తృప్తి నిచ్చిన రేడియో హాబీ

 

HAM Radio making waves in the State

 

 Ramakrishna who hails Guntur District got his Ham Radio License in 2001 from the Minister of Communication, New Delhi. He was granted the call sign ‘VU3NYD’. Before receiving his license he was actively involved in many ham radio programs as an SWL. Ramakrishna shared that Mr Prasad VU2ICC, who was serving as Ham Radio coordinator in the collector's office Guntur was quite active and used to contact many DX stations through Ham those days. Ramakrishna was fascinated to watch How Mr Prasad was used to contacting various foreign stations and attracted by his unique style of modulation attracted him to become a Ham operator. Another Ham Pridhvi Raju Garu VU2IKY from the Guntur district was also a person who motivated and encouraged him a lot to become a Ham He shared his feelings that he was inspired by both of them when he was a student.  Mr Ramakrishna was instrumental in conducting Ham Radio awareness drives in many Educational institutes, Colleges, and Universities spreading in and around Vijayawada through the Academy of Ham Radio and thus played a pivotal role in spreading Ham activity surrounding areas of Vijayawada.

In the year 2001, there was an earthquake in Gujarat which caused a large-scale loss of life and property. All the houses in those areas collapsed and towns and villages turned into graveyards. The Andhra Pradesh government has sent ham radio teams on special flights to carry out relief activities in the earthquake-affected areas. Ramakrishna was also one of the Ham team that left Begumpet Airport on a Special Russian Aircraft. The Russian plane took off from Begumpet Airport at exactly1 o'clock midnight and took two hours to reach the Bhuj Airport around 3 AM located on the India-Pakistan border. Ramakrishna along with the rest of the HAM team provided much-needed Emergency communication services through Ham Radio in those earthquake-affected areas like Bhuj, Gandhi Dham, Anjar, Bachav and the State capital Gandhinagar etc. Andhra Hams continued to provide emergency communications despite the harsh conditions in the absence of minimum requirements like water, food and proper shelter to hide. The services provided by them have been of great help to the government officials and as well to the distressed people there. They have received applause from the local people and the Government officers for their valuable services in braving all the odds. After completion of the Ham operation, Ramakrishna along with the rest of the team had the opportunity to meet the then Gujarat Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu directly in their respective offices situated in  Gandhinagar & Hyderabad. He received letters of appreciation from the two Chief Ministers along with the other Ham Radio team.

Ramakrishna's modulation suits radio communication and is good to hear with a unique and solemn voice. In the year 2003, under the auspices of the Andhra Pradesh State Science Council, he toured in the Tirupati Science Centre bus for 45 days and assisted in conducting Ham Radio awareness seminars in the colleges situated in the districts of  Nellore, Ongole and Guntur districts. In that period he toured various schools, colleges and educational institutes in the respective districts and spoke on the Ham radio with his majestic voice modulation, instilling interest in Ham communication among the students. Sleeping on the bus under harsh conditions, he visited schools and colleges in many areas and participated in Ham radio awareness seminars and attracted many students to radioactivity.

Ramakrishna has a deep knowledge of  Morse code and shows remarkable talent. It is because of this talent that he got a rare opportunity to train officers at IAS Academy, Mussoorie, the best premier institute in India. In the year 2005, he was sent to Mussoorie, Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration,  by the Government of Andhra Pradesh to train the All India Officers in Ham Radio. He participated in conducting training classes for officers at IAS Academy Mussoorie and played his part in providing morse training and motivated many officers to become ham operators. He has received a special certificate from the Lal Bhadur Sastry National Academy of Administration after successful completion of Ham Radio training. During this prestigious training program, Ramakrishna feels that getting a great opportunity to stay and provide training to the  IAS officers for about three months at the Happy Valley Guest House in Mussoorie is a great memorable experience.

With the courtesy of the American Red Cross Society, the Red Cross Society, Andhra Pradesh undertook a project related to disaster management in the year 2009. As part of this project, Ramakrishna was designated as Ham Radio Coordinator for one year and set up Ham Radio communication sets in Hyderabad and Vijayawada branches. Various awareness seminars related to Ham Radio were conducted in many parts of Andhra Pradesh.

Ramakrishna’s services were key, to conducting Ham training for selected candidates in Hyderabad. He strived hard to achieve good results in the Ham radio training and helped them to receive licences after qualifying for the exam.

