Radio amateurs around the world are taking to the airwaves today to
celebrate World Amateur Radio Day (WARD)
April 18 is the day for all of
Amateur Radio to celebrate and tell the world about the science we can help
teach, the community service we can provide and the fun we have.
We hope
you will join in the fun and education that is World Amateur Radio
Day!
The ARRL reports:
Tuesday, April 18, will mark the 92nd
anniversary of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU), and radio amateurs
around the world will take to the airwaves to celebrate the day in 1925 that the
IARU was formed in Paris. “Celebrating Amateur Radio’s Contribution to Society”
is the WARD theme.
Amateur Radio experimenters were the first to discover
that the shortwave spectrum — far from being a wasteland — could support
worldwide propagation. In the rush to use these shorter wavelengths, Amateur
Radio was “in grave danger of being pushed aside,” IARU’s history notes. Amateur
Radio pioneers, including ARRL co-founder Hiram Percy Maxim, 1AW, met in Paris
in 1925 and created the IARU to support Amateur Radio worldwide.
Just 2
years later, at the International Radiotelegraph Conference, Amateur Radio
gained the allocations still recognized today — 160, 80, 40, 20, and 10 meters.
Since its founding, the IARU has worked tirelessly to defend and expand the
frequency allocations for Amateur Radio. Thanks to the support of enlightened
administrations in every part of the globe, radio amateurs are now able to
experiment and communicate in frequency bands strategically located throughout
the radio spectrum.
From the 25 countries that formed the IARU in 1925,
the IARU has grown to include 160 member-societies in three regions. IARU Region
1 includes Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Northern Asia. Region 2 covers
the Americas, and Region 3 is comprised of Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific
island nations, and most of Asia. The International Telecommunication Union
(ITU) has recognized the IARU as representing the interests of Amateur
Radio.
Read the full ARRL story at
http://www.arrl.org/news/world-amateur-radio-day-on-april-18-marks-iaru-s-92nd-anniversary
IARU
World Amateur Radio Day
http://www.iaru.org/world-amateur-radio-day.html
