World Amateur Radio Day

Home But Never Alone

CQ, CQ, CQ, this is VU3TQT… heartiest greetings to you OM/YL… happy world amateur radio day… your signals are 5 by 9 at my end… keep enjoying the hobby… 73… Such words of expression exchanged between radio amateurs across the globe has been renting the airwaves on the various Ham bands radio frequencies. In Ham Radio parlance, CQ stands for general calling over the air; OM stands for old man and is addressed to any male Ham operator irrespective of one’s age; YL is young lady which is referred to any female Ham operator no matter what her actual age is; 73 stands for Best Regards and the alpha-numeric characters such as VU3TQT are unique callsign which identifies a Ham operator. 

Welcome to the niche world of Ham Radio! Today is a significant day for Radio

Amateurs or Ham Operators across the globe for hooking up into the airwaves to celebrate the World Amateur Radio Day (WARD) and exchange pleasantries. On this day in 18 April, 1925 the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) was founded at the International Radiotelegraph Conference in Paris. American Radio Relay League (ARRL) co-founder, Hiram Percy Maxim was its first president.

**Amateur radio experimenters were the first to discover that the HF spectrum was a resource that could support worldwide communication. In the rush to use these shorter wavelengths, amateur radio was “in grave danger of being pushed aside,” IARU history has noted, prompting the founding of the IARU. At the 1927 International Radiotelegraph Conference, amateur radio gained allocations still recognised today - 160, 80, 40, 20, and 10 meters. Over the years, the IARU has worked to defend those allocations and to give all radio amateurs new bands 136 KHz, 472 KHz, 5 MHz, 10 MHz, 18 MHz, 24 MHz and 50 MHz.   

The beauty of Ham Radio is that with just minimum resources such as a transceiver

VU3OIM, Venkat's Radio Shack

and a simple wire antenna one can communicate thousands of kilometres across the globe by reflecting signals through the earth’s ionosphere in the HF (high frequency) bands. Hams have been also communicating with the International Space Station (ISS) crew from time to time. No mobile phone or Internet service providers are required since the communication establishes wirelessly between antenna to antenna. Prior to the advent of the Internet, mobile phones and social media, nobody could ever imagine in their  darkest thought of communicating different corners of the globe by operating a transceiver from the comfort of one’s residence or from a remote mountain top. Ham radio made that possible decades ago. It is the oldest form of social media which is still practiced worldwide today.To become a licensed Ham operator and own such transceivers, one has to pass an exam conducted by the governments of respective countries. In India it is conducted by the Wireless Planning & Co-ordination (WPC) Wing, Ministry of Communications, Government of India. 

Ham is a synonym of amateur radio. Its origin of usage dates back to 1908 when the first amateur radio station was operated by three youngsters of Harvard Radio Club in the United States. They were Albert S. Hyman, Bob Almy and Poogie Murray. In times, the first letter of last name of each of these radio amateurs were taken respectively that read as “HAM”. Since then the word Ham has become a popular term to refer an amateur radio operator in an informal way. 

   Teenager VU3FMV, Smriti 

   at her Radio Shack

From a teenager to an octogenarian, from an ordinary house wife to the hotshot captain of the industry and from a simpleton living in the neighbourhood to the armed forces, physicians, pilots, and sailors, et el, the Ham community comprises of a vibrant diverse people. There are several families where the spouses are both radio amateurs while many have their offsprings too in it. To become a Ham operator it is not necessary to have a science background, although it may help greatly if one has it. The primary requirement is if one has the ardent interest in shortwave radio listening (SWL) and RF (radio frequency) world. The radio amateur is progressive with knowledge obsessed with science, a well built and efficient station and operation of approach. With such age groups into the hobby, a code of conduct is maintained thereby, manifesting a mutual respect and civility within the Ham community. In 1928 a radio amateur by the name Paul Segal, W9EEA wrote something called the “Amateur’s Code”. This 92 years old document talks about how radio amateurs should behave. One of the codes reads, “The Radio Amateur is considerate, never knowingly operates in such a way as to lessen the pleasure of others”.

This year the IARU which commemorates 96th anniversary of its existence, has come up with a special theme - “Amateur Radio: Home But Never Alone”. The theme has special significance as it marks the killer COVID-19 which commenced in 2020 and the subsequent lockdown that led to extreme isolation to contain the spread of the virus. However, in such difficult circumstances the worldwide amateur community responded positively by reaching out one another via the airwaves in local, national and global levels.

Octagenarian VU2VTM, R J Marcus, often  
regarded by Hams as the Marconi of India 

Nets such as Wellness and Stay Safe on the VHF (very high frequency), UHF (ultra high frequency) and HF (high frequency) bands were regularly held across countries to magnify the importance of limiting the spread of the Corona virus. These Nets provided friendly voices and regular status check to those, especially senior citizens who are confined to their homes. 

