The Southern Peninsula Amateur Radio Club will hold an open day at Rosebud Scout Hall on the foreshore opposite Fourth Avenue on Saturday, August 7.

President Owen Clarke said the day would enable the public to see a demonstration by the SES and be part of an amateur radio station set up to talk to other amateurs around the world.

Frankston and Mornington Peninsula Amateur Radio Club members will gather at their headquarters in Bangholme at various times between 10am Wednesday and 10am Saturday.

This is the time the 50 members have permission to use a special call sign (VK100WIA) and, as amateur radio operators do, they will be broadcasting the call sign around the world with great relish. VK is the usual prefix for Australia and WIA stands for Wireless Institute of Australia, the national body for amateur radio, also known as ham radio.

'Ham' comes from the early years of amateur radio in the United States and was an insulting term used by professional radiotelegraph operators to suggest that amateur radio enthusiasts were unskilled. By 1920 the term had lost its negative meaning.

Australian ham operators were sending and receiving wireless messages in the late 19th century, more than two decades before radio broadcasting began.

Ham radio operators have played key roles during emergencies since a cyclone struck Queensland in February 1927. Other events to involve radio operators included Black Friday in 1939, Cyclone Tracy in 1974, the Newcastle earthquake in 1989 and the Black Saturday bushfires last year.

The internet has revolutionised ham radio, with hand-held devices enabling operators to talk while on the move.

More information about SPARC is at www.vk3bsp.org or call 5975 2379. FAMPARC's website is www.qsl.net/vk3frc or call Jeff Fletcher on 0419 877 447.