To tap those hidden potentials in School going children, presently we have many extracurricular activities in Schools. One of these is Amateur Radio. This activity in India is still to gain momentum. It comprises of self training in the fields of electronics, computers, space technology etc., It also offers tremendous scopes in areas like leadership, teamwork and above all the will to serve others selflessly in times of natural calamities & other emergencies. It also offers one of the best avenues for universal brotherhood & understanding. It is undoubtedly the best tool for National Integration.
Why introduce amateur radio at school levels?
The pattern of education in our country is such that the higher primary & high school is the best time for the young citizen. Eighth standard, is the best time in the career of a school student to take up the amateur radio course, pass it and obtain the license. In this class the student can be highly successful because the minimum age for taking the ham course is 12 years. Most of the students in 8th std would have attained this age at the commencement of the academic year. The ham course consists of: a) Station operating practice b) electronics & other technical topics c) Sending & receiving morse at six words per minute. The students will have no problem with items a) & c), infact with item c) they will at that age do better than most adults & college students! Morse code being a kind of language is found very easy by a 12year old. Item b) can easily be tackled with proper teaching aids. The results at the exams therefore is quite encouraging. Usually it will be in the range of 75 to 90% compared to 30 to 75% when adults are involved! What happens to a student who fails in the 8th std? This is so very simple, the student appears once again, when he or she goes to the 9th, once again appears for the exam and passes it with great ease. There is almost no failures in such cases. However this is not the case with adults. There is a chance of a 2nd failure particularly when the individual fails in morse test. Students in 10th std. normally have their sights trained on the final exams and they can rarely be attracted for the ham course. Even if the student is lured, his/her parents block the way reminding them of their commitments to the SSLC exam. Therefore at school levels 8th & 9th are the best times. It takes a year or so to get the license from the Ministry of Communications, New Delhi. So, hopefully the student can operate their school's club station, when they are in the 9th or even 10th.
Once a student misses the above opportunity ham radio cannot be pursued at the PUC 1 or 2. The reasons are clear. All parents send their children for tuitions. The students are busy during the two years preparing for their final PUC & CET and IIT examinations. No parent would ever think of encouraging his/her child for a ham course. During PUC the entire life of a student is spent in attending college, tuitions and the balance time in commuting, solving question papers & home work. However if the PUC student is already a ham, then it is no problem for him to create a little time to practice ham radio either at home or in a club station, preferably his school's.
Amateur radio for college students/working individuals ?
When an individual misses the opportunity of becoming a ham during schooling or PUC, the next opportunity will present during professional courses like medical or engineering. Once again the individuals face the same problems- college exams, assignments etc., With semester exams in vogue, it becomes extremely difficult to make up one's mind to prepare and appear for the ham exams. There are amateur radio clubs in IIT Karagpur & the Indian Institute of Science. Unfortunately the importance to regular academics sidelines the functioning of these clubs to promote amateur radio. Let us accept the fact that the fundamental requirement of these clubs to function in institutes requires ready made licensed hams available in campus who can spend a few hours in the club operating the various gear. However the club may not be in a position to run a ham course. This is where a student having passed ham exam at school will be in a position to exploit the club facilities at the college to further his knowledge & skills.
The next chance is the possibility of joining a local club & attend the course in a city where one gets a job. By the time you settle down to do this you would have reached an age close to 22 years. This is very sad because once you get a ticket and go on air you would meet many 12 year olds who have the potential to operate from their school club stations. Such an individual can be a decade behind. Also at this age one can find morse learning cumbersome and can even fail in the exam. This may lead to frustration and may get disinterested with ham radio.
On the other hand a school student who secures a ham license in high school will find himself growing with ham radio experience, build contacts with other hams in the country, build contacts with hams from other countries and in 10 years time be a full fledged radio amateur.
What is ham radio experience?
Learning electronics fundamentals, electronic circuits, digital & analog, mechanical works, HF/VHF/UHF communications, working of satellites, antennas construction, home-brewing ham gear from articles published in various ham magazines abroad & within the country, use of computers in radio communication, operating digital modes, packet radio working and use of internet, radio bbs's etc etc etc and this list is unending. One acquires real knowledge or practical working knowledge through a genuine process of self learning. Self learning is actually a combined process of assimilating knowledge through amateur radio operations and exchanging notes with other hams, refining one's gear or method of operation and assimilating information/knowledge through seminars, workshops, hamfests, ham exhibitions etc which are once again ham activities organized by clubs for promoting amateur radio. When you see two hams, who meet, you will often observe that they first talk about their rigs, achievements, technical problems etc. then they exchange some circuits or even components and then only talk other matters. This is actually self learning in progress. Ham radio is not always shop talk. There are other exciting activities such as field days [operating a ham station in picnic situations outside city limits], hill toping, contest working. There are some selfless services offered too by hams. These are offering their services in times of emergency. This can be during times of disaster such as earth quakes, floods, fire, medical traffic. Hams can really co-ordinate various agencies such as police/fire/administration/hospitals etc to speed up relief works very efficiently. They can offer their services for any social cause be it a motor rally or an exercise to control vehicle pollution.
