In the present days, any person interested in becoming an amateur radio operator, with the Ministry's licence etc., will definitely find it very educative first to get in the Hamsphere which is a virtual amateur radio site, where you can work, almost like a real ham. There are two utilities in virtual Hamsphere, the basic one is Hamsphere 3 and the advanced one which is almost like real amateur radio called Hamsphere 4. The Hamphere Membership is of two types: (a) Subscriber with annual dues of 32 Euros per year. (b) DX user with free membership for third world countries like: Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria, Kazakhstan, etc.....
HS 3 provides you with world wide servers. You can choose any one of the following: Cologne or
Dusseldorf in Germany; Paris or Strasbourg in France and St. Louis in USA. You can carry out two way contacts, by selecting a server.. No antenna and equipment improvement is possible. The bands available are slightly different to real ham bands, 100 kHz width. Modes available are DSB and CW. They cover 6,10,11,15,17,20,30,40,80,160m bands and a broadcast band of 48m, 100 kHz wide.
In HS 4 there are remote servers (You cannot choose them). A few antennas are given free like 3 band
Inv. vee, G5RV, IDC vertical ant including a Fish Bone Array directional antenna designed by VU2NSB. The bands available here are, 70cm,2,6,10,11,12,15,17,20,30,40,60,80,160m bands plus a 48mb broadcast band of 100 kHz, where you get either in LSB or USB, those stations permitted by Hamsphere to Broadcast music etc... Modes avaliable for everyone are USB, LSB, CW, FM and other digital modes separately by your choice.
In both the utilities, you can design your QSL cards and send and receive them, in your "QSL in box" they provide. Templates are given and quite easy to design your QSL. If you know some basics of designing. There are contests also for keen contesting operators.
As soon as you register with Hamsphere, and if you have a ham radio call sign already, then you are allowed to keep it. If not, they issue with a call sign like 57HSxxxx, which can be used for both Hamsphere 3 and Hamsphere 4. You will get a 4 character password to login for both the utilities... Like VU prefix allotted by International Telecommunications Union (ITU) for India, 57 is the prefix for India given by Hamsphere. Thus call signs look like "57HS9876" etc... the prefix number ranging from 1 to 375 for different countries.
(a) In Hamsphere 3, the awards are available in steps Unique (different) stations worked, and going up 25 stations. They are designed as 5HS3, 10HS3, 15HS3,20HS3 and 25HS3.
(b) Similarly in Hamsphere 4, also., and the designed names are 5HS4, 10HS4, 15HS4, 20HS4 and 25HS4.
(c) The rules are simple. No fee or QSLs to be sent with application. You have to apply for the awards, separately for HS3 and HS4, using txt or xls format of data of QSOs with the Unique (different) VU or 57HS stations that you have worked. The award can be endorsed for a single band and/or single mode, as the case may be. Your applications go by e-mail to "arasuvu2ur@gmail.com"
WORKED COASTAL ISLANDS of INDIA AWARD (WVUCIA)
WORKED ANDAMAN-NICOBAR ISLANDS AWARD (WANIA)
HS 3 provides you with world wide servers. You can choose any one of the following: Cologne or
In HS 4 there are remote servers (You cannot choose them). A few antennas are given free like 3 band
In both the utilities, you can design your QSL cards and send and receive them, in your "QSL in box" they provide. Templates are given and quite easy to design your QSL. If you know some basics of designing. There are contests also for keen contesting operators.
(a) In Hamsphere 3, the awards are available in steps Unique (different) stations worked, and going up 25 stations. They are designed as 5HS3, 10HS3, 15HS3,20HS3 and 25HS3.
Real Amateur Radio and Awards from India to the World
For getting an “amateur station operator's licence” in
India, you have to appear in an examination conducted by the Ministry of
Communications in select cities. The syllabi covers elementary electricity,
electronics, radio rules and theory, communication codes, how to operate a
transmitter without causing interference to other services, etc.,. After
passing the examination, without a Morse code test, you get a Restricted Grade
licence for VHF/UHF operations only. If you take a Morse code sending and receiving
test at 8 wpm and pass, then you get a General Grade Licence for all amateur
bands from 1.8 MHz to 1296 MHz. The license will be in the format VU3XYZ
Here, your
investment begins after getting the license. You may build the set up, or buy a
set up depending on your technical and monetary capability. Similarly, setting
up a transmitting antenna is another vital requirement. After settling with all
these basic necessities, you can start your DXing, i.e., contacting the world.
