So, I’m currently studying for a ham radio operator’s license, specifically the technician’s license, which is considered entry level. Piece of cake, right?

Not so much. The exam involves 35 questions out of a pool of 400 of them, and since I don’t know which questions will be coming my way, I have to know the answers to all of them. We’re talking lofty concepts like Faraday rotation, quantum tunneling, knife-edge diffraction, tropospheric ducting and dozens of others I won’t include here because I can’t properly spell or pronounce them.

Fortunately, there is Cory Golob, a public safety dispatcher and vice president of the Androscoggin Amateur Radio Club. In May, Golob hauled my butt out of the fire when I was tasked with writing a story about the local ham scene. Now, roughly every 10 minutes at all hours of the day, he’s answering my many frantic questions as I cram for this exam, which appears to be written in some intergalactic language.

Golob, a freak of nature who speaks Morse Code and French on top of this strange radio language, took a break from his Elmer duties (mentoring ham radio newbies) to answer some questions about his background. I asked him to provide it in boring old English rather than code.

How did you get into ham radio? I was always mesmerized by radio wave propagation, something that younger generations dismiss with the advent of easy and abundant internet access. I started on CB, also known as 11-meters, as a child, but wanted to take communication to the next level. A family acquaintance and father of a classmate noticed my potential in radio etiquette and handed me a Gordon West ham radio study guide. When I was in eighth grade I took my then-55 question test, passed the first novice test, but failed the technician no-code test. No-code was when the FCC eliminated the Morse code 5 WPM testing requirement in 1991. The next day, I was driven to a test session on the other side of Connecticut to take the other half of the radio test. I passed! Nineteen years later, I have learned the code, introduced my wife to getting her own ham radio license, talked to people in over 130 countries, met friends abroad who share the same interest, slept in and operated from several lighthouses throughout the Northeast, Elmered several hams who have lived near and far, and still continue to be amazed by how technology manages to keep up with the hobby. Ham radio is like U2 (the band), we adjust with the times to stay current and edgy, and there is always something new to discover — sort of like we still haven’t found what we’re looking for.

Tell us something about ham radio that most people don’t know. Ham radio started as an experimental hobby, which is a tradition that continues to this day. It fosters many inventors who are creating different modes and product designs. The founder of the American Radio Relay League, Hiram Percy Maxim, came from a lineage of inventors. Hiram Percy Maxim himself was an inventor, as was his father Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim, who was born in Sangerville, Maine, in 1840.

Is there a local group? What are meetings like? Yes, the local group is the Androscoggin Amateur Radio Club, which has its business meeting on the first Wednesday of every month at 7 p.m. Meetings are held at the Potvin Room in the St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center, located at the intersection of Sabattus Street and Campus Avenue in Lewiston. Anyone is welcome to attend a meeting. We also meet for breakfast at Fusion, which is located inside the Ramada Inn on Pleasant Street in Lewiston on the last Wednesday of the month at 7:30 a.m. We often plan for upcoming events at the meetings, such as the annual state convention, which is like a yard sale for equipment combined with various technical talks in the conference rooms. We also plan for Field Day, which is an annual operating event that allows hams to set up and make contacts throughout the country and the world. Field Day always takes place on the 4th full weekend of June. Plans are also made for events that require communication, such as the MS Walk-A-Thon and Beach-To-Beacon 5K race. We also discuss repeater maintenance, set dates for amateur radio examinations, elect nominees to receive a school scholarship that we give away every year, and hold trainings to discuss different skills that are essential to the hobby, such as how to pass written messages over amateur radio.

Why is amateur radio important to you? Amateur radio is more of a lifestyle for me than a hobby. I earned my license at the age 13 and have learned a great deal from amateur radio. Ham radio has taught me to be the extrovert I am today. I have learned much more than just the science and math that is included in the theory. The hobby has provided me a means of extending my use of foreign language. It has also allowed me the opportunity to serve my community with a skill that I enjoy, providing quick and accurate information over various means and distances. It has taught me to follow instruction as well as how to be a leader. I have also learned how to take an active part in politics to understand and help shape how laws can affect daily operation (laws that can affect ham radio operators include antenna restriction, distracted-driving laws and interference from other non-ham entities such as broadband over power line). I have learned that if we want to make a change in our society, we must exercise our voice in local, state and national politics.

What do you think is the next big thing in communications? The current trend in communication is digital voice. Many digital voice modes have surfaced over the past few years. The benefit of digital modes is that you can fit more signals in the spectrum. Another perk of digital is that text and GPS data can optionally be sent at the same time somebody is talking.

As for the next big thing in communications, I think it will be Mesh networking. Text messaging is popular, but I think the means by which texts are sent will transition from SMS to an over-the-internet route, much like how an Imessage text from an Apple device operates. Data has become the new superhighway for transmitting information. We are burning through data at an amazing rate. A voice no longer seems sufficient these days; YouTube videos or Skype/FaceTime video calls are becoming the preferred method of communication across many age groups. Parents and grandparents now seem to be more comfortable with videoconferencing family and friends more so than in years past. Costs are also an important factor when it comes to deciding how to communicate with others. Cell phone towers are costly to maintain whereas wireless access points are much more inexpensive to deploy. In the near future, I say to be on the lookout for white mesh-network access point boxes, coming to a utility pole near you.

What do you do when you are not hamming it up? When I am not talking to friends on the radio, then I am usually talking on the public service frequencies as part of my job. I have been a public safety dispatcher for the past 15 years. Answering 9-1-1 is sometimes like talking to somebody on amateur radio: You encounter somebody that you have never met and work at developing a rapport with them. I have found this comfort of socialization imperative when dealing with people who are feeling suicidal; it is crucial to build that rapport in a matter of seconds.

I also enjoy raising my three wonderful children with my wife. My other hobbies include camping, hunting and visiting lighthouses. Regardless of what I am doing, I find there are ways to incorporate an amateur radio component back to my other hobbies.

What should a person do if they want to get into ham? If a person is interested in learning more about ham radio, they should find a meeting to attend and get a study guide for the entry level technician test. The American Radio Relay League is the national organization that promotes the hobby and keeps the amateur radio spectrum safe by actively participating in politics that could affect its operation. If you ever have the opportunity to take a field trip, try visiting the league headquarters in Newington, Conn. The way to get involved in this hobby is to become an active participant. Visit http://www.arrl.org for more information.