SAI Radio Sport Meet, Delhi-NCR – A Personal Account

A Meeting Point of Signals and Sport

I had wanted to write this much earlier, but like most good intentions, it kept getting postponed by work, travel, and the comforting illusion that tomorrow would be more generous with time. It was not. So here I am, finally putting words to a Sunday that deserves to be remembered.

Sunday, the seventh of December 2025, arrived with bright winter sunshine and a light, honest chill. The kind of weather that quietly convinces you to step out of the house. By late morning, all roads seemed to lean towards the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. Inside its familiar concrete embrace, the Sports Authority of India conference room was slowly filling up. And then filling up some more. Many old hands later agreed that this was the largest gathering of Delhi–NCR radio amateurs they had seen in nearly a decade.

Onkar Nath Yadav with fellow radio amateurs at SAI

The crowd itself was a small study in diversity. Engineers stood next to doctors. Students sat beside veterans. Armed forces officers, technocrats, management faculty, homemakers, young enthusiasts, and seasoned operators all shared the same chairs and the same curiosity. Some had travelled from Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and even Hyderabad. A few brought family along, perhaps to show that the voice behind the call sign was indeed human. A quiet celebrity presence added sparkle. Former Asian Games judge Kanan Saha was there, applauded not for medals, but for showing up.

For many of us, voices that had travelled for years through coaxial cables and ionospheric hops suddenly had faces. The experience was mildly surreal. There was too little time to meet everyone properly, but enough to know that such gatherings need to happen far more often.

I have written earlier about this strange intimacy of radio – voices without faces, signals without borders – in a separate reflection, Sirens, Signals & Static Joy

This meet did not appear from thin air. It came together because of two radio amateurs who believed that the Delhi–NCR fraternity needed a common table again. One was Onkar Nath Yadav of the Indian Radio Regulatory Service, until recently Assistant Wireless Adviser at the WPC Wing. Anyone licensed in the last few years will recognise his name and signature instantly. What is less common is that Onkar also holds an amateur licence himself, VU3OOO. That makes him something of a rare species. He is presently on deputation as Director at the Sports Authority of India, which perhaps explains why this meet found its home inside a sporting institution.

The other driving force was Rajani Mohan, VU2HW, fondly known on the air as Hungry Wolf. Rajani has long been a familiar and reassuring presence on Delhi VHF and the 40-metre band at 7.065 MHz. Credit where it is due, he managed to bring together radio amateurs across clubs and affiliations under one roof, something easier discussed than done.

Rajani carries a quiet legacy. His father, the late Madan Mohan Prasad, VU2MMP, was a respected mentor to many. Today, his call sign lives on through the Patna VHF repeater maintained by the Society of Radio Amateurs (SORA). Some stories in amateur radio refuse to end, and that is a good thing.

My own introduction to this meet was anything but straightforward. Three days before the event, M. S. Kamat, VU3SLJ, called and requested that I attend. Soon after, a WhatsApp invite followed. It looked neat enough. Venue, date, time, and two call signs listed as hosts. One of them read VU2OOO. Curiosity got the better of me. A quick visit to QRZ revealed that VU2OOO belonged to Rani Gupta of Guna, Madhya Pradesh, spouse of the veteran R. D. Gupta, VU200. This raised several questions. Why was VU2OOO hosting a Delhi meet, and why was VU200 himself not coming? I let the thought rest, slightly puzzled.

Later that evening, I posted a photograph of my VX-6R handheld in a small WhatsApp group, accompanied by a hopeful line about the World Trade Tower repeater returning to life someday. The response from Rajani was instant. Was I joining on Sunday to raise my voice for the repeater? That single line clarified what the invite did not. The meet was about a repeater, or more precisely, the absence of one. Since the decommissioning of the VU2DLR repeater and the closure of Vigyan Prasar, Delhi–NCR operators have been operating at a noticeable disadvantage.

The final piece of the puzzle fell into place only at the venue. The mysterious VU2OOO turned out to be nothing more than a printer’s devil at work. The invite had meant VU3OOO, Onkar’s call sign. One missing digit had managed to generate an evening of speculation and a good deal of laughter later.

The invite that sparked an amusing confusion

When an Indian Radio Regulatory Service officer meets radio amateurs, conversations do spark and ideas do fly. Onkar’s presentation was delivered in Hindi, but the message translated effortlessly. Sports connect people. Ham radio can also become a sport. Radio sport can be adventurous, competitive, and engaging. If made interesting, students of science will take part willingly. When it gains visibility, leaders will notice. Radio sport, he suggested, is worth investing in.

