ISRO promises more satellites for HAM operators

 
Inaugurating the workshop for ham radio operators -to mark the fourth anniversary of the launch of satellite for HAM radio operators, amsat- M Krishnaswamy, Programme Director-Small Satellite Systems, ISRO, told operators that the organisation is impressed by the work being done to promote HAM radio and would consider sending more such satellites into the orbit.

“Like we have the constellation of satellites for GPS, satellites placed in the orbit by several countries can become a stronger means of communication for ham radio operators across the world,” R Ramesh, Vice President for Amsat India -a special interest group to promote the satellite- told Deccan Herald. “This would be particularly helpful to communicate without any restriction and would be helpful to our operations during disasters.”

Ham radios are operated terrestrially through high frequency radio waves, which are restricted by atmospheric changes and solar cycles. This makes long distant communications difficult. “If I am a terrestrial operator, I would have specific times to communicate with a Hammer in the US since that would be the conducive time for me to do so. However, having a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite removes such restrictions. The ability to predict patterns of calls would mean operators can exactly fix the time of their communication with someone in a different country, since the footprint can be tracked through a computer programme.”

“The Indian satellite has the footprint till Japan and upto Perth in Western Australia. This improves the scope of ham radio communication, since I can use various modes of communication such as FM, CW or digital etc,” Ramesh said. The first ever satellite, which ISRO designed with the help of ham radio operators, was put to orbit on May 5, 2005. According to members of the Bangalore amateur Radio Club (BRC), the satellite provided the best opportunity to take it to the younger generation.

“This is not just a hobby, but a great way to learn the physics behind radio science for school children,” said Nataraj, Vice President of BRC, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Amongst a series of events, a “fox hunt” - technically known as amateur radio direction finding- has been organised on May 17.