One of the most significant contribution in amateur radio is in the field of education. The ARRL [Amateur Radio Relay League], AMSAT [ Amateur Satellite Corporation} together with NASA [National Space administration] have since many years flown amateur radio gear in space shuttles. This with the help of astronauts who are hams were successfully able to bring live their activities in space missions directly into class rooms and interact with the students. This experiment called SAREX [Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment]. This has dramatically piqued students interest in space science & other allied fields. This activity is now carried out on an international basis and astronauts interact with school children all over the world during their space missions.
Amateur radio has been used since many years for Scout jamborees. There is a particular day during every year when scouts and guides interact & exchange messages/greetings with their brother scouts & guides all over the world. This is called Jamboree on Air. This is exclusively a school activity. Having examined the various stages in one's life for opportunities of becoming a ham, it can be seen that the best time is the High school period. The Central & State govts. have adopted the policy to encourage this at the Institution levels. The MLA's have been allotted Rs. 2 Lakh to promote amateur radio in their localities. CBSE syllabus has amateur radio as one of their options. Amateur radio is now believed the world over to positively help young citizens to mold themselves into responsible citizens. It can strongly promote National Integrity. It can improve discipline, goodwill & further the knowledge in students. The scope of amateur radio is actually limitless. Amongst hams the difference between the rich & the poor is not felt. The hobby itself is so absorbing that there is no room for caste creed or religion. India has a very long way to go in the field of amateur radio. Things can be speeded up if amateur radio is seriously introduced in schools. Ham gear which is now difficult or costly to procure is mainly due to the low ham population in the country. Once this reaches higher levels then automatically factories will spring up all round to meet this demand. So someday, somewhere, someone should make a beginning!!
1.) Ham radio was demonstrated since 1990 to high school students.
2.) First batch of 7 students passed ham radio examinations during the year 1994.
3.) These ham students were selected for Asia's first historical SAREX experiment sponsored by ARRL/NASA/AMSAT - a programme to converse with shuttle astronauts during their mission in March 1995. [ Xerox copies of achievement enclosed]
4.) The school had set up its official Amateur Radio Club Station during January 26th 1996.
5.) The school received during the year 1995 & 1996 [ Rajiv Gandhi Foundation] and an International award [shield] from Flen Lions club SWEDEN for securing 8th position in the world in the `Hunting the Lions on air amateur radio contest ' for the year 1996-97.
6.) Second batch of 10 high school students received ham licenses during October 1996.
7.) The School had set up its own Scouts on the air 39th Jamboree station & establishes contacts with other scouts/guides in India and abroad.
8.) The first & second batches of the SSLC students secure and third batch will appear this year during March 1996 for their SSLC examinations-Thanks to the influence of ham radio!
9.) The school has every year a Science Exhibition with ham radio in the stalls around 14th November.
10.) Every year the school excels in Sports/Scouts & Guides/Science competitions - Thanks to ham radio!!
11.) Through the School's ham radio our students are able to establish cordial relations with hams in India & abroad, which is a foundation for establishing a thorough National Integration.
12.) Ham radio has helped our student understand their responsibilities, develop team spirit/ cooperation, general skills and a very good intelligence/IQ, general knowledge, health & overall development & discipline. Their sense of Patriotism, selflessness & service to others has been enriched by ham radio.
13.) The Little Lillys has received a record maximum publicity thro' ham radio.
14.) The club has already won 3 shields from Sweden for its participation in `Hunting the Lions on Air' contest during the years 1997-98 and 1998-99, winning the 8th position, and 7th & 9th position respectively.
15.) The Little Lillys Radio Club Station `VU3LLE', established a fully operational sattellite working station [ICOM IC-821H] with antennas during the academic year 1999-2000 to work sattellites like AO-27, AO-29, AO-10 etc., It also conducts annual workshops in sattellite commuication with live demos. During Hamfest-India-99 at Mysore, the students along with their mentor R. Ramesh / VU2RMS, Principal, demonstrated working of AO-27 sattellite, using arrow antenna and seperate UHF/VHF handies. He is also currently the Vice president for AMSAT INDIA, which played a significant role in launching India's ISRO HAMSAT. He has also contacted Bill McArthur aboard the ISS space craft during Dec 26 2005. He also took interest in putting the school hams through VO-52 on Telecommunications Day in 2005.
The Little Lillys School had been established during the 1980's. It started of with a Montessori. Today it has classes up to the 10th std with two sections till Primary and the total strength of over a1000 students. Amateur radio was introduced during the 1990's. It was since 1990's that the School experienced success with their method of education. It was noticed that the students found more interesting & educative than the popular TV entertainment at home. Many of the students shunned TV and started taking interest in this new hobby. As you know TV programmes consume a huge bulk of the students memory in the form of songs etc memorized by them. Ham radio surely comes to the rescue and students fare well in all the curriculum activities. It is hoped that the efforts put up in popularizing ham radio in schools be encouraged by NCERT & other Institutions so that other schools can introduce the same in the country.
