Hams in Brazil Honor Pioneer of Wireless Telephony

Although many amateur radio special events focus on the earliest pioneering efforts that established communication via telegraphy, hams in Brazil are celebrating the 125th anniversary of the first wireless transmission of the human voice. The inventor-scientist was a Catholic priest.

Listen throughout the month of November for PR5LM on the air. The "L" and the "M represent the name of Padre Landell de Moura, an ordained priest and inventor fascinated with the concept of transmitting the human voice - and later, images - wirelessly. Before he died in 1928, Padre de Moura had successfully transmitted both music and voice on the electromagnetic spectrum - a feat celebrated throughout Brazil since his accomplishment in 1899. The declaration of National Amateur Radio Day in Brazil on November 5th honours his work as well as the 1924 government decree that established regulation of amateur radio stations in Brazil. By then, the priest had already been granted a US patent while he was in New York City in 1904 for what was known as a wave transmitted. It used a form of modulation that we know today as amplitude modulation.

Amateurs in Brazil will be active on all the HF bands using CW, SSB, RTTY and FT8 and hope to make contacts as well via the QO100 satellite. They hope each contact will pay tribute to the man who successfully navigated that delicate territory balancing religion and science.

An Incredible Amateur Radio Rescue Story

On the evening of September 21, 2024, Greg Owen, WX7Z, heard an amateur radio emergency call on the VHF frequency known as the national simplex calling frequency, 146.52 MHz. Ed Clark, K7ELC, was calling to get medical help for a 51-year-old man who had rolled his four-wheeler.

Mac Mackintosh, W7ENZ, found the accident and injured man near his property where there isn’t any cellphone service. Mackintosh had given his handheld radio to Clark to make the call for help while he gave aid to the injured man. The injuries were serious... head trauma, broken collarbone, broken ribs, and difficulty breathing.

Owen called 911 to request help. An ambulance, Life Flight helicopter and law enforcement were dispatched to the location, which was 35 minutes outside Orofino, Idaho. Meanwhile, Owen continued using the amateur radio to relay updates to the dispatcher. The injured man was transported to the hospital via Life Flight and at last report was recovering.

Gardner said hams in Idaho support an old national program called the Wilderness Protocol which encourages the use of the national simplex calling frequency, 146.52 MHz.

“As amateur radio operators, we train to be available to help when help is needed. The more that ham radio operators listen to the radio, the more chance there is that someone will be listening to take your emergency call. This is something that has been used many times throughout this county and here in Idaho,” he said. “This is another incredible story to share.”