HamWiki:About
HamWiki is a free online encyclopedia about amateur radio, also called ham radio. It explains the hobby in plain language for newcomers and old-timers alike: the bands and how radio waves travel, getting licensed, operating, modes, antennas, equipment, activities and the people and companies behind them. It is written mainly for amateurs in the United States, so rules are explained the way the FCC writes them, but most of the radio itself works the same everywhere. HamWiki is expanding to cover amateur radio worldwide, noting where rules, bands and practices differ by country or region. HamWiki is independent. It is not affiliated with any other wiki, including any that use the same or a similar name, whether they exist now or appear later.
New to ham radio? Start here for a step-by-step path, or use the topic pages: Operating, Modes, Antennas, Equipment and Activities.
How the articles are written
HamWiki's articles are written with the help of an AI writing assistant, Anthropic's Claude. Every article is drafted, then researched and fact-checked against reliable sources before it is published: the FCC's rules in Part 97, the ARRL, manufacturers' and organizations' own websites, and other well-sourced references. The HamWiki editor reviews the work and decides what goes live. The editorial policy explains the process in detail.
HamWiki does not use made-up authors or pen names.
Accuracy and corrections
Ham radio changes. Rules are revised, companies close or change hands, programs stop being updated and well-known hams become Silent Keys. HamWiki checks its articles for this kind of change, but mistakes can still slip through. Confirmed errors are fixed and notable ones are listed in the corrections log. If you find one, use the Suggest a correction link at the end of any article, or email info@hamwiki.org with the article's title and what needs fixing. Where an article gives a rule or a frequency, the official text is the final word: check Part 97 and the current band plans before you transmit.
Editing
For now HamWiki is read-only for visitors: articles cannot be edited and accounts cannot be created. This keeps the content consistent and free of spam while the site is young.
Reusing HamWiki
HamWiki's text, the diagrams drawn for HamWiki and the photos taken for HamWiki are free to reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license (CC BY-SA 4.0). Credit HamWiki, link to the page you used and to the license, and share adapted versions under the same license; please don't republish large parts of the site as your own work. Files from other sources, such as Wikimedia Commons, keep their own licenses. See HamWiki:Copyrights for details.
Pictures and diagrams
Photos marked as taken for HamWiki are the HamWiki editor's own. Most diagrams were drawn for HamWiki in a consistent house style. Some pictures and sound clips come from Wikimedia Commons and are used under their own free licenses; each file's page shows its source and license.