The IARU Region 3 Newsletter Issue 4/2004Dec 2004 The previous issue of this Newsletter referred to amateurs in certain Region 1 countries being granted early access to 7100 to 7200 kHz on a secondary, non-interference basis. UK amateurs will get an additional 100 kHz on 31 Oct 04. The Region 1 countries getting early access are the Republic of Ireland, Croatia, Norway, Iceland, Serbia-Montenegro and San Marino and UK. Switzerland will make 7100-7200 kHz available starting 1 January 05. Even though amateurs do not have an entitlement, administrations have the prerogative to grant such access on a secondary non-interference basis if they so wish. R3 Member Societies are encouraged to evaluate their own situation and consider making an approach for early access to the additional 100 kHz. K C Selvadurai 9V1UV Director IARU Region 3 >>> ITU Deliberations. <<< Discussions continue in Geneve, Switzerland on matters of importance to amateur radio. Of the various Working Party's (WP) that continue to meet, WP 8A is of significance as it deals with matters relevant to amateur and amateur satellite services. At a recent meeting in September, it received an input paper by IARU restating the requirement by amateur services for 300 kHz at 7 MHz. An item for LF secondary allocation at 135 kHz is also being considered. At the next meeting in April 05, WP 8A will continue studies relatiing to WRC 07 agenda item 1.13 (4-10 MHz) and further consider WRC 07 agenda item 1.15 (135.7-137.8 kHz) amongst other matters. >>> AC Meeting. <<< The IARU Administrative Council (AC) held its annual meeting on 2 to 4 Oct 04 in Trinidad & Tobago following the R 2 Conference held in the same location. Amateur radio frequency allocations continued to receive high priority with the adoption of a 3 year plan which includes maintaining and increasing contact with regional telecommunications organizations by IARU through its regional organizations. The IARU will seek an agenda item for a future conference looking toward a worldwide amateur allocation at 50 MHz, which is not presently available in all parts of the world. Similar to the run up to WRC 03, Member Societies can expect to be called upon to liaise with their administrations whose representatives make up the R3 Regional body, Asia-Pacific Telecommunity (APT). Broadband over Power line (BPL) continued to be of concern with a resolution calling attention to the obligation of telecommunication administrations to take all practicable and necessary steps to avoid harmful interference to radio communication services from power and telecommunication distribution networks, including BPL systems that use the HF spectrum. The AC selected the 2005 theme for World Amateur Radio Day, celebrated each year on 18 April. The theme will be "Radio Amateurs Expanding the World of Wireless Communications". World Amateur Radio Day marks the anniversary of the founding of IARU in 1925 and provides an opportunity to present a positive image of Amateur Radio to the general public. Following discussions by your Directors, some items of special interest to R 3 were submitted for consideration by AC. These included a) to study and encourage the use of new and emerging technologies b) recognizing that in some countries the administration is driven more by the demands of the country's defense requirements than by the needs of other spectrum users, AC was asked to consider the creation of a strategy to achieve beneficial results and c) a policy for R 3 on access to 7.2 to 7.3 MHz in preparation for WRC 07. Please watch the next issue of this Newsletter where, based on the minutes of the AC meeting, there will be a report on how those issues were addressed. >>> Region 3 Directors' Meeting. <<< A meeting of Region 3 Directors was held from 19th to 20th August 04 in Tokyo. Amongst the matters discussed were the following. It was considered desirable to liaise with ABU to keep tab on the plan action. Park HL1IFM will meet up with them at the next APG meeting. A proposal for running a Net was accepted. The action plans are described in this Newsletter. A task force is being set up to review the R3 Constitution. The proposed changes to the constitution are to be presented at the Directors Meeting in October next year so as to be able to present them to the Conference in 2006. Hence, it is very timely for Member Societies to study the R3 Constitution and input their views and suggestions for change. A letter will be written to Member Societies to ask for suggestions of a resource person to coordinate the WRC 07 