The 40th anniversary edition of HAM RADIO is now under way in Friedrichshafen, Germany. The event, which takes place near Lake Constance, attracted more than 17,000 visitors in 2014, including contingents from the ARRL and the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU). The Deutscher Amateur Radio Club (DARC) is a Ham Radio cosponsor, and its theme for this year’s gathering is “Space stations, satellites, reflections: Amateur Radio contact with space.”

“Amateur Radio doesn’t just cover the Earth, but also reaches into the depths of outer space,” said Steffen Schöppe, DL7ATE, chairman of the German Amateur Radio Club (DARC), which co-sponsors HAM RADIO and marks its 65th anniversary this year. “In 1935, an American Amateur Radio operator sent a signal to the moon, and a few years ago, a group of German amateurs sent signals to Venus. They came back after five minutes. That distance, 100 million kilometers, marks the greatest distance that Amateur Radio has ever travelled.”

Befitting the show’s theme, Schöppe said, experiments, contacts with the ISS, telescopes, and projects with space probes “are taking center stage at this year’s HAM Radio.”

Representing the ARRL will be League President Kay Craigie, N3KN; CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ; Membership Manager Diane Petrilli, KB1RNF, and Assistant Field Services and Radiosport Manager Norm Fusaro, W3IZ. ARRL volunteer Hal Turley, W8HC will assist with DXCC card checking.

Heading the IARU team will be President Tim Ellam, VE6SH/G4HUA. He’ll be accompanied by IARU Vice President Ole Garpestad, LA2RR, and Secretary Rod Stafford, W6ROD.

HAM RADIO will continue through Sunday, June 28.