Interestingly, the lockdown period saw several Hams to revive their hobby by dusting out their transceivers, hosting antennas and come on air live. This led to an unprecedented on-air activity with record-breaking numbers of entries in the various radio sport contests in all bands. All these only reinforces a powerful message that radio amateurs belong to a global community who comes together in times of crisis, are connected as well as available to assist those in need. 

In India several radio amateurs, particularly of southern states played a pivotal role during the lockdown period. Hams in Hyderabad voluntarily tracked and helped migrant workers, the destitute and sick by swiftly rushing them with food packets, bottled water and alerting the medical service. In the silicone city of Bangalore, which is fast gaining a synonym as the Ham capital of India, radio amateurs worked round the clock by extending a helping hand to the state government in its war against the killer-corona virus. Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Pune, Kolkata including Delhi-NCR too among other cities had been featuring the importance of COVID-19 safety measures such as hygiene initiatives in its local Nets while simultaneously chasing away the isolation and boredom blues caused by the lockdown. Apparently, the national capital lacks in having any credible local radio amateur club that deserves a mention.

*IARU President Tim Ellam, VE6SH in a message said, “As we enter the second wave of the COVID pandemic, many of us are still dealing with the lockdowns and the associated isolation from being unable to meet family and friends in person. While there is a hopefully light at the end tunnel, it is likely some form of social distancing will continue well into the future…My wish for the World Amateur Day, as it was last year, is for everyone to stay safe, follow the advise of medical professionals and use Amateur Radio to remain connected to our global community”. 

**ARRL is the International Secretariat of the IARU. There are several countries around the world who are members of the IARU as well as the ARRL. The 25 countries that formed the IARU in 1925 have grown to include more than 160 member-societies in three regions. IARU Region 1 includes Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and North Asia. Region 2 covers the Americas, and Region 3 is comprised of Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific island nations, and most of Asia. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has recognised the IARU as representing the interests of amateur radio. India falls under Region 3. 

The Amateur Radio Society of India (ARSI) is affiliated to the IARU. Though ARSI is considered as the apex body that represents radio amateurs interest in India, but sadly, it is yet to get some teeth and be recognised by the national telecom department. Since long the ARSI has been pressurising the government of India to hand over its power in conducting the Amateur Station Office Certificate (ASOC) exams. In contrast, amateur radio exams in the US are conducted by the ARRL which is a body of radio Hams who volunteer as examiners while the licences are issued by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). India has a long way to go to match its US counterpart, though.

In India the British army officers were the first Ham operators in the sub continent while their native Indian counterparts jumped into the hobby much later. The first Indian to be licensed was Amarendra Chandra Gooptu in 1921 with a callsign 2JK which was followed by Mukul Bose with callsign, 2HQ in the same year that resulted the first two-way Ham radio communication in the country. During that era, passing the radio amateur exam was fine but, getting the licence for a native Indian was an uphill task for address verification, background check, etc as it took weeks, months, years and sometimes documents got lost forever. Strangely, such archaic rules were being continued post independence period until just recently when things started slightly improving following the intervention of ARSI.   

 Former Indian Prime Minister 

Rajiv Gandhi, VU2RG

Former Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi was an avid Ham operator who did his might in promoting the hobby. During his regime import duty of Ham radio transceivers were lowered which gave a fillip to the rise of amateur enthusiasts in India. He was a Ham operator right from the days when he was a pilot with the Indian Airlines. Gandhi used the Ham Radio intensively while flying around as the  Prime Minister. Until a few hours before his assassination on 21 May 1991 at Sriperumbudur, he was on air making his last call from Vishakapatnam in the midst of a hectic election tour. After his tragic demise, his callsign - VU2RG has been assigned to a club station of Rajiv Gandhi Foundation (RGF). The chairperson of RGF is his spouse, Sonia Gandhi who is also a Ham with the callsign, VU2SON.

In the recent months there has been scarcity and sharp increase on import duty for transceivers and other Ham radio equipments following our strained relations with China. This has severely impacted many Hams to go live on air. Though homebrewing or DIY (do it yourself) is an important activity of radio amateurs, but the reality is that crucial components to build a transceiver, antennas, etc are all  majorly dependent from that dragon country. Even though imports have been officially banned, but clandestinely it is still continuing via a third party country resulting in cost escalation. Except for single outlets based in the national capital and the nation's financial capital that deals in specific brands of Ham radio transceivers, there are no showrooms in the country where one can get a look and feel of various rig of his choice before deciding to swipe the card to own one. Many Hams who have superb knowledge in fixing hardware visits a market in Agra where discarded army transceivers and antennas can be procured at a bargain price. India does not manufactures transceivers nor does it has chip building facilities.      

    Gandhi's signature 

    on a QSL card

There are more than three million Hams worldwide. USA and Japan have more than a third of the total Ham population in the world. However, Ham radio is banned in North Korea and currently in Myanmar too following a military coup in February 2021 where the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi had been suspended. In India there are slightly over 25,000 radio amateurs out of which only around 2,000 are active and most of whom are primarily based in the south. This low figure does not augur well given the fact in the months ahead India will be shortly entering its centenary year in amateur radio. Many veterans and senior Hams are of the opinion that a major chunk of the people simply come to get the government licence and use it for other purpose, while several students who had no interest in amateur radio, but were asked to undergo a Ham radio training course thus, blocking callsigns for the next forty years or so. Such maladies can be put on check only once the ARSI is vested with the power of conducting the ASOC exams.

