Amateur radio's emerging popularity in the Indian state of Assam was evident recently at the North East Science Fair & Innovation Festival, where visitors watched as two operators from the Assam Amateur Radio Foundation made contacts on HF and 2-metres.

Saquib VU3HZW and Pradyumna VU33SF had QSOs with hams in Bangladesh on HF and contacted hams on 2 metres throughout the Assamese city of Guwahati where VHF is slowly becoming increasingly popular.

The event was held at the National Science Centre in Guwahati from the 11th through to the 14th of February. Many of the visitors who stopped to watch the hams operate from the exhibition floor had been unaware of ham radio's potential for vital communications in emergencies and as a resource for experimentation and learning. Amateur radio took a prominent place among the other exhibits and demonstrations, including AI & Robotics, Rocketry, Skywatching with a Telescope and Meet-the-Scientist sessions.