10TH HAM EYE BALL MEET (MAHABS MEET ) @ MAHABALIPURAM,CHENNAI

We are glad to inform and invite to the 10th HAM eye ball meet (Mahabs meet ) @ mahabalipuram near Chennai on 11th Feb 2012.

Mahabalipuram was a 7th century port city of the South Indian dynasty of the Pallavas around 60 km south from the city of Chennai in Tamil Nadu. The name Mamallapuram is believed to have been given after the Pallava king Narasimhavarman I, who took on the epithet Maha-malla (great wrestler), as the favourite sport of the Pallavas was wrestling. It has various historic monuments built largely between the 7th and the 9th centuries, and has been classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The meet will be held as usual on second saturday the 11th feb 2012.

All hams/amateur radio enthusiasts are welcome and have pleasant eye ball .

The details are as follows:-
Event : 10th eyeball meet ( Maha meet ) @ mahabalipuram
Date : 11 th february 2012 second saturday
Time : 9:00 am to 04.30pm
Venue: Hotel Mahabs , east raja street, mahabalipuram , opposite to mahabalipuram main bus stand,behind sbi atm
Phone no : 044-27442645 & 44 (rooms are available, pls make your own arrangments)
mobile no: +919444283695
N o d e l e g a t e f e e , for boarding and lodging please make your own arrangement, look forward to seeing one and all.

Thanks and Regards
ChennaiHamsBlogspot Team

HAMFESTINDIA 2012 to be held at Chennai!!!

Chennai Hams welcome all amatuer radio lovers to HAMFESTINDIA 2012 to be held at CHENNAI, pls view these pages for more updates.

ChennaiHamsBlogspot Team

Watch For HAMFESTINDIA 2011

Finally the countdown has begun , HAMFESTINDIA2011 is going to take place at Gokulam Park Convention Centre, Kaloor, Kochi (Cochin), Kerala on December 10th and 11th. All hams in India have to do their best to make this event a grand success.

For more detail pls visit http://www.hamfestindia2011.com/

Aircraft Emergency Frequencies

The aircraft emergency frequency (also known as guard) is a frequency used on the aircraft radio band reserved for emergency communications for aircraft in distress. The frequencies are 121.5 MHz for civilian, also known as International Air Distress (IAD) and 243.0 MHz for military use, also known as Military Air Distress (MAD). Both are in use at the international level.

The choice of 121.5 MHz was made by the ICAO in conjunction with ARINC and the ITU as a result of its third harmonic frequency relationship with the 40.5 MHz military tactical low band ground-to-air channel. Similarly 121.5 MHz is itself a sub harmonic of the military UHF distress frequency at 243 MHz. This choice gave a number of technical and operational compatibility and efficiency gains in the context of design and proximity interference.

121.5 MHz is monitored by most air traffic control towers, national air traffic control centers, and other flight and emergency services, as well as by many airliners. Separate frequencies exist for military and other government emergency frequencies. If an aircraft violates or is on a trajectory that will violate Restricted or Prohibited airspace, it will be warned of military interception on 121.5 MHz.

The frequency may also be used by ATC to establish contact with an aircraft that has inadvertently switched to an incorrect frequency. As pilots are strongly recommended to monitor 121.5 MHz at all times, a common practice is to set a secondary communications radio in the aircraft (often COMM 2) to 121.5 MHz in order to monitor, but not transmit on, 121.5 MHz. A pilot accidentally transmitting on 121.5 MHz will often hear a reply stating that they are "on guard", i.e., that they are on the guard frequency and should switch to the appropriate frequency instead.

An Exotic QSO : VU4PB DX-pedition to Andaman Islands

Members of Amateur Radio Society of India succesfully planned and executed a DX-pedition to Andaman Islands from 15th to 31st March 2011 with callsign as VU4PB . Permission was obtained and there were 4 stations active out of Port Blair, Andaman Islands,India.

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are a group of islands in the Bay of Bengal and a Union Territory of India. The territory is located geographically 150 km (93 mi) north of Aceh in Indonesia and separated from Thailand and Burma by the Andaman Sea. It comprises two island groups, the Andaman Islands and the Nicobar Islands, separated by the 10° N parallel, with the Andamans to the north of this latitude, and the Nicobars to the south. The Andaman Sea lies to the east and the Bay of Bengal to the west.

