I have been a HAM ie amateur radio enthusiast with the call sign of” VU2RAD”, for more than 3 decades. When we started, all our electronic radio transmitters and receivers had valve based systems. This was due to the fact that even when basic discreet devices were around , one could not import them due to strict government rules and it was always used equipment from the west. Gradually the rules were relaxed and today any equipment regarding amateur radio can be imported thus giving a flip to amateur radio in India. This hobby is an extremely technically oriented one,and one should have a deep passion for technology to pursue this hobby.
I have passed the basic grade -2 , grade 1 and then finally the advanced grade license which entitles you to do communicate via satellites like OSCAR, AMSAT. Etc. One had to pass exams conducted by the “Wireless Planning Council of India” ie “WPC”, in which a morse code test ie sending and receiving morse code along with a written exam on radio communication theory with the knowledge of circuits in a radio transmitter and receiver. All this together was tough. But it was fun . I have never had any formal electronic engineering education. Every thing was self taught I am proud to say we Hams generally had more knowledge about radio communication in those days compared to people who had an engineering degree in electronic and communications!. Every thing was learnt due to an enormous passion for electronics and communication. Over the decades I have built my own radio transmitter and receivers. Designed antennas like yagi arrays, cubical quads, verticals etc. I have spoken to fellow HAMS from all over the globe. We acknowledge the contact by sending QSL cards , a form of post card where the time date and country of the person contacted is printed. It was sent by international mail mostly.
I have shown below the pictures of the radio equipment and antennas that were used by me in the course of my amateur radio hobby.
Gradually as technologies evolved, digital modes OF TRANSMISSION came into existence like RTTY, PACKET RADIO, AMTOR, SLOW SCAN TV, ECHO LINK ETC. The older forms of communication were in AM , SSB, FM modes etc. They are still in use today. Today the transceivers are all totally digital and are software defined in nature where the voice is digitized and processed and transmitted. The equipment I used in the course of this hobby is depicted below