Report By: VU2VPR OM Vilas P. Rabde (9822502078)
Date & Time: Sunday, 4th October 2026 @ 10:30 AM
Event Venue: Ham Club House, Padmashree, 4/9 Sahakari Vasahat, near Lagu Bandhu shop, Nal Stop, Karve Road, Pune 411004
Attendees: Nearly 25 hams and SWLs, with more than 30% being young, budding engineers from the local Engineering colleges
Sponsors:
1) Shri Sirish Deshmukh : For Venue
2) High Tea sponsored by OM Prateek (VU22PJ)
Highlights and Celebrations
The meeting began on a cheerful note with a birthday song for OM Prateek Jha (VU22PJ), who also sponsored the morning high tea for everyone. All present wished him good health and many more years of active participation in amateur radio.
SWL Makrand shared some fond memories of Prateek and spoke about his ambitious APRS project, which drew appreciation from the HAM groups worldwide.
Technical Session: Best Practices in Home Brewing
Speaker: SWL Makaranda Vaidya, MD of Vega Instruments and a hazardous area instrumentation specialist
Makaranda stressed the importance of keeping a well-equipped workspace for electronic projects. He then walked us through the quality and reliability side of building equipment, including the various environmental tests and industry standards that apply. The session turned into a lively, interactive discussion, and participants left with practical home brewing techniques they can try on their own benches.
Morse Code Training and Demonstration
SWL Milind Mahajan, a former Radio Officer in the Indian Merchant Navy, introduced the basics of Morse code through a PowerPoint presentation and demonstrated proper keying techniques.
This was followed by a hands-on listening practice led by OM Vilas Rabde (VU2VPR). He demonstrated the first set of characters (E, I, S, H and T, M, O), and attendees were able to practice and pick them up on the spot.
Pune Hams VU2RCP also announced an upcoming online Morse code training program on Zoom, with sessions three days a week, to help members prepare for the General Grade ASOC exam. Details will be shared shortly.
Upcoming Event Announcement
Event: Day-long program and formal inauguration of the Ham Radio Club
Date and Time: October 16, 2026, from 10:00 AM onward
Venue: JSPM University, Kharadi
Guest of Honour: OM Vilas Rabde (VU2VPR)
All Pune hams and SWL members are warmly invited to attend.
