Like all hobbyists, radio amateurs are completely consumed by their pursuit. So much so that their friends and relatives wonder whether they are sane.
They are cooped up in their attics, calling people halfway around the world just so they can log the call and add a notch to their list. They are called ham radio amateurs and use frequencies in the short wave range of the radio spectrum which allows transmissions to bounce off the ionosphere to reach the other side of the planet.
The history of ham radio in Nepal is long and illustrious, and that is mainly due to the contribution of one man: Fr Marshal Moran the American Jesuit priest who started St Xaviers School in Godavari in 1951. At a time before Internet, before international phone calls, even before teletype, Fr Moran could reach any part of the world at the push of a microphone button.
Ham rules don't allow operators to use their equipment for commercial purposes but hobbyists have been a big help during times of crisis or momentous events. Fr Moran became the point man for early mountaineering expeditions, including the first ascent of Mt Everest in 1953.
Famous ham operators have included King Hussain of Jordan and King Juan Carlos of Spain. Ham operators in Japan have provided invaluable services during major earthquakes, in New York during 9/11 and during last week's tsunami hobbyists were the link to the disaster-affected areas at a time when all other communications failed. (See box).
After Fr Moran died in 1992, the torch was passed to a new generation of Nepali ham enthusiasts. Satish Kharel is one of five licensed Nepali Ham radio operators. Kharel is a lawyer but was always interested in electronics and even before he knew about ham radio he was tinkering with his shortwave set trying to tune into distant broadcasts.
Kharel had to sit for an exam held by the Ministry of Communicaitons to get his radio amateur license in 1993 and since then he has been flying the Nepali flag, as it were, on the radio waves. He built his first short wave radio through which he transmitted using Morse code, and it cost him around Rs 800. Today, Kharel has equipment worth approximately Rs 20 lakh though he is unable to install and use them all.
"Ham radio as a hobby is not very expensive," explains Kharel, "and you can make it as sophisticated as you want. But the most expensive transceiver doesn't compare to the pleasure of making your own radio."
His legal work allows Kharel to use his radio only on weekends and during holidays when he is able to contact a lot of people. During Dasain alone, he logged 7,000 contacts all over the world in 10 days. He says, "You have to be able to devote three to four hours once you get connected. There are so few Nepali users that everyone wants to talk to you." Kharel has totalled 50,000 radio contacts since 1993.
Kharel's radio has also been of use to various people needing help during the Kobe and Gujarat earthquakes. His dream is to start a club station where licensed users can come and use the equipment. He feels that people have been unable to use ham radio due to lack of equipment and the fact that the Ministry hasn't held the license exam since 1998.
Himalayan hams
When Rudolf Schwenger started off as a ham hobbyist in Germany, he had always wanted one day to locate a radio transmitter in Nepal. He had visited Kathmandu in the early 1970s and fell in love with the place.
Together with a fellow ham enthusiast who had an electronic joint venture project in Nepal, he worked towards that goal. When his friend died a few years ago, Schwenger decided to make the dream of making radio contact from Nepal true in his memory. It took a year of planning, and with help from local contacts and Nepali ham operators Schwenger finally set up his mast on top of the tallest building in Patan, the Nepal Bayern plant.
In one month, Schwenger and an Italian colleague were transmitting and receiving radio communications from all over the world-sometimes logging up to 100 calls per hour. Although the best reception is in 15 mHz, they tried to get a maximum number of calls in lower frequencies like the 1.8 mHz range also.
"It's a fascination to talk to people all over the world from Nepal," says Schwenger, who used to work as an electronic engineer for Siemens. The duo were inundated with calls from fellow hobbyists all over the world from who wanted to get confirmations of their calls to Nepal.
Schwegner is delighted to be in here where he says the people are generous and friendly despite all their problems. "In the west, we have all the comforts of modern living, yet we complain all the time. In Nepal there is lots to complain about but the people are still happy, it's refreshing," he says.
Schwenger does have a few complaints, the "noise" from vehicular traffic and unprotected electric implements which makes it difficult to pick up feeble signals from around the world. Also, Nepal has high fees for ham operators, a temporary license that costs only $20 in Singapore is $1,000 here. Still, the three weeks Schwegner spent in Nepal have been well worth the trouble.
"Andamans calling"
Ham radio operator Bharti Prasad has become the focus of communications with the Indian Ocean island after the earthquake and tsunami of 26 December where some 8,000 people were killed. The New-Delhi based housewife is using her radio to coordinate relief and provide information on survivors to relatives around the world. Prasad, 46, arrived in the Andamans on 15 December, little knowing that she would be at the centre of things within 10 days. Prasad has already handled 30,000 inquires. "When the tidal waves struck, we turned the transmitter towards the mainland and since then we have been flooded with messages which we relay on local telephone lines," says Prasad who goes by the call sign VU2RBI.