Even though amateur radio in India is going to mark its 100 years, but sadly, by and large it is still not well known to the general people. The ignorance is so much that sight of a Ham operator carrying a handy talkie or a base station fitted in a car with protruding conspicuous antennas makes many people believe they are either detectives, security personnel or at worst - call-centre wallas, radio taxis and sometimes terrorists too. 

The national broadcaster Doordarshan (DD), which has the exclusive rights of

A Repeater Notice in Echolink 

terrestrial broadcast in India has done little to familiarise Ham radio in the correct perspective through its Vigyan Prasar programmes. It is often projected as a disaster management while the actual hobby part takes a back-burner. They have grossly ignored in their programmes dissemination of one of the key requirements in amateur radio, which is certain level of proficiency in both written and spoken English. Sadly, this has caused scores of would-be Hams, especially those from rural areas to find themselves in crossroads immediately on receipt of their ticket. The fallout of this results several hams to come on air live communicating in their respective languages or get frustrated, loose interest and gradually go off the air. This completely negates amateur radio’s “One World, One Language” theme where English is considered the preferred language of communication.

To clear this foggy image, in India the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is the exclusive department which comes into play whenever there are natural calamities and accidents. The WPC have assigned NDRF frequencies too, but only in the UHF band. Ham operators with their communication skills loaded with luxury of frequencies in the UHF, VHF and HF bands extends support during such times, but only after a formal written request is made by the respective state and central governments. Most videos on Indian amateur radio posted in YouTube are poorly created and often distorted missing the essence of this world’s unique hobby. Perhaps, Prasar Bharati, which runs both DD and All India Radio (AIR) needs to sharply reorient itself, reduce technical staff and instead add content muscle.

   Elicraft KX3 portable 

   HF transceiver 

There is no doubt that the radio amateur is patriotic, stationed and skilled all-ready for service to the country and community.

Some of the amateur radio’s public service role in the past disaster and emergencies that deserves mention are the Indian Ocean Tsunami, the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks, Latur earthquakes including the recent years flash floods in Kerala and Uttar Khand. 

Barring those engineering colleges and individuals who seek amateur radio training at the National Institute of Amateur Radio (NIAR), Indian Institute of Ham (IIH) and certain government-run and aided educational institutes having Scouts & Guides, one wonders why Ham radio awareness have never made inroads in premier and well known educational institutes for instance, under Delhi University, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Amity University, Calcutta University (CU), Jadavpur University (JU), St. Xaviers, Loreto Convent, Donbosco, or Christ King College, Bethany School, etc?! There are brilliant people in these institutes and just a single day 45 minutes of an effective presentation on amateur radio awareness every year will surely drive the right students to take it forward on their own if they find it interesting to become a practicing Ham. I can say all this with conviction since I was never in Scouts or attended NIAR and IIH, but aware of talents in these educational institutes.

As time and technology march on, over the years amateur radio has seen a

Yagi antenna for HF bands

remarkable transformation with the advent of SDR (software defined radio) transceivers enabling digital transmission of data and voice through packet radio such as PSK, RTTY, FT8, JS8CALL, etc. and DMR, DSTAR, FUSION respectively. However, purists have been crying foul as these emerging digital modes have been killing their years of achieved skills go waste in CW (continuous wave) or the Morse Code, often regarded as the earliest form of digital communication. It is like the video killed the radio star situation of the 1980s. The reality is that even though digital messaging is making inroads into the Ham bands, CW will continue as it still commands a unique form factor. At the same time, adaptability to the emerging new digital technology in amateur radio should be acceptable by all Hams. 

In the final analysis, it would be great to see some notable changes on the flaws highlighted. Amateur radio is open to all and historically we have always gone along well. We should be warmly accepting new comers especially those who are different from us in age, circumstances and background. There should be no display of arrogance and the privileges given to us should not be used for any pecuniary purpose. In amateur radio, politics, religion or any inflammatory topics are considered taboo since it creates anger and frustration. Nobody likes to be told they are wrong, inadequate, stupid or can’t do anything right. Instead, people respond to encouragement and consideration. 

The second wave of COVID-19 pandemic has hit the country with fury claiming countless lives worldwide. India, USA and Brazil among few other countries have been severely affected. On a different note, while celebrating WARD, let us take a moment to remember all the Hams who have gone silent key (term of respect for deceased Ham) during this period and those battling for their lives recovers soon. On this auspicious day let us all also pledge to imbibe a little kindness and lot of forgiveness in our minds so that Hams can set examples to the world, both on air and off air through our sacred hobby - Amateur Radio!

**References: ARRL & IARU

What Radio Amateurs talk on-Air during COVID-19 times...