The Belize Amateur Radio Club (BARC) successfully completed an ´Introduction to Amateur Radio´ for the Scout Association of Belize on Sunday February 26, 2017.

The demonstration, held at the Scouts National Training Grounds, near Burrell Boom, was divided into four parts: BARC´s Goals for Amateur Radio in Belize, Educational Video, Hands-On Demonstration of Radio Equipment and a Question and Answer Session.

Boys and girls of the Scouts Association from across Belize were participants in this first of its kind demonstration that represents a first step of cooperation between BARC and ScoutsBelize. This cooperation, both organizations agree, will provide beneficial results and acquired skills for everyone, especially the participating youth.

After the demonstration, members of BARC volunteered to provide radios and corresponding equipment for the Scouts of Belize to fully participate in the Annual Jamboree On the Air (JOTA) activities in October 2017. JOTA is the largest Scouting event in the world held once a year. It uses Amateur Radio to link Scouts and hams around the world. Leaders of the Scouts Association openly accepted this voluntary offer from BARC members.

Discussions at this first interactive demonstration also included establishing a permanent ham radio station for ScoutsBelize so that training can be held regularly on topics such as voice procedures, operating basics, simple theory and others.

At the end of the demonstration BARC President, Mr. Emil Rodriguez stated , ¨ As we move forward with our friendship and cooperation lets remember to use our radio skills wisely for the greater good of our nation, especially in times of emergencies such as hurricanes and flooding when we are needed most.¨

World Amateur Radio Day (WARD), observed every April 18, marks the founding of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) in 1925. As they do every year, radio amateurs worldwide will take to the airwaves to celebrate Amateur Radio’s contribution to society.

“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,” the IARU said in announcing World Amateur Radio Day 2016. “We hope you will join in the fun and education that is World Amateur Radio Day!”

Amateur Radio experimenters were the first to discover that — far from being a wasteland — the shortwave spectrum could support worldwide propagation. In the rush to use these shorter wavelengths, Amateur Radio was “in grave danger of being pushed aside,” the IARU’s history has noted. Amateur Radio pioneers — ARRL co-founder Hiram Percy Maxim, 1AW, among them — met in Paris in 1925 and created the IARU to support Amateur Radio worldwide.

As Maxim and his counterparts envisioned, the IARU is an international confederation of national Amateur Radio organizations that allows a forum for common matters of concern and collectively represents matters to the International Telecommunication Union (UIT).

Just 2 years later, at the International Radiotelegraph Conference, Amateur Radio gained several allocations still recognized today — 160, 80, 40, 20, and 10 meters. Since its founding, the IARU has worked to defend and expand the frequency allocations for Amateur Radio.

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 ITU has recognized the IARU as representing the interests of Amateur Radio.

Today, Amateur Radio is more popular than ever, with over 3,000,000 licensed operators!

The IARU has provided a World Amateur Radio Day poster. Any club may download it to promote WARD. The poster comes in two sizes (61cm x 91cm) (small (A4) flyer).

Groups should promote their WARD activity on social media by using the hash tag #WARD2016 on Twitter and on Facebook. The IARU will list all WARD activities (scroll below the announcement). To have your WARD activity listed, e-mail ARRL Media and Public Relations Manager Sean Kutzko, KX9X. Read more.

(Source: www.arrl.org)