In the year 2009, the biggest flood risk occurred in the Krishna river. The river overflowed beyond recognition and created dangerous conditions in many low-lying areas like Avanigadda, Nagayalanka and Kodur causing the failure of Telecommunication facilities. Mr Ramakrishna was available at the control station set up in the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation and provided communications under the auspices of the Red Cross Society and received appreciation from the officials and people. At that time, he went to the Koduru MRO office in the Divi border area and provided vital communications from there.

Ramakrishna participated in Ham Radio awareness seminars organized by the Academy of Ham Radio in many colleges and educational institutions and made students interested in Ham Radio. He helped in conducting Ham Radio training and awareness drives through the Academy of Ham Radio in many Engineering colleges like Vigyan University, KL University, VR Siddhartha Engineering College, Siddhartha College of Art and Science,  Dhanekula Engineering College, Potti Sriramulu Engineering College, Paladugu Parvathi Devi Engineering College, DJR Engineering College, Dr Samuel Gerorge Institute of Engineering & Technology, Markapuram, Regency engineering college, Yanam. He participated in many Ham Radio demonstrations organized in the various colleges and played a key role in making them successful. Similarly, he went to Tirupati Science Center and participated in the Ham Radio Awareness Conference organized by the Academy of Ham Radio and caused enthusiasm among the youngsters who came from various places in and around Tirupati town. Besides, he went to Bhimavaram and camped there for a week and participated in ham radio demonstrations organized by the Academy of Ham Radio in various engineering colleges like DNR, SRKR, Mente Padmanabham Engineering College, Vishnu Engineering College, GVIT Engineering College etc. and Played a key role in creating awareness of Ham Radio among thousands of students.

Ramakrishna added a push-pull amplifier to his homemade RM-96 HF set to make it a very powerful communication system. Hundreds of thousands of contracts have been made with ham radio operators by being active every day using his most powerful HF set. In some cases, Mr Ramakrishna assisted   Net Controllers by acting as a relay station and providing much-needed assistance in controlling Garden City, conducted every day in the frequency of 7.050 Mhz and in some cases he served as an Alternate Net Controller.  He used to check Charminar and Belgaum HF nets regularly and keeping touch with many active Hams across the Nation.

During the Godavari Pushkaras organized in 2003, several ham operators provided volunteer services and helped key points of Rajahmundry in quickly passing messages to the command control room,  Rajahmundry. On this occasion, along with command control, many ham radio operators who connected the railway station, bus stand and bathing Ghats rendered immense services. On this same occasion, Ramakrishna went to Ravulapalem MRO office, East Godavari district and there he installed the HF antenna and established a communication system with HF radio. From there, they remained in connectivity with the rest of the radio stations with command control and provided continuous service by using an HF set. Ham services helped a lot for the smooth conduct of the Pushkarams. After completion of the operation, Mr Ramakrishna received certificates of appreciation from the Collector for his good services.

Several Ham Operators volunteered their services in providing Ham Communication maintain constant contact with the  Command Control during the Krishna Pushkarams organized in 2016. On this occasion, Ham Radio Operators have volunteered immense services using their equipment connecting the Railway Station, Bus Stand, various key points and several Bathing Ghats along with command control. 24-hour services provided by Ham Radio Operators have been useful in providing much-needed facilities to the pilgrims and avoiding any untoward incidents. Due to the services rendered by them, they have received much appreciation from the people and the authorities. On this occasion, Ramakrishna served as an alternative controller for a brief time from command control to other necessary stations. Mr Ramakrishna received certificates of appreciation from the then Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Chandrababu Naidu, along with the rest of the ham team, for their services.

 Ramakrishna was not only active in ham radio but also encouraged his son Velpuri Tulsi Sairam and provided him with ham training. The Department of Telecommunication has assigned the call sign VU3ODD to Ramakrishna's son Tulsi Sairam. Tulsi Sairam VU3ODD is following in her father's footsteps and is involved in many ham activities. Served in many areas of Vijayawada Krishna Pushkaram through Ham Radio and received a certificate from the then Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu for his voluntary services. Mr  Tulsi Sairam VU3ODD obtained a diploma in automobile engineering and took up the responsibility as a manager in a renowned battery-powered scooter manufacturing company situated surrounding Vijayawada.  Tulsi Ram is happy that the electronic ham radio hobby has been very useful for him to gain sound knowledge about electronics.

Mr Ramakrishna said that he and his son Tulsi Ram will be ready to serve the Nation through ham radio whenever the communication system breaks down in emergencies such as cyclones and floods.