

It was a calm night in the Indian Ocean when a merchant navy vessel was on its voyage from Brazil to Japan. Amilcar Domingues Santos (Licence number PY2ACT/MM), a Brazilian radio officer aboard the cargo vessel, tuned in to his ‘ham’ radio in his cabin. Getting some free time from work, Santos cranked up the dial on his device to contact and speak with his family back home in Brazil. Midway through the conversation, Santos was startled to hear someone else speaking to him in Portuguese. The direction that the voice was coming from? The Indian subcontinent. A query to the person speaking Portuguese revealed that his id was ‘VU2DM’. There was no mistake about it. VU2 was the code word given to ‘hams’ in India. DM were the initials of Didier de Melo, a radio engineer, working from his radio station located in his quaint heritage home off 18th June road in the heart of the capital city of Goa, Panaji.

“Amateur radio is also called ham radio. Ham is another name given to an amateur radio operator,” explains de Melo.

De Melo, now 70 and retired, lays claim to being the oldest licenced ham in Goa. “Before me, there was another ham, Luis Catulo (CT1CTZ), who worked at the Dabolim airport during the Portuguese era. But he left for Portugal after 1961”, he says.

“The best thing about ham radio is that it is not dependent on any mobile tower. During the tsunami of 2006, when all forms of communication failed for authorities to contact the Andaman and Nicobar islands, it was ham radio operators who volunteered and played a crucial role in establishing communication and aiding relief operations between the islands and the mainland. The Goa government would also do well to use ham radios in its disaster management plan,” says de Melo.

De Melo is not the only ham radio operator in Goa. “We are a few of us here. There are other active hams such as Manj

unath Shinde (VU2SMS) of Altinho, Panaji, and Ronald Rodrigues (VU2ROE) of Pilerne,” he says.

If you ever wondered why amateur radio operators are called ‘hams’, the story goes like this — HAM was the station call of the first amateur wireless station, operated by the amateurs of the Harvard Radio Club. Their names were Albert S Hyman, Bob Almy and Poogie Murray . The word ‘ham’ is taken from the first letters of their surnames. Hams also say that the word signifies Help All Mankind.

Among famous hams in India are Amitabh Bachchan (VU2AMY), late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi (VU2RG) and All India Congress Committee president Sonia Gandhi (VU2SON). Hams also count the late king Hussein of Jordan (JY1) and his wife Queen Noor (JY1NH); former king of Spain, Juan Carlos (EA0JC), legendary Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin (UA1LO); late Nasa astronaut Kalpana Chawla (KD5ESI); and Hollywood actor Marlon Brando (FO5GJ) as being part of their club.

English is the lingua franca of ‘hams’ across the globe, but de Melo’s fluency in Portuguese also enables him to connect with the Portuguese-speaking world.

“A lot many ‘hams’ are surprised when they hear that a ham in India can speak Portuguese,” says de Melo, who also speaks English, Konkani and a bit of French.

“I am weak in Hindi. So, ironically, I face a language barrier in India with ‘hams’ who are fluent in Hindi,” he says.

De Melo’s sojourns over the air waves has also seen many a friendship blossom. “I connected with a ham in Luxembourg. We became very good friends. He decided to visit Goa and I hosted him here. He invited me to visit Luxembourg and I accepted the offer, where he showed me around his country,” says de Melo, who has also received ‘ham’ visitors from the United States, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland and Spain.

In de Melo’s own private radio station are a number of awards adorning his walls, which he proudly displays like badges of honour.

Some of the awards he has won are: The Radio Amateur Society of India award for contacting 50 Indian radio stations; a Brazilian award for contacting 50 Young Ladies (woman radio operators) in Brazil; an award from the American Amateur Radio Union for contacting all continents of the world; the Vasco da Gama award by a Portuguese organization for contacting all the countries on the route that the explorer took from Lisbon to erstwhile Cochin; and the DX Century Club award by the American Radio Relay League Inc for contacting 100 countries in the world.

“In ‘ham’ terminology, male radio operators are called Old Men and women are called Young Ladies, no matter what our actual ages are,” de Melo explains.

Ham radios may have been the coolest thing for the generations in the past but now, with mobile phones, the internet and social networking websites, how does de Melo view his hobby?

“I have moved with the times. I have an email account and use the internet, but I still rate ‘ham’ radio as better than modern communication technologies as it will never get affected even if a disaster strikes. Whereas, all other forms of communication will get affected,” he says.

“There has been a change in scenario in today’s modern age,” chips in Sonia, his wife.

“In the earlier days, the evenings and nights were full of activity. The air waves were buzzing with ‘hams’ connecting with each other. It was a good way for him to relax after work. Sometimes, he used to work late shifts and come home late at night. As he couldn’t fall asleep, he took the opportunity to contact ‘hams’ across the world as it was day time in other parts of the globe. Now, the buzz has dropped. There are a lot of distractions as well as other forms of communication. So, the evenings are much quieter,” says Sonia.

So, did she ever have a problem with her husband dedicating his time to his hobby?

“Not at all! As long as he didn’t talk to too many women!” she says with a laugh.