Hamfest India

Hamfest India is a popular hamfest held annually. The venue of the 2008 hamfest was Gandhinagar, The event serves for social gathering and comparison and sales of radio equipment. Most hamfests feature a flea market, where the attendees buy and sell equipment, generally from and for their personal stations. The event also seeks to raise amateur radio awareness in the host city.

'HAMFEST' is a festival of HAMs, the largest gathering of Indian HAMs in one place, conducted every year in different cities of India since 1991. The main objective is to create an awareness of HAM RADIO along with the new technological skills in the field of communication.

" As most of us who have experienced the Hamfest will agree, that truly it has attracted Hams and would be Hams from all parts of the country to meet, exchange views, most exciting, the homebrewing and technical aspect of the hobby. Rather than discuss or promote certain individual society, club, association with vested interest while putting others down. We have seen, heard enough of petty politics at club & society levels being blown out of proportion on to national level, so let us put all this away and have one eyeball just to talk of the True Ham Radio.

Read the following lines and you will understand the true theme of HAMFESTS: The basic concept of Hamfest has gone into oblivion with new twists & turns, so looking back at the history of Hamfest, most of us will remember that it all started in a very small way by a couple hams like VU2JLX, VU2JIM, and VU2JKV who co-ordinated to form the HI-NET ( Ham Information Net ) in Aug 1991 on 40 metres, with the basic idea of sharing Ham related information like homebrewing, exchanging technical notes, those difficult to find components, etc., which lead to the idea of organising a get together of needy & helpless Hams called the HAMFEST wherein all Hams would come individually irrespective of their club or society but collectively work for the Hamfest and with the spirit of the hobby.

Hence HAMFEST 91 was conceived to be held at Kuttikkanam near Kottayam in Kerala and the thought of a Ham Festival brought in a lot of inputs and support from all hams. Ham Radio Guild offered to completely sponsor the first Hamfest 91. As the years passed by the flame of the HAMFEST has moved on from Kuttikkanam 1991 thro’ Alwaye 1992, Salem 1993, Mysore 1994, Bombay 1995, Calcutta 1996, Cochin 1997, Bangalore 1998, Mysore 1999 and in the New Millennium to Hyderabad as Hamfest Y2K, making it a true national event by bringing in Hams / SWLs from all regions together.

I still remember that during my visit to Alwaye Hamfest in 92, I saw at the hombrew exhibits many hams practically winding RF chokes, modulation transformers, etc., etching BFO & VFO pcbs, wiring them on the spot and many needy hams benefited by sharing this kind of homebrewing at a common place, while at the Salem Hamfest in 93 there was a complete hombrew workshop to assemble a HF Tx/Rx being conducted.

Lastly we would all like to thank the promoters VU2JLX, VU2JIM, VU2JKV and all those individual hams, clubs, institutions and the respective General Convenors associated in conceiving the idea of HINET and HAMFEST making it an individual entity without encumbrances to any society or club.

So lets all hold hands together and take this wonderful Festival of Hams called the HAMFEST around to all regions of India, spreading the wonderful hobby of Ham Radio and improving the activity.

Contributor: VU2POP - Pratap Kumar Naidu of Bangalore "

The 2010 Hamfest was conducted in Pollachi, Tamil Nadu. The 2011 Hamfest will be held in cochin, kerala. Contributor -VU@ADV-Jacob Elias

The first hamfest began in 1990.

Host cities with Convenors

References

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