First phase is working anybody and
everybody and increasing the score of the countries worked etc.,. Then
in the second phase, you tend to become specialized, working a particular geographical
area, country, a special mode QSO, contesting, DXpeditions, and hunting for the achievement and contest
awards.
While I do
not write about contesting here, I deal with the achievement awards, with a longer time span ( limited to unlimited times)
when compared to contesting which takes place from a few hours to a maximum of
48 hours.
Achievement
awards are issued by World Bodies like ITU, IARU (WAC Award and each Region has
Regional Award too), etc, whereas, almost every country's National Society, has its own list of Achievement awards.
RSGB(UK) issues IOTA, WAB and other awards; ARRL (USA) issues DXCC, WAS, VUCC,
AMSAT,; etc CQ Magazine also issues WAZ, etc,
JARL issues JCC,ADXA, JCG, WASA, and many more; WIA issues WAVKCA,etc;
ORARI has many awards; NZART has NZA, NZC, Captain James Cook Award, NZR, WAP, etc KFRR (Kazakhstan) has more than 90+ awards., UARL,issues
many awards,etc., FIRAC, WWFF, WAP, GAP, etc. also issue their own awards. In addition to these, there are many
individual hams also issuing awards like
IK3GER, IU1FIG. The list is endless and will never be uptodate.
All the awards in hard copy paper certificate
form, invariably carry a fee in US$ ( IRC was used, but, not
in demand now) for the issue, and you
have to produce your QSL cards along with your application, in some cases like DXCC, IOTA awards. Many others accept a
gentleman's GCR and accept a written log application, verified by two
other hams. The hard copy awards sent by post, was invariably received by the
applicant in torn or mutilated condition, many times without the postage stamps
on the envelopes. Now, things are changing, and we are moving towards a
paperless transaction, all through soft copy application and soft copy awards
also. These soft copy awards come through your e-mail Id and you can print them
later at your leisure for your folders.
From
India, our National Society (ARSI)
issues awards, and one of them is WAVU (worked all VUs) for which a minimum of
ten Indian states are to be contacted via HF in any or mixed modes. WRI (Worked Republic of India) award for
working VU stations and achieving 100 points minimum, based on contacts on
different bands. For more details,
please visit “https://arsi.info/awards”.
Apart
from the Indian National Society, the individual ham who is issuing awards to
DX, is OM Arasu VU2UR. The SOFT COPY awards here, cover various specialisations
and nicely designed. The Himalayan Series of Awards designed by OM Babul Gupta
VU3ZBG, is a class by themselves, and are particularly focusing on the
Himalayan Mountain chain, its natural Flora, Fauna, its geographical features, the
states of India and adjacent countries who have some part of the famous
mountain range. For these Himalayan awards, you have to contact amateurs in
various Indian States and the neighboring countries.
Himalayan series of Awards and the rules:
3.a
Common Rules for all EXCEPT
for3.9, 3.10 and 3.11
Work
stations from the following areas:
AP2,
9N, A5 and
VU(Jammu&Kashmir),VU(Himachal Pradesh),VU(Punjab),VU(Uttaranchal or
Uttarakhand), VU(Uttar Pradesh),VU(Sikkim),VU(Arunachal Pradesh),VU(West
Bengal).At least ONE of these Indian
States MUST be worked. Use contacts with different VUs from other states
for the rest. Use the first alphabet of suffix of the stations from above areas
to spell Key for the respective award.
3.b Common Rules for 3.9, 3.10 and 3.11:
Work
required number of stations covering at least ,ONE FROM EACH neighbouring countries of India and two
stations from Indian States.
YA, AP2, 9N, A5, BY AND VU(Jammu&Kashmir),VU(Himachal
VU(Punjab),VU(Uttaranchal or Uttarakhand), VU(Uttar
Pradesh),VU(Sikkim),VU(Arunachal Pradesh),VU(West Bengal). Use the first
alphabet of suffix of the stations from above areas to spell Key for the
respective award.
The
application with the QSO data, should be sent as a “txt” or “xls” file to the
e-mail Id “arasuvu2ur@gmail.com”
The
fee, if you liked the award you received, is a SET OF MINT STAMPS FROM YOUR
COUNTRY to be sent to Arasu Manohar
VU2UR, MIG-6, 80 Feet Road, 9th Cross, Kengeri Upanagara, Bengaluru
560060, India.
