The South African Radio League (Sarl) celebrates its centenary next month, reports TechCentral.

Amateur radio, also known as ham radio, is a hobby that involves experimenting with radio frequencies, building antennae and participating in radio contests.

Amateur radio enthusiasts, also known as “hams”, play a key role by supporting emergency services with communications in disaster scenarios.

Sarl wants to broaden its contribution to the growth of amateur radio in sub-Saharan Africa.

“It’s a bit of a sad story that you’ve got amateur radio activity in Southern Africa that’s mainly in Namibia and South Africa but not much elsewhere in Africa. It’s slowly taking off in Mozambique and it’s very small in Tanzania,” said Sarl president Nico van Rensburg in an interview with TechCentral.

In Northern Africa there is far more ham radio activity.

Sarl was formed in 1925 to represent the interests of radio amateurs, and one of its first key contributions to the field was to lobby for spectrum to be set aside for hams to experiment with.

Icasa now manages spectrum allocations for amateur radio enthusiasts. It requires hams to obtain an amateur broadcasting licence. Sarl administers the exam that hams are required to take before obtaining a licence, and also provides training to aspiring amateurs.

There is a direct correlation between the number of hams in a country and its ability to recover in times of distress. When floods ravaged parts of KwaZulu-Natal in April 2022, hams set up emergency radio communication stations at relief centres to help displaced residents.

According to Brian Jacobs, national director at Hamnet, the emergency communications wing of Sarl, hams are often the first responders in emergencies, allowing them to provide response teams and relief organisations with a situational overview that identifies the type of equipment needed on the ground.

source:Ham radio turns 100 in South Africa – Daily Friend