ARLA/CLUSTER: O radioamadorismo na India é descrito como uma Rede Social nas Ondas da Radio

[João Costa > CT1FBF]

A social networking club powered by radio waves

The Indian Express provides an insight into the Ham radio community, a
social networking club powered by radio waves

The newspaper says:

In India, there are 15,000-20,000 Ham radio operators, or Hams, and a
generous portion of this number is based in south India. Delhi has
about 40-50 active Hams, who are “on air” every night, at 9.30pm, for
a round of “rag chewing” (think group chat). Worldwide, there are more
than three million hams, each of whom has a “call sign” which denotes
his identity, and country of origin.

While Baruah is known as VU2MUE to other Hams, 77-year-old Gopal
Madhavan, the president of Bangalore-based Amateur Radio Society of
India (ARSI), is VU2GMN. Other clubs in the country include National
Institute of Amateur Radio (NIAR), Hyderabad, and the Coimbatore
Amateur Radio Club.

“Hams believe in the concept of a global community,” says Baruah,
“Since most of the contacts are incidental, we give preference to the
weakest signal we are receiving — you never know, someone may need
help, or could be transmitting from a remote location. Besides audio,
we can also send across text messages and pictures.

Read the full story at
http://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/no-friend-requests-no-signing-up-a-social-networking-club-powered-by-radio-waves/99/