Vigyan Prasar promoting Ham Radio
Considering the utility and potentiality of ham radio not only in emergency, but also as means of triggering and promoting an interest in science and technology, National Council for Science and Technology Communication (NCSTC) and Vigyan Prasar have been putting in efforts to popularize ham radio in India. This hobby has the potential to involve a vast majority of the young and energetic citizens of our country in a process of "Learning by Doing" in the field of electronics and wireless communication technology. "Science Clubs" for the kids, hooked through a network of ham radio stations will enhance the interaction among the kids. It will also provide an opportunity to the young club members to do on-the-air voice communication without any cost. It may be recalled that ham radio operators played an important role during the Bharat Jan Vigyan Jatha(1987) in coordinating and monitoring the movements of Jatha, besides organising demonstrations of ham radio for the public. Vigyan Prasar runs the amateur radio station VU2NCT. We provide necessary information and guidance to the interested people as well as Morse Code training is also given in our laboratory."Catch them young" is a phrase very popular with all educationists. The present education system provides ample scope for organizations like ours to contribute towards strengthening and supplementing the learning experiences of children by designing well focussed programmes, especially in electronics, that encourage self-learning via electronic kits and toys; initiation into hobbies like amateur radio etc.
Efforts in this direction are underway at Vigyan Prasar. Realizing that the number of active hams in the country is far from satisfactory, intensive programmes are being chalked out to popularize the exciting hobby of amateur radio. Those few, who have chosen the science stream for formal education, are imparted with training in basic electronics, but there are lots more who may not encounter electronics in the course of their study. It is this group that Vigyan Prasar intends to majorly target.It may be mentioned that Dr.N.K. Sehgal, Head of NCSTC and Director Vigyan Prasar himself is a ham radio operator (Call-sign: VU3NKS). Dr.V.B. Kamble, Director, Department of Science & Technology, VU2VBK is the founder custodian of amateur radio club station VU2NCT (located at Technology Bhawan, Ministry of Science & Technology).