Ham radio, after all, is one of the earliest forms of social media, long before the term became fashionable. It accommodates a surprising range of interests. Homebrew rigs and antennas sit comfortably alongside satellite communication, space station contacts, long distance DX chasing, contesting, digital modes, and long evening conversations that wander without apology. For a newcomer, it is a technical playground. For a veteran, it is a lifelong companion.

Every participant at the meet was invited to introduce themselves. Each story had its own rhythm, but one stood out sharply. Colonel Nasser Hussain Dubey, VU2DUB, formerly of the Ninth Parachute Field Regiment, an elite formation of the Indian Army specialising in counter terrorism, spoke with calm clarity. During his service in Jammu and Kashmir between 1991 and 1996, his unit tracked insurgent VHF transmissions using little more than directional antennas, maps, and a compass. Signals were intercepted, bearings taken, and local assistance used to translate languages. The collected intelligence was then passed to the Wireless Monitoring Organisation and onward to operational units.

Col. Nasser Hussain Dubey, VU2DUB, sharing field experience

Between 1996 and 2000, posted in the northeast and based in Aizawl, he formally set up his amateur HF station. He often monitored the 20-metre band, spanning 14.000 to 14.350 MHz, where cross-border transmissions from deep forested regions bordering Indo–Myanmar, including the Kachin region, and from across the Bangladesh frontier occasionally surfaced. Recorded tapes and supporting dossiers were forwarded to the Wireless Monitoring Organisation, which has a permanent presence in Shillong. Using signal direction, experience, and field intelligence, teams navigated dense forests, hills, and difficult terrain, sometimes coming close to high-value targets. There was no internet then, no satellite navigation. It was, in essence, fox hunting at a professional level.

When Sandeep Baruah, VU2MUE, spoke, the room leaned forward. Formerly Scientist F at Vigyan Prasar, now closed by administrative decision, he raised a pointed but measured question. What was the present status of the VU2DLR repeater hardware and associated equipment handed over to the Wireless Monitoring Training and Development Centre (WMTDC) in July 2024? His remarks aligned neatly with the question that had been quietly circulating all morning. 

Sandeep Baruah, a maverick scientist and adventurer whose curiosity knows no bounds, was the custodian of Delhi’s oldest repeater, VU2DLR, and its associated equipment for more than two decades. Under his watch, Delhi VHF rarely fell silent. Many will remember checking into the nightly net, followed by extended conversations that stretched well past reasonable dinner times. Winter ducting often brought stations from Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh into the repeater late at night and early morning. Those were warm frequencies in every sense.

According to sources familiar with the matter, the factual trail is laid out clearly. With the closure of Vigyan Prasar, licences were surrendered and equipment transferred as per rules to WMTDC under the Ministry of Communications. The hardware, including repeaters, transceivers, and accessories, remains functional. Some items are barely used. The question now is not about ownership, but about intent and utilisation.

The larger story of Delhi-NCR’s silent repeater and the hopes once pinned on the World Trade Tower has been documented earlier in my post, Delhi-NCR Repeater: Hopes from a Tower 

It is widely speculated that Onkar, presently at SAI, may be in a position to take this forward more formally when he returns to his parent department with higher responsibility. Whether that happens remains to be seen, but the possibility has given many operators cautious optimism.

Bhanu, VU2MB, bringing flair to the gathering

The meet had its lighter moments too. Bhanu P. Singh, VU2MB, arrived with effortless flair, dark blazer, cowboy hat, and an illuminated name badge, before departing quietly in a sleek electric vehicle. Kaustav, VU2UUU, drew attention with a lightweight homebrew telescopic dipole mounted on a modest tripod. Simple in appearance, adaptable in design, it reflected his broader approach to amateur radio. From satellite work to low power VHF contacts across states, from clever digital mode hacks to broadcast quality audio from minimalist circuits, his enthusiasm is infectious.

As the afternoon wound down, there was general agreement that such gatherings should be held at least once every three months. Many operators had not known about this meet at all. Better communication will be essential going forward.

Delhi-NCR radio amateurs at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium

The hope, unspoken yet shared, is that valuable equipment does not gather dust in storage rooms. Delhi–NCR needs an effective repeater, much like the one deployed during the October 2025 mock drill at the World Trade Tower. The pieces exist. The people exist. The energy certainly exists.

