The IARU Region 3 Newsletter Issue 4 December 2006, Released January/February 2007 This is my first edition of the news letter after I took over as the editor in December 2006. Selva 9V1UV, who produced the news letter for so many years did a fantastic job and it will be a tough act to follow. I am sorry that this has been delayed, as immediately after the Directorfs meeting in Tokyo (the next day in fact) I had to join the ARSI team who already were in Kavaratti Island in Lakshadweep on a DXpedition and returned only at the end of December. I hope to keep on schedule hereafter and look forward to all societies sending me information for inclusion >>> New Directors Meet in Tokyo <<< With so many very urgent matters on the anvil, the Directors who were elected for the next 3-yearly cycle at Bangalore in August 2006 decided that they should meet as soon as possible after taking up office. They held an intensive two-day meeting at Tokyo in the first week of December 2006. Amongst the issues discussed were: Review ITU WRC preparatory procedures and dates The situation of Amateur Radio in certain Region 3 countries / territories Policy for Telecommunication Conferences / Meetings Future Attendance of Directors in A.C. meetings Review of Working Procedures Review of the Budget and Finances of R3 >>> APT Matters <<< At their meeting in early December 2006 the IARU Region 3 Directors recognized the growing importance of the APT (Asia-Pacific Telecommunity). IARU Region 3 needs to establish even closer links to the APT, particularly as we are responsible for representing the amateur service to the APT. IARU Region 3 participated in the recent 4th APG (APT Preparatory Group (for WRC-07)) meeting held in Bangkok in very early January 2007. We were represented by two of the Directors, Shizuo Endo, JE1MUI and Peter Lake, ZL2AZ. Director Dr. Joong-Guen Rhee HL1AQQ was also present in a professional capacity as part of the Korean delegation and Chairman of one of the drafting groups. Assistant Secretary Jay Oka JA1TRC was part of the Japanese delegation. In addition, IARU Region 3 submitted an Information Paper to the APG. This setout the preferred options in the draft Conference Preparatory Meeting report in relation to a proposed world-wide secondary allocation in the LF band 135.7-137.8 kHz. Also detailed was the still unsatisfied requirement for a world wide harmonized band at 7 MHz, which could be met by a Primary allocation from 7.2 to 7.3 MHz, in Regions 1 and 3. Also, because it was a new matter, the paper provided information on the suggested access to a secondary allocation at around 5 MHz, for disaster relief communications. This is particularly important in Region 3 in the context of emergency communications. Wide support has been gained for access to a worldwide LF band. Much more contentious are the requests for an extra 100 kHz of spectrum at 7 MHz, and access to some allocation at 5 MHz. Many administrations are not supporting these requests, and some groups are opposed. However, both these issues were not resolved in the Bangkok meeting and are still gon the tableh. A decision has also been made to continue our representation at the next APG meeting in Busan, Korea in July 2007. This will be critical to influence opinions since it is last APG meeting of this cycle. It is also the final step of regional preparation for the World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-07) to be held in Geneva in October/November 2007. >>> GAREC-07 <<< The next Global Amateur Radio Emergency Communications (GAREC-07) will take place in Huntsville, Alabama, USA, on 16 and 17 August, the Thursday and Friday just before the annual Huntsville Hamfest and the 2007 ARRL National Convention, both on the week-end of 18 and 19 August 2007. >>> BPL <<< Broad Band over Power Lines (BPL), or sometimes Power Line Carrier (PLC) as it is referred to, is becoming a major threat to radio reception. This is due to the possibility of causing interference from the power lines radiating emissions of the broadband data transmissions at HF and VHF. Many associations have taken note of this threat and have been trying to prevent the spread of this mode of distributing Internet services. ARRL, who has been fighting this for some time, has decided to take the matter to court, as the FCC was not reacting to their concerns. This is a serious matter, especially in Region 3, as many areas have rather poorly installed overhead power lines and so the possibility of causing interference to all radio communications is more likely. >>> IARU R3 will have a new Secretary <<< Keigo Komuro, who over the years has made an incredible contribution as Secretary of Region 3, had expressed a desire to step aside in the latter half of this year and so at the Directorfs meeting during early December, it was decided to accede to his request. Jay Oka, who has been assisting Keigo for many years, will take over as the new Secretary and Keigo will continue to assist R3 as Special Advisor to the Directors. The Region 3 Web Site: Go to: http://www.iaru-r3.org/ Newsletter Editor: Gopal Madhavan VU2GMN, Director IARU Region3, E-mail : gopalmadhavan@vsnl.com Publisher: The International Amateur Radio Union Region 3, P.O. Box 73, Toshima, Tokyo 170-8691, Japan. E-mail: 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-06-12.doc