A DX-pedition is an expedition to what is considered an exotic place by amateur radio operators, perhaps because of its remoteness or because there are very few radio amateurs active from that place. This could be an island, a country, or even a particular spot on a geographical grid.

The first batch of operators and installation personnel consisted of VU2GGM-Poru, VU2RCR-Chandru, VU2GMN-Gopal,VU2MTT-Murthy,VU2ABS-Aravind,VU2CDP-Deepak,VU2SJD-Sanjay and VU2LU-Ramesh. Among Chennai Hams VU2GMN Gopal , VU2ABS Aravind, VU2DH Das and VU2SJD Sanjay participated . Operations were from 160 meters to 10meters and totally almost 32,000 QSO's were made.
A large number of log check requests were generated due to the pirate activities that unfortunately took place. The breakup of QSOs by Continent for the operation which logged around 33,000 contacts is given below:
EU – 45%
AS – 30%
NA – 20%
Others – 5%

A Small Photoprofile below:

The first batch of personnel(ops and logistic team)
Rear (left to right) VU2SMN-Suhas (rear left), VU2DH-Das,VU2MTT-Murthy, VU2GGM-Poru, VU2LU-Ramesh
Front (left to right) vud2CDP-Deepak, VU2NXM-Basappa, VU2GMN-Gopal, VU2RCR-Chandru, VU2ABS-Aravind, VU2SJD-Sanjay

Equipment used during VU4PB:

RIGS:
Elecraft K3
Two Kenwood TS-2000
ICOM 756 Pro II
ICOM 756 Pro III
Yaesu FT 847
Kenwood TS-950
Antennas:
Two Spider Beams (20-17-15-12-10m)
SteppIR 2-element Yagi (20-6m)
SteppIR 3-element Yagi (40-6m)
SteppIR Big IR vertical (40-10m)
Wire and vertical antennas for low band operation (160-80-40-30m)
18m Spider poles for Low band antennas (160-80m)
Force12 C3S Yagi (20-10m)
Amplifiers:
Yaesu Quadra VL1000 Amp
Kenwood TL-922 Amp
Yaesu FL2100 Amp
TenTec Hercules II
Ameritron ALS-500 Amp
Ameriton AL-811H Amp
Digital:
MicroHAm MicroKeyer II
RigExpert Standard
Signalink USB

For full photo profile, pls click on below links.

http://vu4pb.info/

The unusually bad weather made things very challenging at times. Having to frequently check if your antennas have not been blown away by the storm force winds tends to slow things down for sure. Band conditions were not been ideal either with a lot of QRN.

However certain mornings the weather was better which permitted low band antennas to be putup and used . VU4PB went QRT as scheduled at 1829z on 31st March 2011 and the various operators have headed home to get back to their normal lives.

I am sure it must have been a once a lifetime experience for all those who participated.

G.Vipin Shankar
ChennaiHamsBlogspot Team

A Tribute to "VU2PCP" OM Paneer

That familiar steady voice on Yercaud VHF net daily "VU2 Pappa Charlie Pappa” has become silent key & would'nt be heard anymore . Vu2PCP handle "Paneer" based at Tiruchengode passed away today afternoon 1:30 pm in Coimbatore , 12 days since hospitalization after a stroke . PCP has he was called by all was among the senior most and most active HAM's in South India and used to attend all HAM related meetings in and around India and was instrumental in setting up and maintaining the most effective VHF repeater in South India based at Yercaud. He was the custodian of the Tiruchengode Repeater Club.

PCP got his ticket in 1990’s and has been a HAM for past 20+ years. He was active on HF/VHF and was a very good homebrewer and has contributed many test equipments/antennas to the hobby.

The last HAM meet he attended was the Pollachi HAMFEST. He is survived by his wife and two children. All Chennai south HAMS salute this great HAM and his contributions to the hobby, we are sure he would be remembered always as a nice person we knew and who cherished being a HAM and contributed selflessly towards this passion all of us share.

May his soul rest in peace.

ChennaiHamsBlogspot Team

A HAM who's been a Net Controller for 25 Years : VU2DPN felicitated during HAMFEST 2010

The Madras VHF group started a small round table net on 145.500 Mhz from 20.30 hrs during 1985 . 5 to 8 VHF stations joined and used to discuss about various technical subjects related to VHF Radio. This was the period when the chennai VHF activity had just started like a new baby's birth. In the mid 80's madras VHF hambirds were flying only with 1/4 wave antennas which covers only 5 to 10 km radius, slowly the antenna set up improved the VHF activity also became popular . That was the time the a formal net was lauched with set timings,frequency and so on.

