Concerted efforts over the last 25 years to popularise amateur ham radio has made Bengaluru the ham capital today. With nearly 5,000 licensed enthusiasts using the amateur radio wireless technology, Bengaluru has the highest number of ham licence holders in the country, which has a total of about 20,000 operators.
Sunday saw another milestone as the city hosted Silicon City ham Meet 2015, organised by Indian Institute of HAMS, attracting delegates from across the country. The event also saw the International Telecommunication Union, which sets standards for communication and broadcasting, celebrate its 150th year.
The Indian Institute of HAMS, Bengaluru, has trained nearly 10,000 persons and with the number of users growing, a 4th repeater was launched on Sunday to bolster communication.
The three existing repeaters at Nandi Hills, on Public Utility Building and in Banashankari are being used for voice communication.
“Radio Repeaters are connected to Voice Over Internet Protocol. Any ham can use their VHF radio locally or use computer or even smart phones to communicate and interact with hams anywhere,” said S. Sathyapal, Director, Indian Institute of HAMS.
Software engineers Girish Doss and Vishwas Krishnamurthy and Civil Engineer Rahul Ravishankar, who have been part of the core ham team rendering services at sites of natural disasters, such as Bhuj and Andaman and Nicobar Islands, were presented special uniforms designed by the institute for the first time in India “for helping people recognise ham operators.”
As transportation costs have to be met for ham operators reaching out to other states and countries, “we are trying to allocate funds from money received for membership,” said Mr. Sathyapal.
P.H. Ramaprabhu Dev, Promoter and Educationist, who has worked for ham propagation for 25 years, was felicitated.
