13/06/2019
AMATEUR RADIO SERVICE
Amateur Radio is a “service” and not a hobby. I am strongly against many people defining it as a hobby.
All of us should work together to get this basic concept changed.
Stamp collection is a hobby.
Coin collection is a hobby.
Some people collect newspaper cuttings.
Some take up music, dancing etc as hobbies.
Can you tell me whether for any of the above you need to learn, get trained, write an exam, get qualified and go through verifications?
No.
Let us not de grade Ham Radio by calling it as a hobby.
Many years back, I was backing up the Pactor network as part of an international support. My neighbour erected an illegal hoarding blocking my HF Yagi. I had to stop the service. The conflict reached the Court. My plea was almost rejected because when the Judge studied about Ham Radio, it was just a ‘hobby’. I did not argue further.
Let us awake. We could make some impossible things possible. Let us work towards changing the basic definition of Amateur Radio.
It is a service. Not a hobby. We are not getting the required respect to our service since we ourselves are calling it as a hobby. Please read our own rules:
“Amateur service' means a service of self training, inter-communication and technical investigations carried on by amateurs that is, by persons duly authorised under these rules interested in radio technique solely with a personal aim and *without pecuniary* interest”
Government has not defined it as a hobby. Some of us brought the punch line “King of hobbies and not hobby of Kings” and from that point we got misguided. Correct me if I am wrong.
IT IS A RESPONSIBLE ACTIVITY WHERE THERE IS A LICENSING AND GOVERNMENT CONTROLS INVOLVED.
Let us not call it a hobby and dilute its seriousness. We may not get respect if we call it a hobby. Let us not do this from today, to make a change.
73 Girish, VU2KGB
![Ham [VU2SHF] AB9XC Pravinkumar from New Mexico, US, visited IARK. Vu2NSL, Vu2PEY, VU2MSA.... eyeball ....](https://img5.schoolandcollegelistings.com/478/992/2785710994789924.jpg)