Slowly the net check-ins increased from 25 to somtimes 75 callers checking-in . An average of 25 check ins per day used to be there both for the morning and night nets . When the Federation of amateur radio conducted the AGM in chennai the check in crossed 100 callers . After getting the repeater the activity sky rocketed and checkins also crossed average of 50 callers. During the August net checkins 125 callers came on air in an hour.

From the day one of starting the informal Chennai VHF Group/round table in the mid 1980's till today , HAM's in Chennai and outside who check-in to the morning 7:00 am VHF 145.775 Mhz net in Chennai are familiar with this lovely call from a passionate net controller "This is the good morning net conducted by MADRASVHF GROUP, inviting callers to the morning Channels , VU2DPN listening" .

This voice has been rendering service to HAM Radio as the Chennai Net controller for the past 25 years with his unmatched dedication , passion and committment to this unique hobby . The chennai hams wanted to honour him at HAMFEST 2010 held at Pollachi and presented him with a special award . Om Charuhassan VU2 SCU present a memento to him.

Thanks for the efforts taken by VU3 MOA OM mohan in organising this and all wish to keep hearing VU2DPN as net controller for many more decades to come.

HAMFESTINDIA 2010 held at pollachi a grand success

Hamfest India 2010 held at pollachi on 13th and 14th November was a grand success with great eyeball and nice get-together celebrations for all radio lovers . More than 510 HAM's from all over India as well as abroad participated. Around 30 hams and swls attended from Chennai.

For Full profile 100+ Photo Albums Click below links:

HAMFESTINDIA 2010 ALBUM 1 (Courtesy VU2RDN)

HAMFESTINDIA 2010 ALBUM 2 (Courtesy VU2VAU)

HAMFESTINDIA 2010 ALBUM 3 (Courtesy VU2VAU)

The weather conditions were excellent, a simple homebrew VHF repeater with 500mw output at the venue for local communication (covering from palghat to Coimbatore with low power). Hams from Calcutta, Bombay, Cochin, palaghat, Bangalore and one from Japan also participated. Excellent arrangements from the college, good food. Few stalls selling commercial and home brew antennas, old and new connectors, assembled working boards used scopes and frequency counters added special interest to the home brewers.

Our Chennai ham Aravind VU2ABS with his XYL had the biggest stall selling all kind of HAM tech stuff like a Ham radio superstore you find abroad.

A special thanks to Vijayan VU2 WDP and other pollachi hams for the great function. The next ham meet would be at palghat. More updates with photos would follow.

Chennai hams who participated :
VU2 AB, VU2 ABS, VU2 AIR, VU2 AKW, VU2 CMR, VU2 CSM, VU3 CBM, VU2 DH, VU2 DRK, VU2 GMN, VU2 KLS, VU2 UMX, VU2 SDU, VU2 SCU, Vu2 JA, Vu2 DBS, VU3 VEE, Vu3 USI, Vu3 MOA, VU2 GJR, VU2 ISR, Vu2 VAU, Vu3 VWR, Vu3 OEL, Vu3 GGK, Vu3 MII, Vu2 DPN, Vu2 RDX , VU3 CPE, VU3 MSP

Wouxun announces VHF/UHF DualBand Base Station

Its good news for all the Wouxun brand radio lovers . Already ChennaiHams Team facilitated two lots of imports of Wouxun dualband handies into India with very good user feedback from Indian HAMS in terms of features vs price & overall value for money.

Finally, Wouxun has announced a new radio in their line-up. It is a dual-band mobile radio. Wouxun have unveiled the KG-UV920R dual band mobile rig. 50/25/5w VHF/40/20/5w UHF RX/TX with AM 500-2000KHz/FM 65-220MHz and LW 150-500 KHz reception.

* Dual Receive (Truly, not dual-watch like the handhelds)
* Crossband
* Dual Frequency display
* 50W
* 999 channels
* Remote head.. Mount radio somewhere else and just put the head on your dash. Looks like Mic plugs directly into the head also. Hope that's a standard feature and includes mounting gear.

Looks like there are going to be multiple versions like the handhelds. 218-260 is listed! So there's a possiblity there of 2m/222.. 136-174/218-260. There's also some weird stuff like the possibility of 2mhz-30mhz AM-only receive. Or 500-2000khz, Or 50-500khz all AM-only. Apparently FM broadcast is available too. So one option there gets you AM & FM radio.

