require the skill of working the grey line.
Because Facebook does not require the same skill as working in 200 countries with 5 watts or less.
Because the first thing to go down in the event of a natural disaster is the system of local cell phones.
Because there is something magical about the bouncing a signal off an aurora, the moon, or meteor scatter.
Because we are allowed to modify the radios and can try new technologies.
Because of the international camaraderie

Ques. If I want to operate a ham radio anonymously how can I do that?

Ans. You can operate an amateur radio station anonymously as a “third party” under the direct supervision of a licensed operator who would be required to use his/her call sign to identify the station.