Amateur Radio in the UK

Serious radio enthusiasts around the world chat unite on the amateur waveband. Some information about the world of the radio ham

Radio Amateur Interview

Up and down the country, teams of radio amateur ("hams") make use of special frequencies to chat with each other, and their counterparts all around the world.

We had the good fortune to talk to the chairman of one of the UK's leading Amateur Radio groups, the Chelmsford Amateur Radio Society.

In June 1920, Dame Nellie Melba performed a public radio broadcast from a small hut in Chelmsford, Essex, paving the way for the radio broadcasting we know today. To celebrate 90 years of radio, the Chelmsford Amateur Radio Society gathered in Chelmsford to broadcast from the birthplace of broadcasting. We were there, and secured an exclusive interview with the group's Chairman, John Bowen.

Find out more about today's radio amateurs, the challenges faced by new technology, and how the hams view digital radio, in our interview.