Ukraine: IARU-R1 statement
IARU Region 1 has released the following statement regarding any radio transmissions you may hear from radio amateurs in Ukraine
"Any radio amateur currently transmitting from Ukraine is risking his or her life. If you hear a Ukrainian station, do not broadcast its callsign, location or frequency-whether on the band, in a cluster or on social media. You may be putting lives at risk."
Source IARU Region 1 https://iaru-r1.org
I remember some contacts made into Poland and Belarus at the end of last century eighties. At that time I had no license, I was active on the 11m freeband, also called Citizens Band. The stations from those countries transmitting on that band were highly illigal and I never heard russian or polish stations on the 11m band before. Often those stations were portable and transmitting when hiking high up in the mountains. Of course they used "cb handles / skipnames" instead of the normally used country number on the 11m band. That way no one could indentify them. Of course they didn't risk their life but at time they could expect a large fine or many years in jail if caught. I still have QSL cards/photos from a polish guy named Jan who I made contact with several times at that time. And also a QSL from a guy from Minsk (Belarus). This was before the iron curtain felt.
Anyway, I was reading the IARU R1 statement today and thought about the ukrainian hams we all know. What would you do in their situation? Would you take the risk and still be on air to let the world know what exactly is going on? Or try and stay in touch with others in the country, to create a network to exchange information? Just like the resistance in WW2.
I can't help it but last week I kept thinking about my last years "wake up call" and especially what KE9V wrote on his blog. I don't want to be negative but if this whole war is escalating WW3 could be near and all of us could be HAMradio silenced. Have you ever thought about such a situation? You probabely have to think about this now. It could be useful to be ready.
Useful links:
http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2022/march/ukraine-darc-provides-an-update.htm
https://swling.com/blog/2022/03/everyone-should-have-a-shortwave-radio
4 comments:
Bas, I'm curious as to what "being ready" means, from a ham radio perspective? And what might it mean to those currently in Ukraine? Maybe, in part, it means having a ham transceiver that has been modified for 3.5-30 MHz tx capability. I can imagine numerous scenarios where this might be beneficial.
73,
John
Hallo Bas, ten eerste vind ik het verschrikkelijk dat er zoveel oorlogsgeweld is. Dat er vooral onschuldige mensen daarvan het slachtoffer zijn. Toch wil ik mij als zendamateur niet mengen in politieke kwesties. Of religieuze gekte. Als zendamateur wil ik neutraal blijven. Zodra Nederland actief wordt betrokken in een oorlog zal ook ons zendbeperkingen worden opgelegd. Ga daar maar vanuit. Nogmaals, ik vind het verschrikkelijk wat er nu gebeurd, vooral voor de burgers in de Ukraine. Ik hoop dat de Russen gaan inzien dat wat ze doen een schandelijke oorlogsdaad is. 73 Paul
Hello John, "being ready" could mean various things. It is just how far you want to go. I think a station with modified TX capability which is self sufficient. Preferable with stealth antennas. As long as we have the ability to communicate with modern technology like the internet we could gather a group of friends that you trust and make agreements about some codes/freqs you'll intend to use. I hope it will never come to a WW3 though. 73, Bas
Hallo Paul, natuurlijk zou ik ook wel neutraal willen blijven. Maar als ik wat kan doen om mensen te helpen doormiddel van radio communicatie dan zou het best kunnen dat ik dat ga doen. In WW2 waren alle HAMradio activiteiten ook verboden. Toch hebben velen in het verzet geholpen met communicatie. De "normale" hardwerkende russen hebben vast wel door dat dit een schandelijke daad is. Echter wat kunnen ze doen? Je ziet dat je opgepakt wordt zodra je er tegen in verzet komt. Bedenk dat de gewone rus ook gewoon een gezin, werk en vaste lasten heeft. Ik hoop alleen dat men in het russisch leger in opstand komt tegen dit soort waanzin, dat zou nog enige weerstand kunnen bieden. 73, Bas
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