We will need to await and see how they are going to price and how the final version performs , keep reading these pages for further updates.

Times of India Chennai Article : Amateur weathermen saw cyclone Jal fizzling out

Times of India Chennai published an article on how avid HAM weather enthusiasts based in Chennai monitored weather channels as well as used sattelite data for cyclone data interpretation of recent cyclone "Jal". It also speaks about general benefits of HAM radio and how valuable it is to the society.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/6891333.cms?prtpage=1

WPC issues clarification on new Amateur rules effective 1st April 2010

At last WPC has issued detailed written clarification with regards to amendments made to the Amateur Radio rules in 2009, which came into effect from 1st April 2010.

Key Changes:

From the existing 4 Categories of licence : There shall be two categories of licences, namely:
(i) Amateur Wireless Telegraph Station Licence (General) - Grade I & Advanced merged
(ii) Amateur Wireless Telegraph Station Licence (Restricted) - Grade II & Restricted merge

New fee structure as below.

Period of Validity - A licence granted under these rules shall be issued for a period of 20 years or lifelong as the case may be commencing on the date of issue of the licence and expiring on the last day of the month preceding the month of issue. For the purposes of this rule, the expression “life long” means till the licence holder attains the age of 80 years. Validity of lifelong licence may be extended on specific request of the licence holder for 10 years at a time without any additional payment.”

Another key development which will be happy news for budding HAMS is that the restricted + Grade II combined "Restricted" license exam there would be no morse code test . New band spectrum allocation as below.

For full official memorandum with full details , pls click on files download section as below.

http://groups.google.com/group/chennaihamsblogspotcom/files?report=1

ChennaiHamsBlogspot Team

Chennai VHF Repeaters Connected on Echolink

Chennai hams have now managed to go wi-fi/Hi-Tech with an Echolink connectivity via VU2 PUM-R link on the web . The node number is 492650.

Echolink was developed by HAM Jonathan Taylor K1RFD and is a computer based Amateur Radio system that allows radio amateurs to communicate with one another using Voice over IP (VoIP) technology on the Internet for at least part of the path between them. The system allows reliable worldwide connections to be made between radio amateurs, greatly enhancing Amateur Radio's communications capabilities.

In essence it is the same as other VoIP applications (such as Skype), but with the unique addition of the ability to link to an amateur radio station's transceiver worldwide thereby enhancing VHF radio coverage substancially. With this Global Hams can get in touch with any HAM in most parts of South India using link which connect two repeaters in Chennai & one repeater in Yercaud.

With a home brew interface developed by VU2 WIN the node is connected in the morning with the VU2MRR repeater (145.775(-600 Khz) for the morning net and in evenings with the VU3MVR 145.675 MHZ(-600 Khz) repeater for the evening net. After our local net it is linked during the nets with the VU2 TCD Yercaud repeater also, thus giving a very wide coverage.

Even though the interface looks simple it has taken nearly a month time to get the link become smooth and transparent. Thanks to all the stations for the excellent on the air support. The objective is to develop more user friendly options for the RF users like Time, weather etc on the air with simple DTMF code access.

AN/PRC-148 - World's Most Powerful Handheld Radio

This Handheld military "Walkie Talkie" used by US/NATO forces can be truly called as the most powerful/rugged/highly used handheld Radio in the 21st century.

The AN/PRC-148 is today the most widely fielded handheld multiband, tactical software-defined radio, in use with the US Military and NATO forces around the world.

The AN/PRC-148 is a small and light full-featured Combat Net Radio (CNR) operating contiguously over the 30-512 MHz frequency range. The radio has imbedded US Type-1 COMSEC protection and is capable of both voice and data modes of operation. The AN/PRC-148 provides a hand held, highly flexible tactical radio useful over a very broad range of combat environments.

The AN/PRC-148 is the cornerstone of a complete system solution for the warfighter which includes a Vehicle Adapter with a unique, cable-free, rapid radio dismount capability; dual radio AN/VRC-111 Vehicle Adapter Amplifier; Base Station for fixed applications; Tactical Repeater for range extension; and compact, rugged Man Portable System for dismounted operations requiring higher power output.

Another fantastic feature of the AN/PRC-148 is its ability to communicate with aircraft. Foot Soldiers of the past using standard handheld or man-pack radios were restricted to ground tactical-radio modulation modes and frequency bands (30-88MHz FM) that were not compatible with the radios in all military aircraft.

