The following information is courtesy of the International Amateur Radio Union.

Every April 18, Radio Amateurs worldwide take to the airwaves in celebration of World Amateur Radio Day. It was on that day in 1925 that the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) was formed in Paris.

Amateur Radio experimenters were the first to discover that the short wave spectrum — far from being a wasteland — could support worldwide propagation. In the rush to use these shorter wavelengths, Amateur Radio was “in grave danger of being pushed aside,” the IARU’s history has noted. Amateur Radio pioneers met in Paris in 1925 and created the IARU to support Amateur Radio worldwide.

Just two years later, at the International Radiotelegraph Conference, Amateur Radio gained the allocations still recognized today — 160, 80, 40, 20, and 10 metres. Since its founding, the IARU has worked tirelessly to defend and expand the frequency allocations for Amateur Radio. Thanks to the support of enlightened administrations in every part of the globe, Radio Amateurs are now able to experiment and communicate in frequency bands strategically located throughout the radio spectrum. From the 25 countries that formed the IARU in 1925, the IARU has grown to include 160 member-societies in three regions. IARU Region 1 includes Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Northern Asia. Region 2 covers the Americas, and Region 3 is comprised of Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific island nations, and most of Asia. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has recognized the IARU as representing the interests of Amateur Radio.

Today, Amateur Radio is more popular than ever, with over 3,000,000 licensed operators!

World Amateur Radio Day is the day when IARU Member-Societies can show our capabilities to the public and enjoy global friendship with other Amateurs worldwide.

We have provided a poster for World Amateur Radio Day. Any club may download it and use it to promote WARD in their area. The poster comes in two sizes: 61cm x 91cm and a small (A4) flyer.

Groups should promote their WARD activity on social media by using the hash tag #WorldAmateurRadioDay on Twitter and Facebook. The IARU will list all WARD activities on this page. To have your WARD activity listed, send an email to IARU This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. David Sumner, K1ZZ.

April 18 is the day for all of Amateur Radio to celebrate and tell the world about the science we can help teach, the community service we can provide and the fun we have.

We hope you will join in the fun and education that is World Amateur Radio Day!

Activation Information:

Malaysia: On April 18, 2019 9M4CMN (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) will be on the air from Segamat, Southern Malaysia and 9M4CKK (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) will be active from Tumpat, East Coast of Malaysia from 0230hrs to 1530hrs UTC.

Worldwide: The World Radio Network and the World Friendship Net will be participating in World Amateur Radio Day 2019. For the second time in a row, the special event call sign W2W has been secured for this event. As well there will be a commemorative special event "World Amateur Radio 2019" QSL Card. We will have a 12 hour net with 10 different net controllers from all over the world.

Please join us as we celebrate amateur radio all around the world on 18 April at 16:00 UTC via ECHOLINK on the "World" Conference server (IRLP 9251) and for the first time on Allstar Node #47620 - World Conference Hub.

For more information visit the World Amateur Radio Day webpage at https://www.iaru.org/world-amateur-radio-day.html

Source: The International Amateur Radio Union