Tall antennas will touch the Ponmudi skies this weekend, April 7 and 8, as amateur radio operators of the city meet up for an Amateur Radio Field Day event organised by Radio Amateur Society of Travancore.
“We have this twice every year to check our proficiency in setting up a station and contacting as many stations as possible,” says senior HAM Suwil Wilson. Globally, during field days, HAMs at a place would go to a remote location, set up temporary transmitting stations and communicate from there to other stations across the region, demonstrating emergency preparedness, community outreach and skills.
Amateur radio operators testing an antenna on the Ponmudi hilltop
The weekend’s event is basically a disaster management mock drill and Ponmudi has been chosen for a reason. “The place provides the perfect environment for training purposes. There is no electricity and the terrain is challenging to work on. During disasters those are the conditions under which radio operators will have to work,” explains Suwil. Field days like these are important, he says, to make the operators familiarise themselves with emergency protocols as well as setting up stations without any help.
Amateur radio operators setting up an antenna at KTDC guest house at Ponmudi
Ponmudi offers immense possibilities when it comes to the actual communication itself. “Due to its altitude, we can send clear signals using high frequency(HF) transmitters to other countries and have strong, clear transmissions up to Chennai, Bangalore and even to Sri Lanka using very high frequency(VHF) set up” says Suwil.
Apart from disaster management operations, HAMs will be testing out the new instruments and techniques they learned since their last meeting. The event will also feature new operators who have just received their licenses. They will be trained in the ways of amateur radio by experienced HAMs like Suwil.
