Amateur Radio Organizations

The national organization in the United States that supports amateur radio operators is the American Radio Relay League (ARRL). This organization has extensive educational resources to train amateur radio operators in the proper use of their equipment. One primary focus of the ARRL is public service. In fact, the name of this organization was chosen to emphasize the public service performed by ham operators in sending or relaying messages from the public.

Persons visiting this site are encouraged to also visit the ARRL site to become familiar with the resources provided by the ARRL.

Within the ARRL, there is a sub-organization known as the National Traffic System (NTS). This
organization is involved with the transmission of radiograms concerned with information critical to
saving lives or property, or to inquire about the health or welfare of disaster victims. I've never been
involved with NTS, so I don't know if they use UHF/VHF, but I do know they use HF an awfully lot.
The radiograms frequently come from or go to distant locations, and HF allows NTS to cover those
distances.

Within the ARRL there is another sub-organization known as the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES). This organization focuses its resources on the use of amateur radio during public events and communication emergencies. The concepts presented in this site are concepts that are encouraged by the ARES and have been used by amateur radio operators through years of public service.

Another organization, sponsored by the Federal Government, that involves amateur radio operators is the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES). This organization was founded in 1952 and is managed on the national level by FEMA. During times of extreme national emergencies, ham radio operators who are not registered with RACES may not be allowed to transmit on the air.

In the United States, the Federal organization (FCC) that sets rules and laws to control electrical communication is the Federal Communications Commission.

In addition to these organizations, other organizations such as churches, may be involved in using amateur radio communications during times of emergency.