There is even more good news for troops equipped with the AN/ PRC-148 from the ground-to-air perspective. The radio has built in the ability to generate emergency AM swept tone beacon signals on the standard VHF and UHF international rescue frequencies of 121.5 MHz (AM) and 149.975MHz (AM).

This capability means that AN/PRC-148 users can be heard by virtually every aircraft in the world and located with common aircraft radio direction finding equipment. This feature can literally be a lifesaver when in tactical situations requiring help from airborne search and rescue assets.

Overall a real boon for military foot soldiers and a wonderful handheld radio technology. This could very well be the most capable handheld radio in the world.

SCR-536 Walkie Talkie : World's First Modern Handheld Radio

The SCR-536 is often considered the first of modern hand held, self-contained, "handie talkie" two-way radios. It was developed in 1940 by a team led by Don Mitchell, chief engineer for Galvin Manufacturing (now Motorola) and was the first true hand-held unit to see widespread use. By July 1941, it was in mass production. In November 1942, the SCR-536 received coverage in the amateur radio magazine QST.

It appeared on the cover as well as in Signal Corps advertising, and was featured as part of an article on the Signal Corps. “Smallest field unit of the Signal Corps,” a photo caption read, “it is not much larger or heavier than a conventional handset.” It was carried among the first waves to hit Omaha Beach at Normandy in June, 1944. Every rifle company of the U.S. 29th Infantry division had six; one for each of three rifle platoons, two for the weapons platoon, and one for the company CO.

The Germans were deeply impressed by the SCR-536 and the SCR-300 after capturing several units in Sicily. By war’s end, 130,000 of the units had been manufactured by Motorola.

Today the SCR-536 is often restored and operated by vintage amateur radio enthusiasts and military radio collectors

1st May 2010 : Chennai VHF Repeater 145.775 Mhz(-600) VU2MRR celebrates 22nd Birthday

On this day 1st May 1989 Chennai's oldest and veteran HAM VHF repeater VU2MRR was given life . A team of 10 members formed The Madras radio repeater Club to buy and installed a VHF repeater in Chennai . Several Good hearted people/HAM radio enthusiasts donated generously for the fund.

With great difficulty the equipment was cleared from the customs and readied for installation . For its untiring service over the last two decades we salute VU2MRR for the contribution and it’s a tribute to all those great HAM’s/Radio lovers who brought this dream alive.

The Madras Repeater Club Team consisting some of the veteran HAM's to date

Chennai repeater Story in the words of VU2MRR – 145.775(-600Mhz)

I was installed on May 1st 1989 at Kesari Kutti ram Building in Royapetttah .The Inaguration was done by the then City police commissioner . My call sign/name given by HAM’s/WPC was VU2 MRR. My RF power capacity is 10 W . I am consisting of basically three parts , the Yaeus FTR2410A Repeater, Wacom WP-639 Band pass-Band reject filter and Diamond F-23 Antenna.

Royapettah building where I was first installed

From all parts of chennai I am accessible 24/7 for any type of HAM VHF traffic . After 14 months to increase my coverage area I was shifted to The Residency Tower Hotel at T Nagar . From that time till today I am working round the clock serving Chennai regions HAM community.

My new residence at Residency Towers hotel from where I have a better line of sight.

I had two major technical surgeries and few minor replacements in the past . My final amplifier was replaced twice. Stations from various parts South India including Tamil Nadu, Kakinada, Vijayawada, Bangalore, calcutta and Srilanka have accessed me and through me reached out to local hams in Chennai . To my knowledge I am the only VHF repeater in India serving for a long time with minor problems, offcourse lot of credit to those HAM’s go have birth to me and continue to take care of me.

That's me growing old but still going strong "VU2MRR"

On my 21st Birth day I thank all users and my well wishers for keeping me in good health. Even though I am healthy a few adjustments, small alignments , repairs are required in due course to ensure I can keep boosting the voice of all Chennai HAMS for decades to come.

To serve you better in a long way kindly trigger me more often with voice signal and look forward to listening to all.

Bye Bye
VU2MRR - 145.775 Mhz (-600)

Amateur Radio Service Rules in India Amended!!!!

Finally the Govt of India official gazette concerning amateur radio operators has been published by Wireless Planning and Co-ordination department . Amateur Radio in India is governed by Telegraphy Rules and WPC works under the jurisdiction of Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.

