I am sure most of us know something about Amateur Radio, but did not pursue the hobby due to various reasons. Radio Amateurs (a.k.a Hams) are traditionally pioneers in many technological experiments. Be it any DIY stuff, Hams would have been there done that. The "first true" social networking, it brought like minded people across the world together. The invasion of computers and internet affected the hobby and there were a dearth of youngsters taking up hobby.
I myself believed that the hobby was dead, during the late 90's, with the advent of mobile phones an cheap internet. But the Hams kept innovating and evolved making better use of the latest technologies and kept pondering over the never ending challenges in radio communications.
Amateur radio for the uninitiated, is "establishing a radio station at home and communicating using his radio equipment wirelessly to another radio station". The communication could be in voice or digital mode - from the vintage Morse code, to the more advanced digital modes using computers. The kick for many Hams is the fact that they are "off grid", not dependent on any public or private infrastructure for communication. You have your own radio frequency spectrum. (BTW, the RF spectrum is the most expensive "natural" resource in the world raking in huge revenue for the governments.)The government grants the license to operate the station after successfully passing the written test and other formalities.
The Indian scene is not for the light hearted, especially the licensing part. The antiqued procedures will set back the aspirant by 1-2 (or even more) years, waiting for his license after writing the exam. Compare this to a 10 minute procedure in many other countries. Also the rule does not permit one to operate the radio at other locations than the home station, where the license was granted. This means one cannot operate "mobile" e.g. on his vehicle. These are the some deterrents for many aspirants to take up this hobby, in the modern world.
While the procedures may be age old, we are definitely not lagging behind, in terms of technical achievements or dedicated Hams. We had our own satellite - Hamsat - launched by ISRO in 2005 which served the hams worldwide for almost a decade.
Within the Ham community, there are varied interests, while some chase "DX" contacts, some like to "home-brew" their equipment, while others chase the "birds" (satellites). Popular activities include Hamfests, DX-peditions, Fox hunting, providing communications to motor sports. Hams provide voluntary emergency communication support during natural disasters, when all the other means of communications fail.
I am sure there are many Hams on the forum, and I hope they will contribute to this thread.
BTW, I got licensed last year and got my call sign Victor Uniform 3 Bravo Oscar Juliet
(pretty late in the game actually, I am the 3rd gen ham in my family
and I hope my next gen too take up this wonderful hobby, someday!)
Some links in the Indian context.
http://vigyanprasar.gov.in/ham/ham.asp
http://wpc.dot.gov.in/exam_amatr.asp
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amateur_radio_in_India
I myself believed that the hobby was dead, during the late 90's, with the advent of mobile phones an cheap internet. But the Hams kept innovating and evolved making better use of the latest technologies and kept pondering over the never ending challenges in radio communications.
Amateur radio for the uninitiated, is "establishing a radio station at home and communicating using his radio equipment wirelessly to another radio station". The communication could be in voice or digital mode - from the vintage Morse code, to the more advanced digital modes using computers. The kick for many Hams is the fact that they are "off grid", not dependent on any public or private infrastructure for communication. You have your own radio frequency spectrum. (BTW, the RF spectrum is the most expensive "natural" resource in the world raking in huge revenue for the governments.)The government grants the license to operate the station after successfully passing the written test and other formalities.
The Indian scene is not for the light hearted, especially the licensing part. The antiqued procedures will set back the aspirant by 1-2 (or even more) years, waiting for his license after writing the exam. Compare this to a 10 minute procedure in many other countries. Also the rule does not permit one to operate the radio at other locations than the home station, where the license was granted. This means one cannot operate "mobile" e.g. on his vehicle. These are the some deterrents for many aspirants to take up this hobby, in the modern world.
While the procedures may be age old, we are definitely not lagging behind, in terms of technical achievements or dedicated Hams. We had our own satellite - Hamsat - launched by ISRO in 2005 which served the hams worldwide for almost a decade.
Within the Ham community, there are varied interests, while some chase "DX" contacts, some like to "home-brew" their equipment, while others chase the "birds" (satellites). Popular activities include Hamfests, DX-peditions, Fox hunting, providing communications to motor sports. Hams provide voluntary emergency communication support during natural disasters, when all the other means of communications fail.
I am sure there are many Hams on the forum, and I hope they will contribute to this thread.
BTW, I got licensed last year and got my call sign Victor Uniform 3 Bravo Oscar Juliet
(pretty late in the game actually, I am the 3rd gen ham in my family
and I hope my next gen too take up this wonderful hobby, someday!)Some links in the Indian context.
http://vigyanprasar.gov.in/ham/ham.asp
http://wpc.dot.gov.in/exam_amatr.asp
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amateur_radio_in_India
No comments:
Post a Comment