Every April 18, radio amateurs worldwide take to the airwaves in celebration of World Amateur Radio Day. It was on this day in 1925 that the International Amateur Radio Union was formed in Paris.
Amateur Radio experimenters were the first to discover that the short wave spectrum – far from being a wasteland – 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 met in Paris in 1925 and created the IARU to support Amateur Radio worldwide.
Just two years later, at the International Radiotelegraph Conference, Amateur Radio gained the allocations still recognized today — 160, 80, 40, 20, and 10 meters. Since its founding, the IARU has worked tirelessly to defend and expand the frequency allocations for Amateur Radio. Thanks to the support of enlightened administrations in every part of the globe, radio amateurs are now able to experiment and communicate in frequency bands strategically located throughout the radio spectrum. 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 International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has recognized the IARU as representing the interests of Amateur Radio.
Today, Amateur Radio is more popular than ever, with more than 3,000,000 licensed operators!
World Amateur Radio Day is the day when IARU Member-Societies can show our capabilities to the public and enjoy global friendship with other Amateurs worldwide.
We have provided a poster for World Amateur Radio Day. Any club may download it and use it to promote WARD in their area. The poster comes in two sizes: 61cm x 91cm and a small (A4) flyer.
Groups should promote their WARD activity on social media by using the hash tag #WorldAmateurRadioDay on Twitter and Facebook. IARU will list all WARD activities on this page. To have your WARD activity listed, send an email to IARU Secretary David Sumner, K1ZZ.
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.
We hope you will join in the fun and education that is World Amateur Radio Day!
Activation Information:
Brazil: LABRE Roraima PV8AA will have various activities and satellite communications with Scout participation, including by young Venezuelan refugees..
Denmark: Denmark will be active on the 18th of April with more special call sign stations.
The callsign will be 5PØWARD and 5PØWHD.
Every single operator can use this special call signs for the 24 hours operation on the 18th.
The single operator will be assigned with a special suffix extension in mean of a personal number that shall be used throughout the day.
Extended suffix will be in the range from ØØ-99 – ex. 5PØWARD/36 5PØWHD/7.
Special station at Danish Contest Academy [OZ5E] will be activated with the call sign 5PØWARD/60 to honor one of the founders OZ1ADL Jan.
There will be a special award for contacts with stations on all modes and bands.
Further information, including rules for award can be found on https://www.qrz.com/db/5p0ward
Malaysia: On 18 April 2019 9M4CMN (9w2pck@marts.org.my) will be on the air from Segamat, Southern Malaysia and 9M4CKK (9m2cio@marts.org.my) will be active from Tumpat, East Coast of Malaysia from 0230hrs to 1530hrs UTC.
Portugal: The REP – Rede dos Emissores Portugueses will hold an Open House on Thursday, 18th April 2019, from 10h until 17h, at REP’s headquarters in Avenida Yasser Arafat 4 A, 2700-375 Amadora, demonstrating an installation of a portable and QRP amateur station, how to operate it and transport it.
United States (New Jersey): The Fair Lawn (NJ) Amateur Radio Club (FLARC) will hold an Open House
on Thursday, April 18, 2019 from 2PM-9PM EDT at FLARC’s clubhouse which is located within the Fair Lawn Recreation Center, 10-10 20th Street in Fair Lawn, NJ. Club members will be available to demonstrate the operating capabilities of its stations, discuss the many interests encompassed by amateur radio operators and discuss the role that amateur radio and the club play in public service activities by providing communication from local parades to natural disasters.
For more information, please visit the club’s website at www.fairlawnarc.org or call 201-791-3841.
Worldwide: The World Radio Network and the World Friendship Net will be participating in World Amateur Radio Day 2019.
For the second time in a row, the special event call sign W2W has been secured for this event. As well there will be a commemorative special event “WORLD AMATEUR RADIO DAY 2019” QSL Card. We will have a 12 hour net with 10 different net controllers from all over the world.
Please join us as we celebrate amateur radio all around the world on 18 April at 16:00 UTC via ECHOLINK on the “World” Conference server (IRLP 9251) and for the first time on Allstar Node #47620 – World Conference Hub.