Members of the Narwhal Amateur Radio Society are marking the 70th anniversary of the approval of the vaccine against polio, which was developed by the American physician and researcher, Dr. Jonas Salk. On April 12th, 1955, the US government permitted the use of Salk's injectable vaccine, which contains inactive forms of the virus. There had been several epidemics at the time of polio, a paralyzing virus also known as poliomyelitis.
Radio operators in a number of locations around the US will be calling "QRZ Salk" or "Polio on the Air" from the 5th through to the 19h of April and to ensure that everyone has a chance to make contact with the special event stations, they will be operating on HF, VHF and UHF. Operators will be using SSB, FT4, FT8, EchoLink and AllStar.
The hams will be using callsigns that spell out the word "Polio," so listen for W7P, W7O, W7L, W7I and W7O. Each station will be sending out individual QSL cards so there's an opportunity to collect all five.
The Narwhal operators are also looking for volunteer operators. Anyone who wants to participate or has questions about the event should send an email nars@narwhal.be