HAM - Amateur Radio - NIAR - Hyderabad

The first time I wielded a wireless radio was while working as a student worker in remote Louisiana, USA. I was perplexed at the working of the radio although I was an Electronics and Communications Engineer by then (what a shame :-).

Then, while working in Bangalore, I happened to see this weird device (sorry but it looks huge while compared to the mobile phones coming out now) again and learnt that my dear Keralite friend used to use this to talk with his brother in the UAE. Hmm, I thought it was a pretty decent way of saving money on ISD call charges.

Afterwards, when I started working in Hyderabad, there were natural disasters (tsunami) that stuck around the world (Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India) which brought back HAM, Amateur Radios back into the limelight as they were the first to respond for disaster recovery. Then, I thought it was about time I learnt about the technology and the working of radios.

This led me to NIAR, Hyderabad (National Institute of Amateur Radio). There are hundreds of links available on the website and there is tons of information available for your perusal.

Here I share small amount of information from the manual I received after I registered for the Radio operator examination.

"Amateur Radio is a fascinating hobby for people of all ages of all walks of life irrespective of age, educational qualifications and status. It is also well suited to the handicapped and elder citizens who are looking for new friends in their life.

Morse code is the most efficient means of radio communication. Nothing beats code for providing vital communication through noise and interference under marginal conditions.

Radiotelegraphy by itself is a language. Not every amateur understands English, but through a recognised systems and combinations of dits and dashes every ham can converse in a common language, the Morse Code.

ONE OF THE AMATEUR LOGO IS "ONE WORLD ONE LANGUAGE" BECAUSE OF THIS MORSE CODE."

What is Amateur Radio?
Amateur radio is a unique activity which puts hundreds of thousands of people all over the world into direct contact with each other every day.

Amateur Radio operators are also known as "HAM" an acronym to those pursuing two way communication as a hobby.

Amateur Radio is a friendly, scientific, Fun-loving, high-tech hobby and is popularly known as HAM Radio. Any individual above the age of 12 can become an Amateur Radio opeartor- no matter what age, gender or physical ability.

Amateurs are fore runners to any technological innovations.

Why Amateur Radio?
For many man-made and natural disasters all over the world, the only communication to the outside world for the first critical tens of hours has often been an amateur radio station.

There are many benefits of joining an amateur radio course including introduction to scientific activity at a very young age, inculcating leadership and communication skills, etc.

Some of the most famous HAMs are listed here.

This was one of those rare places where a mother and a daughter took the exam along at the same time. I happened to take only the written part of the examination and could not take the Morse code exam because of time constraint (had a day job).

I hope more children especially teenagers take up this course and promote this technology.

For the VOIP enthusiasts, there is a detailed explanation regarding "Use of VOIP in Amateur Radio".

So, are you radio-active yet? Just google and ye shall find all kinds of information regarding HAM, Amateur Radio, Morse code, etc.