Australian Amateur
Licensing And Callsigns

The International Travel Host Exchange (or ITHE) is a free program administered by the DARC in Germany. Its aims are to foster international goodwill and friendship between radio amateurs who are lucky enough to travel to another country or another part of their own country. A master list of participants is maintained by the ARRL and co-ordinators in sister societies, such as the WIA, help to keep the list up to date.

Participants are interested radio amateurs who wish to meet or host fellow operators from near and afar. Your name does not have to be on the list for you to take advantage of such hospitality, and you can do so when travelling around our own country. Once you are on the list you might receive mail from prospective visitors, and it is perfectly acceptable to politely decline a request if you are unavailable.

How to Participate

To have your name added to the list, you need to supply your name, calisign, postal address, home phone number, languages you know, and whether you wish to host or just meet visitors.

Send this information to:
John Miller VK3DJM - ithe@wia.org.au Aust. co-ordinator International Travel Host Exchange scheme.

John will forward your details to the ARRL. After a few weeks, the ARRL will send you a copy of the full list just once. If you are a prospective traveller, you can ask the WIA Office for a relevant extract of the list covering your destination. It is not practical to send the entire list owing to its size.

Request to Participants

Some participants have moved, changed telephone numbers, post codes, callsigns, and the like, since they first joined the scheme. Unless you notify me separately, the ITHE information will not change. To assist in bringing the list up to date, a list of VK participants is published at the end of this article.

Recent Experiences

I asked a couple of VK participants to share their views on the subject.

John Richardson VK2NET, writes:
Travel, one of the few pastimes that helps to unite the world, breaks down the barriers of race, colour and creed. it's the best leveller I know.

Having been an inveterate traveller for more years than I care to admit, I can't say I'm an expert, but I can say that I know a few of the ropes. I know how to get in and out of trouble and most of all, through research before a trip, know how to behave in a foreign culture and become accepted into the daily routine.

The limiting factor to the amount of travel I would do is money, just like 99% of the would-be travelling population. I follow the old adage, 'If Mahommed can't go to the mountain, take the mountain to Mahommed", and solve the problem somewhat of not being able to board a plane or ship. In other words, if I can't travel, I bring the travellers to me.

The ITHE scheme is a good way of doing this and all it costs is a couple of meals, a bed, and a bit of petrol. A small price to pay for a lot of enjoyment and a learning experience, The usual format is to receive a letter from a prospective traveller advising the date of arrival, plans for their trip and a request for an eyeball.

My wife and I automatically reply with an invitation to stay with us for a night or two; more if they want. Fora few days we have in our home a little bit of America, Japan, UK, or wherever else the travellers may come from.

They have the opportunity to experience first-hand the way an Australian family lives, the day-to-day problems, real or perceived by us locals, taste the different style of cooking, and the like. But most of all, they live with our culture and isn't that what travelling isreally all about? We too learn, question, compare.

Time passes all too quickly. It is time to say goodbye to our new-found friends and invariably the last words are "Catch you later" or something similar, and a sincere invitation to visit them when it is our turn to go to their country. There is no doubt that we will be taking them up on their generosity.

These experiences have been brought about by a common interest in amateur radio and the ITHE. I heartily recommend that you get on 'the list' and make the time to welcome our foreign visitors into your home. I guarantee that the rewards will be great. For the occasional or armchair traveller, what better way to meet the world?

John Miller, VK3DJM/GW3WIT writes:
I first heard about ITHE when I read a letter from Douglas G3KPO, in Amateur Radio, in 1988 I think, thanking all the VK2s he had met under the scheme. What attracted my interest was not so much the scheme as the fact that my original callsign was G3WIT issued in 1967 on the Isle of Wight, and Douglas also lives on the Island. As I was planning a trip back to the UK at the time I wrote to Douglas but, that time he was unable to offer me accommodation as he had already booked his own holiday for just the time we would be there. Douglas was, however, able to arrange for us to stay at a local bed and breakfast establishment run by some friends of his.

During the planning of another trip to the UK, in 1991, I again got out the list of ITHE stations and selected a couple of them to help me. Ufortunately one of them whom I wrote to had moved house since the list was printed, but a few phone calls soon traced him, the cost being negligible compared to the total cost of the trip. Unfortunately, he was also going to be away when we were in his area; some people just don't have any luck do they!

As we were flying back to Australia from London Gatwick airport Ash VK3CIT, the local co-ordinator for ITHE, suggested I contact Roger G3LOP, as he lives about half an hour's drive from Gatwick. I had also mentioned to Ash that I was born in Wales and he said that Roger was an ex-GW As part of my preparation for the trip I had compiled a list of names and telephone numbers, of people we were staying with, but I hadn't intended to leave it at home. When I rang directory enquiries and gave them Roger's name and address I was told that it was a silent number! The only thing to do was to get a taxi from the railway station and hope someone was in, otherwise camp on his doorstep. Roger was doing a bit of decorating when we got there and had been waiting for us to arrive. Needless to say we all had a good laugh. The next day Roger drove us to Gatwick to catch the plane home via Houston.

Well that's on the receiving help side; now for the giving. In the several years I have been a member of ITHE I have only had two requests for help. The first one was from a young American couple who were coming out here on their honeymoon. Unfortunately, they had made all their bookings by the time their photocopied letter reached me and it was too late to be of much help, but I am on their list for another trip down here. A few months ago I had a letter from a ZL asking for advice and although I replied both by mail and to the packet address he gave I have heard nothing from him.