Malabar Amateur Radio Society

About MARS

About Malabar Amateur Radio Society

Malabar Amateur Radio Society (MARS) is a community of licensed ham radio operators from northern Keralam. Together we train new operators, keep repeaters and nets on the air, run field days and special event stations, and stand ready to help with emergency communication when it is needed.

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Who we are

Licensed hams from across Malabar — learning, building and operating together, and ready to help when it matters.

Malabar Amateur Radio Society was formed in 2011 by a group of licensed amateur radio operators — hams — from Keralam, and today brings together operators from across northern Keralam, from homebrew transceivers and antennas to field days, special event stations and rescue assistance.

As a registered non-profit, public-service organisation, the society focuses on emergency communication, public service and growing the hobby. A big part of that is helping new people get licensed: our guidance classes prepare candidates for the ASOC exam, and members offer licensing assistance for applications made through the Department of Telecommunications' Saral Sanchar portal.

Through the year, members take part in Field Day, fox hunts and JOTA-JOTI, and provide training, technical support and field-day programmes that keep amateur radio growing in Malabar.

Members also meet on the air every evening on the MARS net, from 9.45 to 10.00 PM IST on the VU2MJJ repeater at Tirur (145.450 MHz, −600 kHz shift). The full schedule of VHF nets in Keralam and HF nets across India is on the live net board on our homepage.

What we do

Six ways MARS keeps amateur radio alive across Malabar.

Licence trainingGuidance classes through the year prepare newcomers for the Amateur Station Operator Certificate (ASOC) exam, with help through the licensing process.Study materials → Electronics & radio theoryPractical training in basic electronics and radio theory for anyone curious about how radio really works.Theory & practice → Emergency communicationOperators prepared to support agencies with amateur radio communication when they ask for help and normal networks fail.ARES workshop → Repeaters & netsWe own, operate and maintain repeaters for the ham community, and meet on the air every evening on the MARS net.Repeater directory → Field days & eventsField days, fox hunts, JOTA-JOTI, special event stations and eyeball QSOs keep the club active and social.Club activities → Homebrew projectsMembers design, build and test their own radios, amplifiers and station gear — and share how they did it.Member projects →

Our objectives

MARS is a registered non-profit, public-service organisation. Everything we do comes back to five commitments.

  1. Promote and enrich amateur radio services in the community.
  2. Train interested people in basic electronics and radio theory.
  3. Be prepared to provide amateur emergency communication to organisations that request it.
  4. Encourage the social side of the hobby — eyeball QSOs, field days and fox hunts.
  5. Own, operate and maintain repeaters for the amateur radio community.

Highlights

A few of the events our members have organised or supported.

  • 2012

    8T1M special event station — four days on air from Kappad Beach, Kozhikode; the first time the 8T prefix was allotted in India.

  • 2017–18

    8T4I special event stations — operations from Thanoor Beach, Malappuram and the Valiyaparamba backwaters, Kasaragod.

  • 2018

    Malabar Ham Radio Meet — hams and short-wave listeners gathered at IMHANS, Kozhikode, with Calicut Hams.

  • 2019

    One Day ARES Workshop — 37 delegates trained in amateur radio for disaster-relief communication.

  • 2020

    AT1RS field day — a special callsign from Kappad Beach over the Republic Day weekend, with the Repeater Society of Calicut.

The people behind Malabar Amateur Radio Society

Meet the board, browse our members, or become one.

Board membersThe team that runs the societyRegistered membersPatron and life membersClub membershipHow to join MARS

Ready to get on the air?

Learn, build, operate and serve your community through amateur radio.

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