History of Amateur Radio Societies

 History of Amateur Radio Societies

In March 1910, a band of wireless radio communication enthusiasts met in Sydney, Australia. This group of enthusiasts consisted of people from all walks of life, including a student, amateur experimenters, and some from the defense forces.

http://www.arrl.org/news/oldest-national-amateur-radio-society-marks-100th-anniversary

This was arguably the beginning of the Wireless Institute of Australia, which came to be recognized as the first amateur radio society.

In 1911, The Amateur Wireless Society of Victoria was formed, following the lead of the Wireless Institute of Australia.

In 1924, the Melbourne Town Hall formalized the development of a National Amateur Radio Association For Australia. From this meeting, National Amateur Radio Association For Australia was formed.

These Institutes brought together wireless institutes and organizations that existed then. It later changed its name to the Wireless Institute of Australia, which is still used today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVbhbmTcOFs

The Manchester Wireless Society, one of Britain's first amateur radio societies, was formed in 1911.

In 1913, in West Hampstead, London, The London Wireless Club held its first meeting. The formation of the Radio Society of Great Britain can be traced to this meeting.

Later in 1913, the London Wireless Club changed its name to the Wireless Society of London.

 

https://connecticuthistory.org/hiram-percy-maxim/

 

Hiram Percy Maxim, a businessman, and amateur radio enthusiast wanted to send messages long distances to another station, but he couldn’t broadcast far enough. He spoke to an intermediate radio station to relay the message to another station until the message got to its destination. This opened up Maxim’s eyes to the potential value of alliances between radio stations.

Maxim formed a group of united stations that could help forward messages over long distances. In 1914, he proposed the idea to several amateur radio clubs, which was well received.

Many stations accepted the idea, and a league of radio stations was formed. This league was known as the American Radio Relay Group and operated under the Hartford Radio Club.

In 1915, the American Radio Relay Group broke off from the Hartford Radio Club.

In 1917, The American Radio Relay League opened up its membership to anyone in the general public with an interest in amateur radio communications.

The formation of these amateur radio societies spurred the growth of the amateur radio community, but the first world war stalled this.

After the first world war, the resumption of amateur radio activities took a while to get back to where they were.

In 1922, the Wireless Society of London changed its name to its current name, the Radio Society of Great Britain

On the 18^th of April 1925, the International Amateur Radio Union was formed. It incorporated member societies from different countries. Since then, this specific society has grown to include members from at least 172 organizations from other countries. It is arguably the first amateur radio society to do so.

In 1939, The Young Ladies Radio League was formed to accommodate young female amateur radio enthusiasts. This organization/society is affiliated with the American Radio Relay League. It was formed when the need to increase amateur radio enthusiasm in women arose due to the oversaturation of the industry by men.

To date, these societies continue to bring together amateur radio enthusiasts worldwide. They allow enthusiasts to share ideas, thus developing amateur radio technologies.