Ham Radio Workshop at
Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati

A ham radio workshop and demonstration programme was organised by Vigyan Prasar at the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati (IITG), from October 8 to 10, 1999. It was attended by 120 participants from different engineering colleges across the country. The distinguished guests present in the programme were Dr. Narender K. Sehgal (VU3NKS), Director, Vigyan Prasar and also the Head of the National Council for Science & Technology Communication, New Delhi, Sri J.M. Misra, Chief General Manager, Telecom (Assam Circle), Sri D.N. Buragohain, Director, IITG, Dr. Anil Mahanta, Head of the Deptt., Electronics & Communication, IITG, and Dr. Anup Kr. Gogoi, Assoc. Prof., Electronics & Communication, IITG.

Sri Amalendu Piplai (VU2AP), a veteran ham from Calcutta responded to a general radio call given from the homemade radio station of Sri Ranjit Chaliha (VU2RCH), who had represented the VU2NCT Club Station of Vigyan Prasar and NCSTC. Sri Piplai (VU2AP) enlightened the participants with his on-the-air lecture on ham radio. Sri Sandeep Baruah (VU2MSY), Scientific Officer, Vigyan Prasar, also delivered a lecture apprising the participants about the different exciting aspects of ham radio. It was followed by a lecture on "Technology and Indians" delivered by Dr. Sehgal, Director, Vigyan Prasar. Sri P.M. Dastidar, Director, Assam Police Radio Organisation (APRO), in a lecture stressed the promotion of ham radio in the North Eastern part of India citing its importance in the event of frequent natural calamities taking place in this region.


There was a keen interaction between the participants and the organisers in the interactive session where many queries related to ham radio were answered by Sri Debajit Sarma (VU2DBM). A practice session apprised the participants of the ham radio communication procedures along with an on-the-air demonstration of Morse Code communication given by Sri D.P.Dey (VU2DPD) from Calcutta. A laboratory session for transmitter design was also conducted at the basic electronics laboratory of IITG where 'study materials' and booklets on ham radio ( "Be a Ham! Talk to the World") published by Vigyan Prasar were distributed freely among the participants. A book ("Scanning the World with Amateur Radio") written and compiled by Sri Sandeep Baruah (VU2MSY), Scientific Officer, Vigyan Prasar, was also distributed freely to all the participants. The Vigyan Prasar venture was very satisfying in the sense that all the participants were greatly motivated towards this noble scientific pursuit.
VU2MSY

	Sandeep Baruah (VU2MSY), Scientific Officer, Vigyan Prasar, New Delhi, operating the field day ham radio station at IIT, Guwahati. Standing just left to him is Sri Ranjit Chaliha, VU2RCH. All these equipment were homebrewed by Sri Chaliha himself .
	Sri Sandeep Baruah (VU2MSY), Scientific Officer, Vigyan Prasar, showing the participants the operation of a ham radio communication system

An informal discussion at IITG to popularize ham radio in the North East Standing from left to right: Dr. Narender K. Sehgal (VU3NKS), Head of the National Council for Science & Technology Communication and Director, Vigyan Prasar; Sri Ranjit Chaliha (VU2RCH), a self made expert in ham radio; Sri P.M. Dastidar, an ex-professor of Cotton College (Guwahati) and now the Director, Assam Police Radio Organisation; Sri Debajit Sarma (VU2DBM), an Electronics Engineer with Assam Electronics Development Corporation Ltd.(AMTRON); Dr. Anup Kr. Gogoi, Assoc. Professor, Deptt. of Electronics & Communication, IITG. Sri Sandeep Baruah (VU2MSY), Scientific Officer, Vigyan Prasar