"JG3QWP. This is BV2B GM. Your signal's 59. My name is Tim Chen. My OTH, Taipei, Republic of China. Please QSL..."
"Three reporters are interviewing me now."
"That's fantastic!"
Tim Chen's contact, over his transceiver, is with Yoshe, a ham radio operator in Kobe, Japan. Recently, Chen successfully defended, for the third time, his championship title in the continuous wave (CW) operation segment of the 1982 international amateur radio competitions. The BV2B (2A) call symbol retained its place of eminence among hams around the world.
The international contest, titled "Hunting Lions in the Air," was sponsored by the Brazilian Lions Clubs in commemoration of Marvin Jones, founder of the International Association of Lions Clubs. More than 300 amateurs from 100 countries took part. Participants were to continuously send signals for a maximum 24-hour period to amateur radio operators all over the world. Phone operators were responsible for communication only; continuous wave operators were responsible only for transmitting code. A participant racked-up one point for each station contacted within his own continental area, three points for each intercontinental amateur contact, and five points for each communication with a station in Brazil, the sponsoring country.
Tim Chen, at 68, because of physical endurance limitations and his responsibilities as assistant manager of Columbia Films of China Ltd., could not take ad vantage of the full 24 hours. But, he made up for the reduced time by operational skill and through the employment of pre-set strategies (i.e. making as many contacts as possible with operators in Japan, which counts more than 400,000 hams). In only eight hours, Chen communicated with 274 stations in more than 30 countries, accumulated 432 points, and emerged first in the CW operation section.
"Ham" Chen looks back on 45 years in amateur radio. In 1939, as a telegraphist for China Air Lines, he joined an amateur radio wartime service organization. At the time, ham radio was popular among young people on the mainland, although available apparatus was simple and crude.
When the mainland fell to the Communists, Chen left for Taiwan and, with several friends, established the China Radio Association on the island. BV2A was born in 1959, and BV2B in 1974. Since the birth of station BV2A, Chen has concentrated countless time, money, and energy on ham radio communication.
Thursday nights and Sundays, Chen tries to keep clear of social engagements and other appointments to attend to his radio world-to turn on his equipment and communicate with old and new ham friends from distant places in the universal language of International Morse Code.
On a first contact, two hams will, most of the time, restrict their exchange to discussion of the volume, audibility, and other qualities of the signals from their transceivers, and exchange names and addresses. Later, they exchange QSL cards by mail...the QSL card, the size of a postcard, provides the amateur's frequency, address, station emblem, set times for communication, and a space for greetings.
"Take a look" —Tim Chen, among some prized possessions
Instead of a personal station emblem on Chen's QSL card, he utilizes the flag of the Republic of China. Over the years, Chen has mailed more than 200,000 such cards to amateur radio operators around the world, earning for both his country and himself, new friendships from around the globe. "This is the most efficient people-to-people diplomacy," says Chen. "Those who love to operate amateur radios are all people who love to make friends." "Old timer" Chen, as he calls himself, has at least four to five overseas ham "visitors" every month.
The various QSL cards in an amateur's collection bespeak his experience in the field. Chen has more than 30,000, the most unique among them dispatched from the North Pole and from Crozet Island near the South Pole. The North and South Polar cards are from hams on expeditions who have carried along such equipment as transceivers and shortwave antennas. They contact the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU), which informs its members around the world of location, wave length, and associate information concerning such expedition hams, and invites others to communicate.
The loss of a contact most disturbs Chen, who specially mentions XV5AA, silent since the fall of South Vietnam.
Amateur radio is never dull for Chen, not even after half a century. "Sometimes there is a surprise, and the voice of an internationally known figure pops out of nowhere." Chen remarked on a permanently imprinted "spiritual communication" experience with the former King Namgyal of Sikkim. The year was 1974, and the signals from the King's AC3PT station were simultaneously received by Chen and a Japanese amateur. The King picked up the signals of the Japanese ham, but Chen was not discouraged and tried to make contact himself, again and again, for the rest of the day. But he did not succeed and, three days later, Chen learned that the King was ill. Recently, the King died in the United States, and whenever Chen thinks of him, he sighs for his failure to communicate.
To encourage the ham spirit of innovation, amateur radio organizations in some 70 countries in the world currently offer some 950 awards of various types for achievement. Among them, the DX Century Club's contest, the Worked All Continents and Worked All States awards, and the Swedish Highlanders' Award are the most popular. Awards are also given for experience in the field, such as the Old Timers (for more than 20 years), and the Old Old Timers (for 40 years).
In March each year, the World-Wide DX Contest takes place. The amateur gains one point for each station contacted within the country and a double score for each station contacted in other countries. This counting method is also used in the "Worked All States" competition in the United States. Another competition is, of course, the annual intercontinental contest sponsored by the International Association of Lions Clubs.
Currently, there are some 1.5 million amateur radio operators and more than one million stations around the globe; 800,000 of the latter are in the United States and Japan.
This vast network brings its functions into very serious use especially when disasters occur. For example, when the 1976 earthquake in Guatemala almost completely destroyed that country's communication facilities, the government made contact with the United States through Guatemalan amateur radio operators. Emergency aid was supplied by the U.S. by air within 24 hours.
For Tim Chen, the pulse and friendship of the world are only as far as radio.