Dr Aniruddha Dhairyadhar Joshi, in one of his discourses, had mentioned that Ham radio would be considered as one of the most important tool for communication in the days to come. It is the need of the hour to get familiar with it not only as a hobby but also as a necessity. When mobile phones and landline phones become non-functional, or if the internet shuts down, ham radio can be used as a mode of communication.

Ham radio (formally known as Amateur radio), is a wireless communication system that is used for non-commercial exchange of messages and emergency communication. Telephones are connected by wires but the ham radio system operates entirely on radio (electromagnetic) waves. Messages in ham radio communication are transmitted and received over wireless radio signals.

Since the Ham radio system does not depend on mobile towers or telephone wires, there is no dependency on setting up huge infrastructure for establishing communication. This helps the users to stay connected easily worldwide. It is widely used in times of disaster.

A licence is necessary for using the Ham radio system for which an examination is conducted. In India, anyone who is 12 years and above can attempt this examination.

Another aspect of ham radio is Morse code. This is a method of communication where messages are sent by keying in a series of electronic pulses in the form of sound signals.

With Dr Aniruddha Joshi’s inspiration, the first batch of Ham radio training was conducted by ‘Shree Aniruddha Aadesh Pathak’ in 2011 and 45 volunteers participated in it. Now, we have around 1300 volunteers who are eligible for attaining the licence and 600 licensed operators affiliated to our organisation.

Dr Aniruddha Joshi introduced us to Ham radio world from the aspect of disaster management, thereby, making ourselves capable in times of disaster.

R&D activities carried out:

• Communication tests in rough and mountainous terrain during the annual ‘Kolhapur Medical & Healthcare Camp’
• Repeater setup tests to facilitate long-distance communication over VHF
• Weather satellite tracking and real-time weather image capturing via VHF satellites
• Fox hunting
• Sending emails over VHF
• RF monitoring using software radio (SDR)
• Long-distance (inter-continental) digital communication over HF