The signal is waiting. It would be a shame not to transmit.

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Delhi-NCR Repeater: Hopes from the Tower

 Voices carry far across the city

Delhi’s airwaves recently got a taste of real power. High above Noida, the World Trade Tower repeater came alive and showed what happens when height, technology and timing meet. At nearly the level of a 45-storey building, the signals spilled effortlessly across the NCR. Delhi, Gurgaon, Faridabad, Noida and Ghaziabad stations jumped in with handheld radios, many surprised how easily they triggered it. Some even reported clean contacts from Meerut.

I had planned to write about this repeater long back. But speed breakers like the endless shift of ham licences to the DoT portal got in the way. I wrote about that ordeal in another piece, Lost in Saral Sanchar.

Delhi-NCR's repeater rises high at WTT

The repeater was first installed during Delhi’s mega disaster rehearsal with hams taking the air. It ran on VU2DLR’s frequency 145.60 MHz with a Motorola rig and a Diamond antenna. For hours, traffic was heavy yet stable, a rare delight. I described parts of that rehearsal in my earlier blog Sirens, Signals & Static Joy.

When hobby meets high-rise – Delhi NCR’s ham signals in style

When the rehearsal ended, the experiment began. Hams tried it with both handies and mobile base stations. Normally, most would use the full 25 to 50 watts of RF power. But with WTT, they could trigger it easily at just minimum settings – some even half a watt. The community was thrilled. One ham even joked, “Great, we’re not polluting the atmosphere with unnecessary RF.” It was a rare mix of humour and technical joy. Old handy talkies were dusted off, base stations fired up. Many whispered: “Our repeater has come back stronger.”

But the magic did not last. The repeater was soon pulled down with a promise it would return permanently at the same spot on WTT by Diwali.

Flashback: Vigyan Prasar’s VU2DLR days

For many years before this, the VU2DLR repeater had been Delhi’s lifeline. Run by Vigyan Prasar, it gave hams seamless contact across NCR. In winters, signals would travel farther and we had regular QSOs with Punjab, Agra and beyond. But by 2022, cracks showed. The repeater stayed on air but lacked care. After a few check-ins, it would develop a continuous knocking sound that made it useless. Soon, news of its decommissioning came, followed by a short WhatsApp message from its custodian. The community felt orphaned.

The closure of Vigyan Prasar in October 2023 added salt to the wound. For more than 30 years, it had promoted science and communication in India. And yet, the same government that talks of digital revolutions and science-based progress quietly shut it down, citing NITI Aayog’s cost-cutting advice. An institution that cost little, yet gave so much, was dismantled. Many in the scientific community still see it as a step backward.

Delhi does have other repeaters, like the advanced VHF VU2FUN and UHF VU2HUB, privately run by two enterprising brothers. They play globally via Echolink and DMR, and enjoy steady check-ins. But on the RF side, their reach has limits. Even high-gain antennas struggle to pick them up, unlike the Vigyan Prasar repeater which could be triggered almost effortlessly.

This is why so many Delhi hams keep their rigs idle. VHF and UHF radios are cheaper and easier to install than HF rigs, yet they remain unattractive without a strong repeater. The absence of one is the biggest reason why two meters often sounds like silence.

I have visited several cities, monitored repeaters during nets and casual ragchew. Delhi still has some of the best speakers I’ve heard on air. Their serious talk sprinkled with humour can make even a casual listener smile. But to hear them, we need an efficient repeater.

It is ironic that the national capital, with its tech hubs, top institutes, universities and political elite, cannot boast of a strong repeater network. India's young Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi,  VU2RG, once championed amateur radio and fought for lower import tariffs. Sadly, after him, his family, Sonia Gandhi (VU2SON), Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (VU2PGY) and even his friend Amitabh Bachchan (VU2AMY), did not pick up where he left. I only hope all three managed to migrate their licences to Saral Sanchar. If not, maybe someone should give them a reminder – it might even refresh their interest and give the ham world a boost.

The tower fades, but voices remain

As Diwali approaches, Delhi hams look once more towards the shining tower in Noida. The World Trade Tower repeater gave us a glimpse of what NCR can sound like when airwaves unite. One repeater, one signal, hundreds of voices carried across the city. May it return soon, stronger and brighter. That's all it takes to make the airwaves sing again.

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