FIRAC – Federation International Radio Amateurs Cheminots is the Association of Radio Amateurs of Railways (ZRŽ) and was founded in 1964 in Hamburg. However, in our country in the past it was not possible to work in such organizations, which is why the FIRAC branch was established in the former Czech Republic - Slovakia only in the second half of 1990, and on October 6, 1990, it was accepted among the other branches. ZRŽ started its activity only in 1991 as one of the sections of FISAIC.
Slovak and Czech railway workers have a common section throughout the world, and its chairman is Ladislav Toth from Kamenín. In nearby Štúrov, he works at the Automatic Telephone Switchboard as a foreman, whose call sign is OM5AM. There are 18 members in Slovakia and 46 in the Czech Republic. Former colleagues and friends joined together also for the reason that each section must have at least 50 members. The primary goal of FIRAC is to strengthen international cooperation and friendship between radio amateurs - railway workers under the motto "Friendship without borders." Those radio amateurs who do not have an established FIRAC branch belong to the MC group, or Miscellaneous, e.g. India VU, Israel 4Z4 and so on. International FIRAC races are organized every year. There are two races on short waves (KV) and on very short waves (VHF) one race. VKV races are organized for all radio amateurs and KV races only for FIRAC members.
At the KV race in 2001, in the telegraph section, our member Ľudovít Takáč from Nové Zámki with the call sign OM5AL won the 1st prize, and Ing. Jiří Peček OK2QX from Přerov. In 2002, Ladislav Toth OM5AM from Kamenín won 3rd place in the VKV race. About 200 members from all over the world took part in the shortwave race, for example from India, USA, Israel. About 100 members competed in the VHF race, but only from Europe, because the propagation of radio waves on VHF is not possible across the Atlantic.
– The line-up of the race is different every year. For a better overview, I will state that there is a worldwide organization of radio amateurs in the world, ARRL and IARU, although even today there are countries where radio amateur activity is not allowed. Here, in Slovakia, most radio amateurs are united in the Slovak Union of Radio Amateurs (SZR) and also in the Czech Republic. Radio amateurs can be registered both in SZR and in FIRAC, - L. Tóth introduces us to the issue.
And what does such a competition actually look like? – A radio amateur broadcasts from home during the race QTH, that is the designation for the home station, and he tries to make as many connections as possible with radio amateurs, - he continues his story. – There are two points for each connection and then it is multiplied with multipliers. Multipliers are prefixes, which are the first two letters of the call sign, e.g. OM for Slovakia, OK for the Czech Republic) or DL for Germany. The sum of the points times the multipliers gives the total number of points.
During the existence of the FIRAC joint association of OK and OM, the most successful years were 2001/2002. Every year at the FIRAC congress there is an evaluation of the past year, where awards are also presented. The congress is always held in a different country. It has not yet taken place in our country, but it was held in Prague in 1999. Around 200 members take part in it. Ladislav Tóth explains to us what an interested radio amateur must meet in order to join the association:
-Radio amateurs are divided into different classes according to regulations and must pass amateur radio tests. Based on them, you can apply for your own license to operate amateur radio broadcasting stations. One of the most important and difficult requirements is that the radio amateur has a very good command of the Morse code, which has already deterred many interested parties. Radio amateurs work on amateur radio frequencies, on which they can broadcast indefinitely, but they must comply with licensing conditions.
The most common topics are the weather, talking about your broadcasting equipment, antenna systems, but also about your achievements. It is forbidden to broadcast news that is officially broadcast by radio and television, profanity, defamation, or even a message to a third person who is not a member of the organization. The FIRAC membership fee is 20 Sk per year, and a non-railway worker who sympathizes with the railways can also become a member by calling 927/488 or 925/497.
Slovakian radio amateurs - railwaymen are also supported by the GR ŽSR, where these activities are organized in the Department of Social and Labor Economics within the framework of FISAIC. In cooperation with the department for work with the public, they also ensured the release QSL-tickets with which radio amateurs confirm connections and thus promote the good name and promotion of ŽSR throughout the world. As you can see, railway workers are connected not only by rails, but also by electromagnetic waves.
Taken from the website of the Railways of the Slovak Republic