World Amateur Radio Day

World Amateur Radio Day 2005 is Monday, April 18

The International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) and its member-societies representing more than 150 countries around the globe celebrate World Amateur Radio Day each year on April 18 to mark the anniversary of the IARU’s founding in 1925. The theme for this year’s 80th anniversary celebration is “Expanding the World of Wireless Communications.”

Amateur Radio operators have been the leaders in developing many of today’s electronic and communication marvels.

The pioneering work in radio and electronic technologies early amateurs first explored provided the groundwork for the nearly ubiquitous “wireless” devices and digital technology we often take for granted. Many leading electrical engineers have drawn from their practical experience as Amateur Radio operators in contributing to the development of modern radio and television technology, two-way radios, adaptive antennas, satellite communications and many other innovations.

That trend continue as today’s radio amateurs explore new frontiers. Amateur Radio experimenters are finding new ways to use frequencies at the fringes of the radio spectrum, to merge radio and Internet technology and to experiment with ultra-high-speed digital communication. Although they’re not compensated, ham radio operators are “amateurs” in name only, because their skills and contributions to the world have been–and continue to be–of the highest order.

Since its inception, the IARU has been instrumental in coordinating and representing Amateur Radio activities around the world. Learn more by visiting the IARU Web site http://www.iaru.org