May 17, 2015, marks the 150th anniversary of the signing of the first International Telegraph Convention and the creation of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The Spanish Amateur Radio Association URE (Unión Radioaficionados Españoles), an IARU member-society, has announced an anniversary operating event, May 1-30, with awards available to all radio amateurs and SWLs.

Eleven stations with the prefix AO150 will be on the air, and contacts may be made in any mode or band from 160 through 6 meters. Taken together the suffixes of the 11 special event stations reflect the ITU’s 150th anniversary slogan, “ITU: Innovating together,” by including all of the letters used to spell it. The stations are AO150I, AO150N, AO150O, AO150V, AO150A, AO150T, AO150G, AO150E, AO150H, AO150R and AO150U.

Certificates will be awarded in three categories, depending on the number of AO150 special event stations contacted by the applicant or heard.

More information is on the IARU Region 1 website.