Amateur Radio in the Kingdom of Bhutan

An American orthopedic surgeon and his family, all licensed hams, teach a Novice licensing course in Bhutan and significantly increase the chances of working this relatively rare one.

For many years Amateur Radio was highly restricted in the Kingdom of Bhutan. As a result, Bhutan occupied the number two position on the most-wanted countries list.

Passage of the 1999 Bhutan Telecommunications Act authorized Amateur Radio for the first time. The A52JS operation and the A52A DXpedition made more than 100,000 contacts in April and May of 2000, significantly dropping the demand for Bhutan and pushing it off the top-100 list altogether. Several DXpeditions by groups from Japan and France and some individuals followed, but still there were no active resident hams.

The Johnson Family: Mark, A52MJ/N0MJ; Carrie, N0CMJ; Melissa, A52YL/N0MAJ; Paul, A52PJ/W0PRJ; Vivien, A52VJ/KL7YL; and Glenn, A52GJ/W0GJ.

Glenn Johnson, W0GJ, who was part of the A52A DXpedition returned to Bhutan late last December for several weeks of volunteer medical work as an orthopedic surgeon. He brought with him his family, all licensed hams, and his experience as an instructor and VE examiner. The previous May, the Director of Telecommunications and the Chief Engineer of the Bhutan Telecommunications Authority communicated with Johnson, asking him to help teach an Amateur Radio course when he returned.

In January, after reviewing the Bhutan regulations and the ARRL Novice syllabus, Johnson decided to offer his 10 students a month-long class, meeting three times per week. Twelve students showed up! Within this class there was one YL and an older gentleman who had worked with Gus Browning and Pradhan, A51PN, "in the early years." Seven finished the course. The others wanted to finish but were either on vacation or had been assigned elsewhere in the country for duty.

The actual testing session.

Johnson used the ARRL Getting Started in Amateur Radio syllabus, substituting the Bhutan regulations for the FCC regulations. Most of the Johnson family had learned CW by the Code Quick ® method, developed by Gerald Wheeler, W6TJP. Students came to their house for help, and for tea. Contrary to Johnson's expectations, CW practice proved to be the most enjoyable class, except for his daily magic tricks.

After 3½ weeks of hard work the students and their instructor confronted the January 29 exam date. The written and CW parts were direct copies of the US exams, again substituting Bhutan regulations for FCC regulations. Bhutan also specifically required a tough 10-minute CW sending exam, permitting only a few errors.

The graduating class: L to R: Glenn Johnson, A52GJ (instructor); Wangpo Dorji, A51WD; Kesang Namgyel, A51KC; Dorji Yeshey, A51UD; Pema Rinzen, A51PR; Yeshey Dorji, A51AA; Ambika Gurung, A51YL; Parop Kinley, A51PK; Thinley Dorji, Director, BTA; Wangay Dorji, MOC.

All of the students passed the written and 5 WPM CW exams on their first attempt!

There was an awards ceremony on the day after exams. Local TV and newspaper covered this historic event. If this class could pass the theory and CW exams in only 3½ weeks, anyone else should be able to do the same.

In Bhutan Novices can operate CW only on 3.675-3.725 MHz and 21.100-21.200 MHz, plus all modes on 28.100-28.600 MHz. Bhutan is in ITU Region 3, where 40-meter operation is allowed only below 7.100 MHz.

The next higher class license is the General Class, which conveys all amateur privileges. Because Bhutan has adopted the 5-WPM code requirement for HF privileges new hams must only pass a more advanced written exam to upgrade to General. There is also a Restricted Class license similar to the US Technician Class. It allows VHF-only privileges and has no code requirement. The exam element is the General Class theory. In the all-ham Johnson family, five have Extra Class licenses and were able to obtain Bhutan call signs and operate throughout their five-week stay They made many new contacts on the low bands and also activated new modes, such as PSK31.

Please welcome these special hams into our ranks! A51AA, Yeshey Dorji; A51KC, Kesang Namgyel; A51PK, Parop Kinley; A51PR, Pema Renzin; A51UD, Dorji Yeshey; A51WD, Wangpo Dorji; and A51YL, Ambika Gurung--Bhutan's first resident YL!

The Bhutan Ham Centre.

An interesting alternative to bringing one's own equipment to Bhutan is the Bhutan Ham Centre, a ham station run by the private tour operator Sophun Tours Trek. For a fee, local and visiting hams have access to a complete array of antennas for all bands and an assortment of radios and amplifiers for casual or contest operating.

For further information about visiting Bhutan, trekking, ham radio, licensing and visas visit their site www.sophun.com.bt.

ARRL Editor's note: Glenn Johnson, W0GJ, is an ARRL Life Member. He and his family live in Bemidji, Minnesota. Address correspondence to the author at w0gj@arrl.net.

ABOUT GLEN JOHNSON, THE AUTHOR OF THIS ARTICLE:

"My wife and four children are hams, five of us hold Extra Class licenses. Our four children learned Morse Code with Code Quick, and all became code proficient between ages 7 and 9. I did some medical volunteer work in the Kingdom of Bhutan in January 2001. While there I taught the country's first ham radio class. From knowing nothing about Morse Code, the entire class passed the strict Morse Code sending and receiving exams in only 3 1/2 weeks using the Code Quick method!!! Also, English was not the student's native tongue, but Code Quick was FUN. The "sound-alike" stories and puns made learning fun and easy for them!