[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
[HCDX] HAM Radio - Wireless Fun
Sitting in the warm and cosy comforts of their homes,
Amateur Radio Operators, simply called "hams", can
establish contacts with people in any part of the
globe effortlessly. This hobby is lots of fun and
offers something for everyone, says Florine Roche.
Spare a thought to recollect what is common among
Sonia Gandhi, King Hussain of Jordan, King Carlos of
Spain, late Rajiv Gandhi, Amitabh Bachchan, Kamal
Hassan, Kalpana Chawla and film Director Mansoor Ali
Khan? Apart from being famous personalities they
were/are all Amateur Radio Operators, simply called
?hams?. Amateur Radio is a community of like-minded
individuals using wireless communication to
communicate with other hams literally in any part of
the globe.
Generally it is believed that ham stands for three
pioneers of radio technology - Heinrich Rudolf Hertz,
Edwin Arstrong and Guglielmo Marconi. The other
definition of ham is ?help all mankind?. Being a ham
one can talk to an astronaut in space or to a
geologist on an expedition in the Antarctica, sitting
in the cozy comfort of your homes.
?All that is needed to become a ham is a transceiver
an antenna and of course oodles of interest?, remark
Rohit S Rao and his wife Sukanya, both active ham
buffs. On qualifying an examination conducted by
Ministry of communications, a licence is issued to
anyone above 12 years. Every licence-holder is given
a call sign and this call sign cannot be allotted to
any other person in the world.
?The best way reap maximum benefits from this ?king
of hobbies? is by joining a local club station. There
are millions of hams all over the world who are
obsessed with the hobby and have set up local club
stations,? asserts Ananth Pai, executive director of
Bharath Beedies Pvt Ltd., president of Mangalore
Amateur Radio Club (MARC) and governing council member
of Amateur Radio Society of India (ASRI).
The credit goes to Varadaraya Nayak, the first ham
from Mangalore, B Mahabala Hegde of Surathkal and
psychiatrist Mohammed Osman Pasha for spearheading the
Ham revolution in Mangalore, which led to the birth of
MARC in 1982. Today it comprises a few young and
enthusiastic members who are creating waves through
their pro-active activities in the Ham world. Age has
not diminished Hegde?s penchant for this hobby. ?It is
a great hobby for anybody and everybody that keeps the
body and mind agile,? he states.
MARC members meet every second Sunday of the month for
a t?O-୴?O and participate in Ham radio
expeditions or other activities of the club. ?Apart
from the pleasure part of it ham encourages the
experimental spirit as the hobby is everything to do
with electronics,? says Srikanth Bhat of Udupi, a Ham
aficionado. ?Youngsters should be encouraged to
indulge in this hobby to herald an electronic
revolution. Only Hams are encouraged to build, modify
and improve their own equipment in pursuit of radio
art,? asserts Ananth Pai.
Besides the pleasure and experiment benefits, Hams can
provide communications during cyclones, earthquakes
floods and other natural calamities when other means
of communications fall apart. It can be recalled here
that, during the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq, when the
civilian communication links were snapped, it was a
south Indian who conveyed message on Ham radio about
stranded Indians there.
MARC members have rendered a helping hand in many such
calamities like during the Orissa cyclone, Gujarat and
Maharashtra earthquakes and the Tsunami disaster. A
few months back they went to Lakshadeep and trained
locals in using Ham as Lakshadeep is prone to
calamities, often rendering other communications out
of gear. MARC has activated two remote islands IOTA
(Island on the Air), St. Mary?s Isles, Malpe near
Udupi and Sacrifice Rock, Kannur.
The educative role of Ham as a hobby cannot be
overlooked as it can introduce scientific activity
among children at a very young age and would help
create awareness about the importance of information
technology and communications. For many Ham
enthusiasts, the principal attraction to the hobby is
to build their own equipment, whether it is just a
simple antenna, or something as complex as a
transmitter, or an interface between their radio and a
computer.
Ham is purely a hobby and cannot be used for monetary
gains. Hams cannot broadcast to public. ?Hams are
cultural ambassadors who promote friendship and
bonhomie among people of different countries,? says
Chethan L Poojara, MARC secretary. So get hooked to
this king of hobbies and introduce your children also
to this fascinating hobby. It will open new vistas of
life to them.
Hams can establish contacts with astronauts as space
stations have Ham radio equipment and licensed Ham
astronauts take the time to make contacts with
amateurs on earth.
The most popular means by which Hams communicate with
each other is voice (radiotelephony or Morse code
(radiotelegraphy), the language of dots and dashes.
Grade II licence-holder is permitted to work only on a
telegraphy Morse code and will be allowed radio
telephony at higher grade.
The Morse Code of 5 words per minutes
sending-receiving will make eligible to get grade-II
and 12 words per minutes sending-receiving will get
grade-I.
In Ham lingo a male is always referred to as an old
man (OM) whereas a woman is called a young lady (YL),
irrespective of age.
Those interested in joining the expanding Ham family
can contact Chethan Poojara on mobile 99014 54719 or
Ananth Pai on email ananthpai30@xxxxxxxxx
Jaisakthivel,
Chennai
///////////////////
Source: http://www.daijiworld.com/chan/exclusive_arch.asp?ex_id=673
///////////////////////
For Contact: Jaisakthivel,59,Annai Sathya Nagar,
Arumbakkam,Chennai-600106,India
Visit: www.dxersguide.blogspot.com
www.sarvadesavaanoli.blogspot.com
Join: www.groups.yahoo.com/group/sarvadesavanoli
Mobile: +91 98413 66086
///////////////////////
Download prohibited? No problem. CHAT from any browser, without download. Go to http://in.messenger.yahoo.com/webmessengerpromo.php/
---[Start Commercial]---------------------
Preorder your WRTH 2007:
http://www.hard-core-dx.com/redirect2.php?id=wrth2007
---[End Commercial]-----------------------
________________________________________
Hard-Core-DX mailing list
Hard-Core-DX@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/hard-core-dx
http://www.hard-core-dx.com/
_______________________________________________
THE INFORMATION IN THIS ARTICLE IS FREE. It may be copied, distributed
and/or modified under the conditions set down in the Design Science License
published by Michael Stutz at
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/dsl.html