Did You Know – 11 Famous Radio Amateurs?

Juri Gagarin

(Original Article March 2021, Updated 24th February 2025 – see below)

Guglielmo Marconi was an Italian inventor and the person who first adapted radio waves into a functioning communication system. After the initial idea of interconnected telegraphic systems, many people began experimenting with possibility of making it wireless. At the break between 1800’s and 1900’s wireless was completely unregulated, as nobody really knew how it worked with all the transmitters and receivers, resulting in many people experimenting with their transmitters and receivers.

It’s hard to tell who was the world’s first radio amateur. Rumours are that it could have been M.J.C. Dennis from London, UK. Influenced by Marconi’s experiments, Dennis reportedly built first non-professional wireless station in the world in 1898?

1. Yuri Gagarin (UA1LO Used by another Russian Amateur?)

Yuri Gagarin became the first human to travel into space in 1961. This historic flight brought him immediate worldwide recognition. However, only few people know that Russian cosmonaut was also a ham radio operator. Most of the members of today’s astronaut corps are licensed amateur radio operators.

2. Les Hamilton (GM3ITN)

[EDIT: Les is a Past Member of The Radio Club Of Scotland – HERE . Put his callsign in the Search Box ]

Les Hamilton was a Scottish ham radio operator who first alerted the British government that the Falkland Islands had been invaded by Argentina. During the occupation he was the only person in Britain to be in regular radio contact with the islanders.

3. John Sculley (K2HEP Not QRZ.com Listed?)

John Sculley, the former president of PepsiCo (1977–1983), became the CEO of Apple Inc. in 1983 and he is also a licensed radio amateur. The marketing genius remained on the position for ten years and even saw the great Steve Jobs resign from his position after the fight between the two of them.

4. Qaboos bin Said al Said (A41AA)

Qaboos bin Said al Said is the Sultan of Oman. And not just that. The country’s leader is a radio amateur as well! Qaboos bin Said al Said became the Sultan of the country of Oman in 1970 and has remained in the position till his death in January 2020.

5. Juan Carlos (EA0JC)

From one country leader to another. Well almost. Juan Carlos resigned as the King of Spain from 1975 to 2014. His amateur radio callsign is EA0JC.

6. Marlon Brando (FO5GJ)

Last Tango in Paris, The Godfather, Julius Caesar… Who hasn’t heard of these cult movies? They all have one thing in common. It’s Marlon Brando, one of the best actors in history. And there’s more. Marlon Brando was a licensed radio amateur, with the callsign FO5GJ.

Updates Feb 2025 – Colin Butler

7. Frederich Merz (DK7DQ)

Amateur radio and politics may not always mix but almost everyone knows a few names of public officials who have led their nations. In Germany, one amateur radio operator has set his hopes high too. Frederich Merz, DK7DQ, is hoping for an achievement that could be thought of as “Worked All Germany” even though, in this case, it’s outside the realm of amateur radio. Frederich Merz is the leader of Germany’s CDU party and the front-runner in The February 23rd (2025) elections to replace Olaf Scholz. A win would make the political conservative the nation’s new Chancellor and as such he would join the ranks of other licensed heads around the world –

8. King Hussein (JY1)

Most notably the late King Hussein of Jordan, who held the callsign JY1,

9. King of Thailand (HS10A)

And the present King of Thailand, whose callsign is HS1ØA

Continued updates Feb 2025: Kevin MM7TXV

10. Joe Walsh (WB6ACU)

Wikipedia Extract:

While living in New York City, Walsh began a lifelong interest in amateur radio. He holds an Amateur Extra Class Amateur Radio License, and his station callsign is WB6ACU.[80] In 2006, he donated an autographed guitar to the ARRL in Newington, Connecticut, for its charity auction. He has also been involved with the group’s “Big Project”, which brings amateur radio into schools. Walsh has included Morse Code messages in his albums on two occasions: on the album Barnstorm, (“Register and Vote”); and on Songs for a Dying Planet, (“Register and Vote for Me”).[81] Walsh provides the theme song (which includes Morse code) for the TWiT podcast Ham Nation (debuting in 2011), and he appeared as a guest in the first podcast,[82] as well as episode 400.[83

Feb Jack GM4COX:

11. Senator Barry Goldwater (K7UGA)

Item from ARIZONA HISTORICAL SOCIETY:

“…………..Amateur or “ham” radio is a hobby and communication service that has been bringing people together for over a century. Join ASU Associate Professor of History Eric Nystrom to discover the history of Arizona’s most famous ham radio operator, U.S. Senator Barry Goldwater. Goldwater’s association with amateur radio began in his Arizona youth when he constructed his own equipment, and the politician again picked up the hobby as an adult after a long hiatus. He was famous for his longtime ham radio shack in Paradise Valley, now preserved and on display at the Arizona Historical Society. Known on the airwaves as K7UGA, Goldwater sponsored legislation to shape the regulation of amateur radio in the United States. Using his radios, Goldwater and a group of organized volunteers connected service members stationed in Vietnam with their families back in the United States. Learn about ham radio’s importance to Goldwater and his impact on the evolution of the amateur service in America………….”

