Old Habits Die Hard | How Students Are Keeping The Ham Radio Alive

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[{"type":"txt","id":"rich_1496299692755","data":"There's a charm to building something on your own with parts you've either scavenged or bought in a shop. The entire process is sacred, like bringing home computer parts and assembling the entire thing yourself with care. It gives a person a renewed sense of purpose and ensures that whatever they've built is used for what the user intended. This is one of the cornerstones of being an Amateur Radio Enthusiast, the feeling of building something on your own and then communicating with people many kilometres away from you, all without relying on any other form of communication, the internet, sometimes even electricity. In fact, communicating with 'very low power' is something the community takes as a challenge. <\/p>"},{"type":"img","id":"img-uid-1496300597669","data":"592fe9a20b93b"},{"type":"txt","id":"rich_1496300599570","data":"However, not many people are into Ham radio, and that is understandable, considering the amount of red tape required for simply getting a license to operate one, and yes you do actually need a license. Paying for the license is the easy part, the difficult part is waiting for months on end just to get it. This, however, has not stopped or discouraged the Ham Radio clubs across various cities in India. This is one hobby that unites both the older generation and students of today, with a common interest in building and running a Ham Radio. <\/p>Speaking with stuMagz, 16 -year old Ishan Dubey talks about his father's interest in Ham Radio which later piqued his own, \"My father has a license to operate a Ham Radio, and it was under his supervision that I used the radio for the first time.  We do not have the equipment at our own place but my uncle has the entire kit,\" he says, \"A lot of people today use the Hamsphere app, which is easier and saves you the hassle of buying the equipment.\"<\/p>However, the world of Ham radio goes much deeper than that. Ask a Ham radio enthusiast what their favourite part of their hobby is and chances are you'll get different answers from all of them, as we've observed. A conversation with Farhan Ashar, one of the founding members of Lamakaan and an avid Ham radio enthusiast, shed light on many aspects of the hobby. <\/p>"},{"type":"img","id":"img-uid-1496310367805","data":"592fe9c5342a7"},{"type":"txt","id":"rich_1496310369989","data":"\"It is a very technical hobby,\" says Farhan, upon being asked about the pursuit of Amateur Radios, \"There's an exam you need to take before you are eligible for a license, and even then it is not for everyone.\"<\/p>The exam Farhan refers to requires knowledge of electronics, communication procedure and an understanding of the Morse Code, which is basically a series of dashes and dots that can send out a message without using any known language's script. <\/p>\"This is a hobby for those who love building stuff, especially building electronics, from scratch. There's also an element of intrigue and mystery to it that only adds to the hobby, it feels like you're part of a secret club, something only you know and someone else doesn't\", smiles Farhan. <\/p>He describes Hyderabad as an active city on the Ham circuit, with two major clubs, including one that meets at Lamakaan second Sunday, and the National Institute of Amateur Radio. <\/p>The norms to get a license have now been significantly relaxed compared to earlier. A student from Vijayawada, who wished to remain unidenitified, spoke about how the town in Andhra has quite an active Ham radio circuit, with almost every engineering college being a part of the club, and one of the many games they play on Ham, \"There's this 24 hour game where we have to make the maximum number of contacts in the given time period, and often this leads to us not even moving from our positions at the radio,\" the student laughs, \"at the end of the time period we compare our numbers and the one with the maximum contacts win. It is incredibly fun!\"<\/p>In the age of the internet, when communication between two people from opposite ends of the world is a matter of a few microseconds, and especially in a time where red tape is abhorred, students and adults alike are keeping the tradition of the Ham radio alive and well. It may be outdated tech, strictly speaking in today's terms, but it still is a reliable source of communication should all else fail. Some habits do die hard, and we are glad that they do. <\/p>"}]

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