HIMALAYAN MOUNTAIN ANIMAL AWARD (HMAA): Key: MUSK DEER
HIMALAYAN MOUNTAIN BIRD AWARD (HMBA): Key: TRAGOPAN
HIMALAYAN MOUNTAIN FLOWERS AWARD (HMFA): Key: BRAHMA KAMAL
HIMALAYAN MOUNTAIN GLACIER AWARD (HMGA): Key: SIACHEN
HIMALAYAN MOUNTAIN GURUDWARA AWARD (HMGDA): Key: NANAK DEV
HIMALAYAN MOUNTAIN LAKES AWARD (HMLA): Key: MANASAROVAR
HIMALAYAN MOUNTAIN MONASTERIES AWARD (HMMA): Key: DHARAMSHALA
HIMALAYAN MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARKS AWARD (HMNPA): Key: NANDA DEVI
HIMALAYAN MOUNTAIN PEAKS AWARD (HMPeA): Key: RADHANATH SIKDAR
HIMALAYAN MOUNTAIN PASSES AWARD (HMPaA): Key: NATHULA
HIMALAYAN MOUNTAIN RANGE AWARD (HMRA): Key: NAIN SINGH RAWAT
HIMALAYAN MOUNTAIN TEMPLES AWARD (HMTA): Key: SHANKARACHARYA
INDIAN CONTINENTAL, COASTAL, HERITAGE, POSTAL, RAILWAY AWARDS and CONDITIONS
This set of Awards covers various aspects of Indian
subcontinent. You will definitely like them. The rules and conditions for the
issue of each award is given along with the picture of the certificate. All of
them are only in SOFT COPY, in "jpeg" or "pdf" format and numbered serially. The data is to be sent
by "txt" or "xls" format to"arasuvu2ur@gmail.com".
Special endorsements are possible. Fee is uniformly one US dollar for the SIX Islands' award (from 4.7 to 4.12), others are FREE. My
QTH is OK per QRZ.com All
awards are available to SWLs also FREE of charge.
VU HERITAGE AWARD (VUHA)
Requirements: there are over 27 UNESCO Heritage sites in India, distributed over 14 Indian States. namely, Maharashtra; Uttar Pradesh; Uttaranchal; Orissa; Tamil nadu; Assam; Rajasthan; Goa;; Madhya Pradesh; Karnataka; West Bengal: Union Capital Territroy; Himachal Pradesh; Bihar.. The requirement for the Basic Award is that you must have confirmed QSOs with minimum of 5 of the above states. For First Class Award, the requirement is 7 states, and if you have worked more than 10 states, you get the Excellence Award. Date of effect: 01 January 2006. Endorsements are available.
WORKED BENGALURU AWARD (WBA)
VU HERITAGE AWARD (VUHA)
Requirements: there are over 27 UNESCO Heritage sites in India, distributed over 14 Indian States. namely, Maharashtra; Uttar Pradesh; Uttaranchal; Orissa; Tamil nadu; Assam; Rajasthan; Goa;; Madhya Pradesh; Karnataka; West Bengal: Union Capital Territroy; Himachal Pradesh; Bihar.. The requirement for the Basic Award is that you must have confirmed QSOs with minimum of 5 of the above states. For First Class Award, the requirement is 7 states, and if you have worked more than 10 states, you get the Excellence Award. Date of effect: 01 January 2006. Endorsements are available.
WORKED BENGALURU AWARD (WBA)
The
city of BENGALURU( a k a BANGALORE ) the capital city of the
State of Karnataka (KA) is known as the ELECTRONIC CITY or GARDEN CITY or SILICON
CITY or I T CITY of
India. The city has over 1500 amateur licence holders QRV in VHF/UHF/Satellite
/ CW/SSB/and Digital modes. The very active stations from this city were/are:
VU2PTT, LBW, ZAP,WAP, RMS, BGS, GX (SK), IR(SK), MKP (SK), UR, LX, GUR, VNK,
LYX, LCI, JHM, FI, POP, GSM, 2 IIH, 3GFF, 3ITI and others..... Requirement:
Work any 2 different stations from this city. No QSLs required. No date
limit.All bands all modes OK.
Endorsement for single mode, single band can be given.