 

The first amateur radio station on the moon, JS1YMG, is now transmitting

 

GB2RS Extract – Feb 2024:

“…………….. The first amateur radio station on the moon, JS1YMG, is now transmitting. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, landed its Smart Lander for Investigating the Moon on the 19th of January 2024. The JAXA Ham Radio Club, JQ1ZVI secured the JS1YMG callsign and has been transmitting Morse code on 437.41MHz since the 19th of January. The probe uses 1W to a UHF antenna, with circular polarisation, and is transmitting what is described as “matters related to amateur business.” Radio amateurs have been busy analysing JS1YMG‘s signal. You can read more about this story on Daniel Estévez, EA4GPZ’s blog at destevez.net …………………”

And

DECODING JS1YMG: FIRST HAM RADIO STATION ON THE MOON AFTER SLIM MISSION (Hackaday)

 

The Museum of Communications, Burntisland – Exhibit Their ‘Aunty’

An exhibition to mark the centenary of the first scheduled radio broadcasts in the UK and the birth of the BBC – the world’s oldest national broadcaster continues till the end of September. It charts the first 100 years of scheduled broadcasting in Britain, with a timeline highlighting famous Radio and TV programmes and events, illustrated by items from our collection, from crystal set radios and valve wirelesses to TV cameras.

GM4COX – June 2022

Recalling great moments in broadcasting history, events of the day and other memorabilia from their collection including celebrating Royal Broadcasting in the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee year. See  Museum Of Communication  for further information.

URESAT-1 – A chess playing ham radio satellite

“……………….One of the projects that is confirmed is a chess game that will allow radio amateurs to play having as an opponent the on-board computer sending FSK frames with the movements, to which the on-board computer will answer in its telemetry. Several radio amateurs are working on the project and if it is completed by the time the satellite is due to be delivered, it will be included………………” Read more – HERE .

‘To The Moon And Back’ – The First Radio Attempts

Cindy Stodola Pomerleau (Author)

On January 10, 1946, the US Army successfully bounced radio waves off the moon–the first-ever extraterrestrial communication, the birth of radar astronomy, and the opening salvo in the Cold War. The author was just shy of three years old at the time, and her father, E. King Stodola, was Scientific Director of the team that carried out the experiment, code-named Project Diana.

To mark the 75th anniversary of this historic event, Cindy Stodola Pomerleau has written a series of essays using Project Diana as a lens for examining the transformations and dislocations occurring in the US during World War II and its aftermath. Nearly half the book is devoted to World War II, with particular attention to the history of radar at Camp Evans, starting with its fumbling beginnings at Pearl Harbor and culminating in its stunning success in Project Diana. The second section is devoted to King Stodola himself and an examination of the confluence of internal and external factors that made him the right man for the moment. The last section provides a sampler of Jersey Shore life (e.g., the boardwalk, the Neptune Music Circus), contemporary American life (e.g., Sears, nylon stockings), and the author’s little-girl activities (e.g., her parakeet Archie, her Islander ukulele).

Steeped in good humour and nostalgia, these wide-ranging narratives explore Project Diana’s historical, sociological, political, and scientific context, as seen from the perspective of the tiny coastal New Jersey community where fate in the form of Camp Evans deposited the author’s parents and their neighbours. The book is a unique eye-witness account of an event and an era that marked a turning point in American history.

Order from Amazon – HERE .

All Our ‘Communications’ In One Basket

The recent storms to hit the northern half of the UK saw many without cellular, fixed landline and Internet access.

At the moment BT-Openreach still supply a ~48V feed via your fixed landline. Using a POTS (a plain old telephone (Service) – a telephone that doesn’t require a 230V feed) still provides a way of communicating when all else fails (unless of course your landlines have come down). From 2025 the requirement for BT-Openreach to provide this facility will be withdrawn. What then?

Have a read at THIS BBC News article.

I suppose from an amateur viewpoint, we still have good old RF point-to-point communication – in whatever form, but remember your still need power. Have a think about your standby requirements?

73 es keep communicating

Jack – GM4COX

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