Page 32 - EngineerIt April 2021

AMATEUR RADIO

The changing face of Amateur Radio

or a hobby, or call it a passion or a pastime, whatever you
will, to survive over a century is remarkable. Amateur radio
For Ham radio, as some people know it, has been around
since the late 1800’s when Marconi and many others around the
world developed radio based on several scientific discoveries by
Maxwell, Hertz and others.
One could well ponder why this is so. There could be
several factors that played a role, such as the magic of wireless
communication, continuous development and renewal of
technology or simply the desire to communicate with other human
beings. The modern term to describe this is most likely digital
transformation!
In the case of amateur radio, it is both digitisation and
generational transformation and this is clearly shown by the rapid
digitalisation of communication systems moving with trends in
the commercial and industrial world and the realisation that every member societies in the region. The process will culminate with a
generation has a different outlook. conference in October this year, which at this stage is planned to
When the internet came about, the doomers pronounced be a face-to-face event. However if Covid travel restrictions are still
the end of ham radio. Similarly, when the cell phone made its in place, it may be presented virtually or a combination of the two.
appearance, there were even stronger pronouncements. Yet
amateur radio survived the predicted storm and continued to adapt HAMSci
to changing circumstances. There have already been some interesting developments - in
Besides the need to continually transform, there is one the USA, for example, Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation
fundamental that will never change - communication with (HAMSci) is promoting advance scientific research and
people and the sharing of ideas with like-minded people. It is understanding through amateur radio activities. HAMSci
just the technology that will continually change and that is what encourages the development of new technologies to support this
drives the changing face of amateur radio. New technology research and provide educational opportunities for the amateur
brings new interests! community and the public. It also brings radio amateurs and
Over the past hundred years, radio amateurs have worked the science communities together. They recently held an online
with spark transmitters, code transmissions (CW or Morse conference where the South African Radio League (SARL) was
Code) followed by voice using amplitude modulation (AM), afforded the opportunity to share their development of a VHF
frequency modulation (FM), and single sideband (SSB). Over propagation research beacon project.
the past two decades, the digital world evolved and did not Since the various stages of lockdown, both the SARL and
bypass amateur radio with a plethora of digital systems being AMSAT SA (Amateur Radio Satellite Association) have presented
used and experimented with. Somewhere in this rapidly evolving virtual workshops promoting new technologies available to radio
technological world, satellites also made their appearance and amateurs and scientific hobbyists.
amateur radio took centre stage when the first amateur satellite SARL president Nico van Rensburg (ZS6QL) said that in
(OSCAR 1) was launched only three years after the Russians beat partnership with AMSAT SA, the SARL will step up these activities.
the USA in the race to space with the launch of Sputnik 1. “There is a growing interest in these online activities and we have
Radio amateurs took a keen interest in low earth orbits which, seen a particular growing participation by radio amateurs and
like the shortwaves of days gone by, were not of great commercial hobbyists living outside the large metropolitan cities, who in the
interest until the GPS satellite came about and more recently, Elon past were deprived from participating as events were limited to the
Musk’s Starlight internet satellite constellation. large cities”.
Our next step is to develop more online activities and also
Do new technologies leave people behind? involve generation Z; they are our future radio amateurs”, he said.
This is a question that the International Amateur Radio Union “There is however a need to strike a balance, ensuring that all
(IARU) and its worldwide members’ societies are debating right generations are catered for and benefit from the changing face of
now. What is the future of amateur radio? How do associations amateur radio.” n
keep in tune with the technology explosion and keep the older
generations involved and interested while reaching out to Constant change is the driving force behind the fast-paced
generation Z to ensure that interest in amateur radio keeps and ever evolving technological world that we live in today.
evolving and growing. It is remarkably similar with industry Radio amateurs worldwide are actively involved in exploring
associations; how do they stay relevant for their members? and pushing the boundaries of technology thus adding to the
IARU Region1 (Africa, Europe and the Middle East) has just
started the process with online discussions with participants from excitement of the Amateur Radio Service.

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