Back on the Air - Really

At last - after a long break - I am finally back on the air.

July 5th, 2006 - 7.15 AM - I picked up the hand set (a walkie-talkie -see pic.- hooked up to an exernal antenna placed on top of my owner's house) and said "VU2MUD" (my Amateur Radio Identification/Call sign). Back came the reply from an old friend Ismail "Good Morning Madhu, good to hear you after a long time. Good signals. Where are you operating from?" The reply and the continued conversation apart, I was happy that I was still remembered. It is good to meet my old friends on the air and to meet new ones. That is part of the thrills of Amateur (HAM) Radio.

I hope readers will remember that early last year, an Indian Satellite was put into orbit and one of the payloads was a "HAMSAT". It is actually a small satellite with a dedicated transponder (an automatic receive and transmit equipment to relay signals) for the use of HAM operators. I have also been able to listen to the downlink quite regularly. I do not have access to the proper equipment to put my signals out to the satellite yet.

I am now motivated enough to start a mini introductory session on HAM Radio in my future blog posts. I will keep them coming.

Apologies

I had promised that I would be blogging at the rate of at least two posts per month. Due to certain changes in the office environment and responsibilities, I am not able to access the internet and also have very little time for blogging.

A couple of things to report.

First, the Ministry of Communications has agreed to continue renewal of licences at the old rate and not at the "exhorbitantly" revised rates. That is some respite for the time being.

Second, propogation conditions for radio waves being rather erratic, the radio activity of operators is not as per regular norms.

I am in the process of taking some decisions on my career front that may change my "blogger profile". In this context I expect to be a little more inactive over the next few weeks.

Hope to be back soon with more on Ham Radio.