HIMALAYA HIND SAGAR RAILWAY AWARD (HSRA)
The longest train route in India is between Jammu Tawi and Kanyakumari , run, once a week, by Train called “Himsagar” Express covering a distance of 3,738 km (or 3,726km). Passing through 11 Indian states. . It runs once a week, in each direction.. The train passes through the following Railway Stations, in its North-South run, and those in Bold letters indicate the presence of active amateur radio operators. Jammu Tawi, Jalandhar Cantonment, Phagwara, Phillaur, Ludhiana, Dhuri, Jakhal, Narwana, Jind, Rohtak, Bahadurgarh, New Delhi, Hazrat Nizamuddin, Faridabad, Agra Cantonment, Dhaulpur , Gwalior, Jhansi, Bhopal, Itarsi, Nagpur, Warangal, Vijayawada, Tenali, Gudur, Renigunta, Tirupati, Chittoor, Katpadi, Jolarpettai, Salem , Erode, Tiruppur, Coimbatore, Palakkad, Thrissur, Aluva, Ernakulam Town, Kottayam, Kollam, Trivandrum Central, Nagercoil, Kanyakumari. The above stations are located in the following States: Jammu & Kashmir; Punjab; Haryana; Delhi; Uttar Pradesh; Rajasthan; Madhya Pradesh; Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh; Tamil Nadu; and Kerala (11 states). For Basic Award, you need to have QSOs with VUs from at least 6 of the 11 STATES listed above. For the First Class Award, you need to have QSOs with VUs from at least 6 (six) different Railway stations through which the train passes, as given in the above list.
VU 10 MILLION PIN AWARD (VUPA)
HIMALAYA HIND SAGAR RAILWAY AWARD (HSRA)
The longest train route in India is between Jammu Tawi and Kanyakumari , run, once a week, by Train called “Himsagar” Express covering a distance of 3,738 km (or 3,726km). Passing through 11 Indian states. . It runs once a week, in each direction.. The train passes through the following Railway Stations, in its North-South run, and those in Bold letters indicate the presence of active amateur radio operators. Jammu Tawi, Jalandhar Cantonment, Phagwara, Phillaur, Ludhiana, Dhuri, Jakhal, Narwana, Jind, Rohtak, Bahadurgarh, New Delhi, Hazrat Nizamuddin, Faridabad, Agra Cantonment, Dhaulpur , Gwalior, Jhansi, Bhopal, Itarsi, Nagpur, Warangal, Vijayawada, Tenali, Gudur, Renigunta, Tirupati, Chittoor, Katpadi, Jolarpettai, Salem , Erode, Tiruppur, Coimbatore, Palakkad, Thrissur, Aluva, Ernakulam Town, Kottayam, Kollam, Trivandrum Central, Nagercoil, Kanyakumari. The above stations are located in the following States: Jammu & Kashmir; Punjab; Haryana; Delhi; Uttar Pradesh; Rajasthan; Madhya Pradesh; Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh; Tamil Nadu; and Kerala (11 states). For Basic Award, you need to have QSOs with VUs from at least 6 of the 11 STATES listed above. For the First Class Award, you need to have QSOs with VUs from at least 6 (six) different Railway stations through which the train passes, as given in the above list.
VU 10 MILLION PIN AWARD (VUPA)
PIN is
Indian abbreviation for Postal
Index Number, like the ZIP code of USA. It
has 6 digits. The PIN was
effective from 15 August 1972, . PIN code is the post office numbering system used
for identifying every post office in the country. India has the most
number of post offices in the world.
From the VU QSLs you have received, please compute the total of the PIN code data (from each of the QSL cards), to achieve the minimum of
10 million total required. Duplicate QSOs with the same station DOES NOT count, but, QSOs on different bands can
be counted. You can achieve 10
Million points in three classes: To get the Basic Award, you need to have
confirmed QSOs with at least 6 Indian
States, For First Class Award, you need to have confirmed QSOs with at
least 9 States and
for Excellence Class Award, confirmed QSOs with at least 12
States .