issues for R3.. It is hoped that the society would help finance the costs for that person. >>> Region 3 Net <<< One way towards fulfilling our role is to learn from others and our own experiences. At the recently concluded Directors Meeting held in Tokyo, the President of Region 2 Pedro YV5BPG mentioned the Net that Region 2 has been conducting on a weekly basis since 1964. Participation levels at the R 2 Net have been influenced by propagation conditions. The fact that the R 2 Net has been running for such a long while suggests that it has been a useful meeting place. Your Directors were of the view that a Net run by Directors of Region 3 will be a wonderful way to promote rapport amongst members of Member Societies. Whilst the focus will be on members of Member Societies (MS), it will give an opportunity for all amateur radio operators in Region 3 to dialogue with your Directors. Hopefully by doing so, we may be able to win some of them to join a MS. Matters of discussion should be kept to those of general interest. Any matter of specific interest should preferably continue to be dealt electronically by email. The net will be conducted once a week. The day of the week that has been chosen is Friday, being end of week, operators are more inclined to be relaxed and be inclined to have a chat on the radio. The time for the Net needs to be one that will be suitable for operators in New Zealand and Eastern States of Australia as well as those in the South Asian Countries. Considering these factors, 1100 UTC has been selected and the Net will commence with calls for check in from New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. Given the popularity of the 20 m band, the frequency will be 14.300 MHz. The figure "3" will help to establish a link with Region 3. The duty roster amongst your Directors for running the Net is as follows: 1st Friday: Peter NaishVK2BPN 2nd Friday: K C Selvadurai 9V1UV 3rd Friday: Y S Park HL1IFM 4thFriday: C RAMCHANDRA VU2RCR 5thFriday: Y SEKIDO, JJ1OEY The Net will commence in March 2005. That date will make it possible to give publicity on the proposed Net and allow time for the information to get down to individual levels. Please would all IARU R 3 Liaison Officers and MS Officers receiving this Newsletter, make your best efforts to ensure that this information is disseminated to all members of your Society. Your Directors will be reviewing the popularity of the Net at regular intervals towards satisfying ourselves that energies are being channeled into a worthwhile project. >>> Hong Kong in CEPT <<< Effective 16 Nov 04, Hong Kong (HK) has been accepted by CEPT to join Recommendation T/R 61-02. Under the recommendation, holders of HK Amateur Radio Certificates are recognized to have the equivalent qualifications by all the administrations participating in this CEPT recommendation. The arrangement enables holders of HK Amateur Radio Certificates to apply for amateur radio licenses in 48 participating administrations for operating amateur equipment while they are in these administrations and vice versa. Reciprocal Facilities had previously been arranged with Mainland China in June 04. >>> The ITU Telecom Asia 04 Exhibition <<< The ITU Telecom Asia 04 Exhibition was held in Busan Seoul for 6 days commencing 7 Sept 04. Over 200 manufacturers and traders from over 20 countries participated in the exhibition. At IARU stand, 7 materials and 2 brochures were on display together with ARDF competition pictures from CRSA, "Producing radio direction finding receiver" along with a diagram from KARL. IOTA pictures and pamphlets, DXCC(local) materials, Monthly journals, JARL News with pennant from JARL and QSTs from ARRL were also displayed. The one page brochure "A case for Amateur Radio" provided by IARU and "how to get amateur radio license"(5,000 pcs) prepared by KARL were all taken away on the day the exhibition was open to public. The Region 3 Web site Go to: http://www.iaru-r3.org/ Newsletter Editor: K C Selvadurai 9V1UV, Director IARU Region 3, kcselva@starhub.net.sg Publisher: The International Amateur Radio Union Region 3, P.O. Box 73, Toshima, Tokyo 170-8691, Japan. iaru-r3@jarl.or.jp Tel: +81 3 3944 3322 Fax: +81 3 3943 8282 The statements or opinions in this Newsletter do not, unless otherwise stated, necessarily reflect the views of IARU Region 3, the Directors or the Secretariat. Items from this Newsletter may be freely copied for publication by member societies of IARU. MS Word version of this newsletter is available at http://www.iaru-r3.org/news/r3nl-04-12.doc