Dear Hams,

Amateur Radio & Satellite Communication was promoted in the prestigious MAPCON 2023 Conference at Ahmedabad - Gujarat INDIA from 12 to 14 December 2023.

It was an international platform for sharing of research, technologies in the field of microwaves and antennas, wherein many national/international eminent personalities shared their vision, expertise and knowledge. MAPCON-2023 carried various technical sessions, invited talks, workshops, tutorials, special sessions, student design competitions, industry sessions and state of the art Exhibition. Participants include researchers and leaders of IEEE Antenna & Microwave community, defence & Space industry partners & Startups, Academia and eminent speakers from Government organisations like ISRO, SAC, IN-SPACe etc.

Rajesh Vagadia VU2EXP (Regional Coordinator of AMSAT-INDIA) was invited by Shri Rajeev Jyoti Sir (Director IN-SPACe) & MAPCON 2023 Committee for MAPCON Exhibition and promote Amateur Radio & Satellite Communication for educational purpose. Rajesh Vagadia VU2EXP & team member Shyama Vagadia VU3WHG (B.Tech. - ICT 4th sem student of Marwadi University, Rajkot) successfully participated in the MAPCON Exhibition for 3 days from 12 to 14 Dec 2023. We were allocated a decent sized stall of 3x3m with standard facilities. It was a huge event - renowned exhibitors/leaders from different industries took part in this exhibition. We were the invited exhibitor for educational awareness on Amateur radio & satellites. We properly planned & carried a range of Amateur Radio equipment to display from CW keys to portable satellite communication ground station! We were aware that visitors would be from different segments such as; professionals, researchers, Scientists, Industrialist, IIT Students etc. Every person could have interest in different Amateur radio stuff or application so we exhibited whole spectrum of stuff incl HF, VHF, UHF Radios, HTs, SDR Radio, RTL-SDR, Base Station, Antenna, PSU, Coax, Connectors, Test Instruments, SWR Meters/RF Power Meter, NanoVNA, Antenna Tuner, Diplexer, Logbook, Call Books, QSL Cards, Awards, Cube Satellite model etc stuff to give close idea of the Ham Radio equipments we use in our radio shack and field!

Informative posters, banners & all our radio stuff along with live presentation on Big TV screen was kept at our stall to give a glimpse of our amateur radio activity. The educational approach from our team helped most visitors to satisfy their queries and gain knowledge on various topics of our fascinating hobby. IIT Students and faculties from different institutions showed keen interest in Amateur radio club activity and Student Satellite programme. Many Scientists, professionals & communication expert appreciated our presence to spread awareness for our scientific hobby keeping us engaged to learn experiment & enjoy the core theme of MAPCON i.e. Microwave (RF here), Antenna & Propagation!

Chief Guest of an event and former ISRO Chairman A. S. Kiran Kumar Sir did visit the exhibition/our stall and spent some time understanding our Amateur radio & AMSAT-INDIA activities. We put it into their kind notice of two Amateur Radio payloads collaborated by AMSAT-INDIA (1) HAMSAT - VO52 launched in 2005 carrying linear transponder (2) AISAT Digipeater integrated in 4th stage of PSLV Rocket body, launched in 2019 (experimental initiative from ISRO). We also highlighted the role of The Amateur Radio Society of India (ARSI) and its activity. Shri Kiran Kumar Sir took note of our educational activities . Me & Shyama VU3WHG were delighted to welcome A. S. Kirankumar Sir, we presented a book 'The Gateway To Ham Radio' to him as a token of compliments (book credit to VU2JIM).

Also Shri Rajeev Jyoti Sir (Director IN-SPACe) was warmly welcomed to our stall, I thanked him for supporting & offering our stall to create awareness on our radio & satellite activity. He spared a good time at our stall, they appreciated our efforts and the range of working radio stuff we highlighted for all visitors. Sir also took good note for our small portable Satellite ground station consisting of a tripod, dual band Arrow II antenna, 2 HTs for RX - TX in full duplex configuration, Headphone/mic, audio recorder, tracking device, with manually aiming arrangement for Azimuth, elevation & polarisation! This was the least expensive yet working ground station for Amateur radio (FM/LEO) satellites throughout the MAPCON 2023 Exhibition! hi..hi.. We presented a book 'Gateway To Ham Radio' to shri Rajeev Jyoti Sir as a token of compliments (Book credit to VU2JIM).

We had great interaction with many exhibitors, researchers, professors from various institutions and exchanged views that a lot more radio & satellite activities / projects could be worked out for the benefit of the society. We simply conveyed how common man from any walk of life can become Ham radio operator and gradually improve their skill to have digital communication, contesting, activating - special callsign and how they enjoy IOTA, Lighthouse, Hilltop, ARISS SSTV event, tracking & working OSCAR Satellites! And all this activity is enjoyed by global Amateur radio operators. This simple yet effective message appeals to most visitors.

We also had gracious presence of Shri Hanumanth Rayappa Sir (Director, Satcom PO, ISRO HQ), Shri Vaibhav Sir (ISRO), Shri Milind Mahajan Sir (SAC/ISRO), Sanjeev Kulshrestha (SAC/ISRO), Shri Nikhil Arora Sir (IN-SPACe), Shri Pratik Mevada Sir (SAC/ISRO), Prof. Gangaprasad Pandey (PDEU, Gandhinagar) etc. We had good talks on various Amateur satellites & projects. For specific queries, from ISRO Scientists, on our previous AMSAT-INDIA missions, I connected to Maniji VU2WMY & Nitin VU3TYG for precise explanation, I thank both of my AMSAT fellow friends.

During exhibition we had very good eyeball with hams including Prof. S.P Bhatnagar Sir VU2SPF, Jinofar Bhujwala VU2JJJ, Manojbhai Suthar VU2EHY, VU3RGP Rakesh & Jayshankar VU2JAA. I am thankful to VU2SPF & VU2JJJ for all the support they extended.

It was a great time for us to be in this top conference for professionals yet representing as Amateurs! Big thanks to the MAPCON 2023 Committee for providing us with such a platform.

I specially thank my niece & team member Shyama Vagadia VU3WHG (B.Tech ICT 4th semester, Marwadi University, Rajkot) for all support & assistance from the beginning . Shyama also remains a member of the Student Satellite project team from Marwadi University and a student member of IEEE Gujarat Chapter. For her it was also a memorable experience to meet all living legends of the Indian space & research organisation of India (ISRO). I thank Shri B. A. Subramani Sir VU2WMY, Nitin Muttin VU3TYG & all members of AMSAT-INDIA for detailed follow up, guidance and support to make our participation notable.

I equally thank Ramesh Kumar VU2LU & Krishna Kumar VU2YUU from ARSI for their respective guidance & support.

We tried our best to cultivate the seeds (of amateur radio), hoping to get some fruitful results!

Thank you all.

73

Rajesh Vagadia VU2EXP Rajkot (Gujarat) India Regional Coordinator West India Zone AMSAT-INDIA E: vu2exp @ gmail . com www.qrz.com/db/vu2exp ------------