The most important connections we make in amateur radio aren’t the ones we solder on the workbench or fasten with a PL-259 in the field. So says Jacques Redmond WW1ZRD, founder of Out on the Air, an amateur radio activity that focuses on connections that are human-to-human. You can make them on a hilltop, a sidewalk or even in your garden. Jacques created the website outontheair dot com to encourage hams to get off their couches and out of their houses or apartments and give it a try.

The idea is as simple as sunshine itself. Or, as he says on his website, call CQ from a rooftop or a beach at midnight. He writes: [quote] ‘If you left home and you're on the air — you're Out On The Air.”

Jacques, whose preferred mode for now is SSB - at least until he learns CW - treasures the sound of a real human voice as it rises above the noise. To him, it [quote] “captures everything I love about ham radio.” He said that in the week or so since the activity launched along with the website, radio operators have registered from around the world and begun working toward the different awards.

It’s no surprise that those awards, like the operating locations themselves, are all registered on the honor system. That’s because Jacques believes first in humans on the air.