History Of HFI

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Hamfest India is a popular annual amateur radio event held in India, since 1991. The venue of an upcoming Hamfest India is decided by the General Body of the last Hamfest India. The event is an excellent occasion for Hams and SWLs to meet each other and to keep updated on latest developments. It usually has technical sessions, presentations, exhibitions, demonstrations, sales of radio equipment and a flea market. The event also proposes to create more awareness on Ham Radio. ‘Hamfest India' is precisely the largest gathering of Indian HAMs in one place.

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How it all began

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The idea of a generally accepted yearly convention was conceived in the South and both the earliest of its kind were organised in Kerala. The story unfolds with the formation of 'All Kerala Amateur Radio Clubs' Coordination Committee' which was decided in a meeting of Amateur Radio operators from Kerala. The meeting was held at Kottayam on 15 July 1991. This was convened jointly by OM Dr Jayakumar VU2JKR, OM Sharma VU2LV and OM Natan VU2KGN. It was intended to discuss various issues regarding promotion of Amateur Radio in Kerala. The meeting appointed a three members ‘Kerala Amateur Radio Clubs Coordination Committee’, in which OM Joseph Mattappally VU2JIM, OM V A Joseph VU2JLX and OM K V Jose VU2JKV were members.

The Full details can be found at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamfest_India

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Hamfests in Mysore

 

Mysore (now Mysuru) was very fortunate to host the Hamfest in 1994 (Madhukar VU2MUD - General Convenor) and 1999 (Kesari VU2MTK - General Convenor).  1994 saw the largest participation for the event seen in the previous events, it grew from a regional event to a trans-India event and the attending General Body accepted a resolution to rename the event as HAMFEST INDIA for the coming years.  In 1999, arrangements were made to live webcast the event for the first time ever.

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2022 is another opportunity to showcase Mysuru and bring out an enthralling experience and exposure to developing technologies and activities of Amateur Radio.