A national initiative, which also saw the participation of members of the Olbia section of the ARI (Italian Radio Amateurs Association), with the participation of enthusiasts from La Maddalena as well, which involved a total of 16 specialty radio stations and over one hundred radio amateurs, capable of connecting approximately 23,000 enthusiasts in 174 countries in ten days, for a total of almost 130,000 contacts.
At the heart of the activity was the special callsign II0ICH, historically linked to the Maritele system , the Navy 's telecommunications network, which had one of its most important stations on La Maddalena. A nod to the past that came to life again from March 6th to 15th.
The transmissions were made both from the operators' homes and from the AVPC Civil Protection headquarters in La Maddalena, a short distance from the historic fortress of Guardia Vecchia , currently a military VTS control center on the Strait of Bonifacio, in the village of which the US Navy has used for decades.
Although technological advances have surpassed the communication systems of a time that now seems far away, the allure of radio remains intact. This is demonstrated by the initiative's numbers and the vitality of a growing community. Radio, even today, remains not only a technical tool but also a powerful means of social aggregation, capable of uniting people and territories far beyond geographical distances and nations.
