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 tO-୴O 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 [EMAIL PROTECTED] 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. 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