Role of Amateur Radio in Emergency Communications

 Amateur Radio has played a vital role in providing communication links during major natural disasters in the past and recent times as well. In the recent Wyanad Landslide disaster, radio amateurs in Wyanad were called upon to provide an emergency communication link between the Ground Zero and the Wyanad District Headquarters. They could provide it by setting up a base station at the District Headquarters while another team proceeded to Ground Zero with hand held radios, base stations and portable antennas. As there was no direct line of sight communication in view of hilly terrain, they utilized the Phantom Rock Amateur Radio VHF Repeater for establishing emergency communciation link between Ground Zero and District Headquarters quickly.

In the 2018 devastating Kerala Floods amateur radio operators across the state had provided vital emergency communication services. Even in the Wyanad Landslide, many amateur radio operators, some even as from Trivandrum rushed to provide emergency communication services at Ground Zero. In the past amateur radio had provided such support in various disasters across the country as well as globally. In many countries, there are special Amateur Radio Emergency Service networks which provide training to amateur radio operators to be ready at short notice in case of natural disasters. Amateur Radio Emergency Communications (AREC) in New Zealand, Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) in the United States of America and Canada are some of them.

It is nice to note that even our regulatory service is taking steps to train Ham Radio Disaster Communication Network. One such workshop was organized in June 2024 for Nagaland State Disaster Management Authority officers. In that workshop, VU3OOO helped them build their own Yagi Uda antenna for 145 MHz. If you browse through the posts on X of the Department of Telecommunications, Government of India, there are several posts about Ham Radio. DOT is promoting Amateur Radio in a great way with the organization of awareness programs at schools, colleges and universities, with the involvement of local ham organizations. Officials from the regulatory agency have visited many field ham radio activities and issued press releases through the Press Information Bureau.

How can you participate? The first step is to get trained in amateur radio, basic electronics and radio regulations. Next step is to appear for the Amateur Station Operator Certificate Examination held by the DOT at various Wireless Monitoring Centers. Application for the examination and later for the license after passing the examination are online, through the Saral Sanchar Portal (https://saralsanchar.gov.in/) to get the Amateur Wireless Telegraph Station Licence/Certificate. Amateur Radio Society of India (ARSI) is the national organization recognized by International Amateur Radio Union (IARU). There are several regional organizations across the nation providing classes to prepare for the examination. Some time back Himachal Pradesh Government had announced that new radio amateurs in the state will be given subsidy for setting up their stations in the disaster prone region.

Basic handheld amateur radios needed for an emergency communication are now quite inexpensive and readily available. Many radio amateurs also make their own equipement by looking at circuits available online. But that needs more technical skills. I used to make my own equiment in the early years of my ham radio as that was all that I could afford. After nearly four decades, I am now using commercial amateur radio equipment. Yet my antennas are still home made. When you make an antenna on your own, you get additional satisfaction when you see that your antennas do work, even for satellite communications! There are several radio amateur in the country who even work with geostationary amateur radio satellite QO 100, located at 36,000 km altitude, though I do not have such capability. Using portable equipment for geostationary amateur radio satellite operations could be a real boon in providing connectivity in case of natural disasters, though that is technically more demanding.