WORKED VU CONTESTERS AWARD (WVUCA)
WORKED VU CONTESTERS AWARD (WVUCA)
Some
of the keen VU contesters are: VU2TS,
VU2PAI, VU2PTT, VU2MTT, VU3DMP,VU2SWS, VU2NKS, VU2NXM, VU3DJQ, VU2LBW,
VU2CDP,VU2BGS, VU2UR, VU2LYX, VU2RMS, VU2JOS, VU2NIS,VU2HFR, and others...... Requirement: Work any
3 different stations from the above list, in any one or more Contests,
(giving the name of the contest). Even, non-contest QSOs, too are valid. No
QSLs required. No date limit. All bands all modes OK. Endorsement for single mode, single band can
be given.
WORKED VU FLORA FAUNA AWARD (WVUFFA)
WORKED VU FLORA FAUNA AWARD (WVUFFA)
Requirements: Submit data of having worked a minimum of 3 VUFF stations.
Different call signs from the same VUFF entity,
also count for the award.
WORKED COASTAL ISLANDS of INDIA AWARD (WVUCIA)
Requirements: Work minimum of
4 different QSOs covering at least 3 coastal Islands. More than
one QSO from the same island, but with a different call sign is OK
WORKED ANDAMAN ISLANDS AWARD (WAIA)
WORKED ANDAMAN ISLANDS AWARD (WAIA)
Requirements: Work different
Andaman Island stations as follows. For BASIC award- 4 different
Andaman QSOs For FIRST Class Award, 8 different Andaman QSOs
and For EXCELLENCE Class Award, 12
different ndaman QSOs.
WORKED ANDAMAN-NICOBAR ISLANDS AWARD (WANIA)
Requirements: Work different
stations from Andaman and Nicobar Islands as follows: For Basic Award,
you need 4 different Andaman and 1 Nicobar QSO. For First
Class Award, you need 8 different Andaman and 1 Nicobar QSOs and
for Excellence Class, you need 12 different Andaman and 2
Nicobar QSOs.
WORKED LAKSHADWEEP ISLANDS AWARD (WLIA)
Requirements: Work minimum of
3 different Lakshadweep(Laccadive) Stations
WORKED LAKSHADWEEP-MINICOY ISLANDS AWAR (WLMIA)
Requirements: Work minimum of
3 different Lakshadweep(Laccadive) Stations and 1 Minicoy Station.
WORKED ANDAMAN, NICOBAR, LAKSHADWEEP, MINICOY and COASTAL ISLANDS AWARD (ANNILAMICI)
Requirements: All QSOs from 15th August
1947, are only valid.
Award
Classification:
BASIC: Issued
if you have confirmed QSOs with any THREE
groups; that is, for Example:(i) Andaman
or Nicobar Is; (ii)Lackshadweep or Minicoy Is, (iii)ONE of the Coastal Is Groups. Minimum 3 QSL cards copies needed.
SECOND:Issued if you have Confirmed QSOs with ANY THREE of (1) Andaman or Nicobar (2) Lakshadweep or Minicoy Is Groups,(3) any TWO
of the Coastal Island groups,and one
Indian Antarctic QSO, activated till date of application. Minimum of 5 QSLs
copies needed.
FIRST:
Issued if you have confirmed THREE
QSOs in the 4 groups of Andaman,
Nicobar, Lakshadweep and Minicoy Is Groups, THREE of the Coastal Island
groups,and two Indian Antarctic
QSOs, activated till the date of your application,you get "FIRST class" award. Minimum of 8 QSL cards copies needed.
EXCELLENCE:
Issued if you have confirmed QSOs with EACH of
Andaman, Nicobar, Lakshadweep and Minicoy Is Groups, ie FOUR QSOs, FOUR
of the Coastal Island groups,and TWO
Indian Antarctic QSOs, activated till the date of your application, you get
"EXCELLENCE class" award.
Minimum of 10 QSL cards copies are needed.
SAARC AMATEUR RADIO AWARD (SAARA)
SAARC -- (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation.)-- Countries are: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal,
Pakistan and Sri Lanka. came into being on December 8, 1985 . The requirement for this amateur radio award, is that
you must have confirmed two-way contacts
with the countries of SAARC as follows: Effective date for confirmed QSOs with the SAARC countries on/ or after the date 1985-12-08 ( 8th December
1985):: Bangladesh :1 QSO, Bhutan: 1 QSO, India: 5 QSOs, Maldives: 2 QSOs, Nepal: 2 QSOs, Pakistan
: 2 QSO
and Sri Lanka : 2 QSOs ( Total:
15 QSOs). If you
have confirmed double the number of
QSOs from each of the above countries, EXCELLENCE
would be endorsed