Primarily WPC site tells that there have been two amendements to the rules after1978, one through Gazette Notifications GSR 385(E) on 9th July 2005 & otherthrough the recent GSR 280(E)dated 1st april 2010. The only link WPC has posted is of 2009 amendment and not the 2005 one. Not sure if anyone has got the link for 385(E)2005 amendment which was not published in the gazette for longtime , all our search yielded not results.

First Amendment: THE INDIAN WIRELESS TELEGRAPH (AMATEUR SERVICE) AmendmentRules, 2005 . Gazette Notification GSR 385(E), but no copy available.The key changes that have been made in this 2005 amendment are:

1. Category of license From earlier four categories, the new rules have mergedGrade I and Advanced as General, while Grade II and Restricted have been clubbedtogether as Restricted Grade.

2. Fees Structure Instead of 5 year renewal cycle, amateur radio operators cannow apply for 20 years or lifelong license. They would have to pay INR 1000 for20 years or INR 2000 for life long application.

Second Amendment: THE INDIAN WIRELESS TELEGRAPH (AMATEUR SERVICE) AmendmentRules, 2009 , GSR 280(E). The key changes that have been made in this 2009 amendment are:

1. In rule 8 , sub rule (1), which stated "The examinations for the grant of a licence shall be held at a place and on adate as may be notified by the Central Government from time to time"

amended to as below

"The examinations for the grant of a licence as per syllabus shall be held at aplace and on a date as may be notified by the Central Government from time totime".

2. Rule 13 which says "A holder of licence shall use, as appropriate to thelicence, such frequency bands, power and classes of emission as are set out inAnnexure V of these rules"

amended to as below

"A holder of licence shall use, as appropriate to the licence, such frequencybands, power and classes of emission as authorised by the central government"

Annexure V talks of all the different freq bands in VHF/UHF/HF allotted toAmateurs in India, question is if Annexure V is no more valid what's the newfrequency allocation and when that would be published in the gazette.

3. Annexure- I, II, V which are basically application forms has been ommitted,not word on which forms to be used moving forward.The 2005 amendment made some sense, not sure the objective behind cosmeticamendments in 2009, which seem to be only causing confusion.

Vipin , SWL

ChennaiHamsBlogspot Team

18th April 2010 - World Amateur Radio Day Highlights

Each year on 18 April, radio amateurs celebrate World Amateur Radio Day. On that day in 1925 the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) was founded. In 2010, the theme of the event is

"Amateur Radio: Combining communication experience with modern digital techniques."

Amateur radio has truly entered the 21st Century. In less than 100 years amateur radio communications has evolved from crude spark-gap technology to digital signal processing and software-defined radios. The amateur's HF choice between voice and CW has been expanded to a broad range of communication choices from television to spread spectrum. Amateur digital communications has evolved. At the end of World War II until the early 1980's, radioteletype, also known as RTTY, was the only HF digital mode available to amateurs. In the 1980's, AMTOR made its debut along with the increased popularity and availability of personal computers.

AMTOR was the first amateur digital communication mode to offer error-free text transmission. From the early 1980's, the rate of change increased dramatically. Packet Radio emerged and for a period of time was the most popular form of amateur digital communication. As microprocessor technology became more sophisticated, there was a rise in modes such as Clover, PACTOR, and G-TOR that were capable of error-free exchanges under marginal band conditions. In the late 1990's, there was an invention that harnessed personal computer technology to create PSK31.
In the VHF-UHF frequency ranges, Packet Radio had less activity at the close of the century than it did in the 1980's and 1990's.

However, Packet Radio was reborn as the popular Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS) and traditional packet systems still exist to support public service activities with greatly enhanced functionality. Thanks to individual amateurs, hams now enjoy digital meteor scatter contacts and even moonbounce on VHF and UHF frequencies with modest stations. An ordinary computer sound device and software that can be downloaded free from the internet is all that is needed.

The Japan Amateur Radio League developed the D-STAR digital voice and data standard and there has been significant amateur growth as amateurs establish D-STAR repeater networks on the VHF, UHF and microwave bands. All of these development have inspired amateurs around the world to experiment in their own HF, VHF, UHF and microwave band digital communication.
Activities on the occasion of World Amateur Radio Day 2010 can be a great opportunity to spread the word about what the "hams" are doing in the 21st Century.