How does short wave radio work? How does HAM radio work? My brother studied HAM radio and I saw some of it as a kid. So, can you use HAM like a walky talky, like a phone, and call somebody on the other side of the world? If you can talk to somebody via HAM radio, then why can't you use a HAM radio to call a special HAM RADIO / COMPUTER hybrid where you could remote access the computer desktop from your computer which is connected to a HAM radio or something similar to a HAM radio which is also able to communicate not just with radios but also with other computers on the other side of the world?