The IARU Region 3 Newsletter Issue 11 - July to September 2008, Released October 2008 IARU Region 3 participated in Telecom Asia at Bangkok showcasing what amateur radio has to offer to everyone-both as a hobby and as a vital emergency communications service. The Region 3 Directors met in Tokyo and assessed the tasks ahead before their next meeting in Christchurch in 2009 and with special emphasis on WRC 2011 and emergency communication. Monitoring activities have not yielded the required action from societies to vacate intruders from our bands and more proactive action is suggested >>> A Word from the Chairman of IARU Region 3 - Michael Owen VK3KI, <<< One of the things that the IARU does is to participate in the ITU's Telecoms. There is a brief report in this Newsletter about the Telecom Asia in Bangkok from the 2nd to 5th September. It doesn't sound very important, does it? TELECOM is a part of the ITU (International Telecommunication Union) and organizes major events for the world's ICT community. A TELECOM event is held in a different region of the world each year, with a world event held every 3 years. The ITU has welcomed IARU participation, and has provided the space for a stand at no cost. But why bother? The purpose of Telecom is to bring together the latest technologies and with both displays and forums, to bring together the commercial and government people concerned with telecommunications. And in many countries those people, whether government people or business people, do not know much about amateur radio. And Telecom is an opportunity to make contact with those people, to let them know about amateur radio. The fact that the most senior ITU officials spent time at the IARU stand demonstrates the credibility of the IARU. IARU Region 3 Director Gopal Madhavan VU2GMN coordinated the IARU stand at this year's Telecom Asia, helped very much by the Thai national society, the Radio Amateur Society of Thailand, RAST. I really feel that this is one of the important things that we, as an amateur organisation can do. We can do it with the help of many people and societies - JARL provided a model satellite, the WIA supplied a couple of posters, IARU Region 3 through Gopal produced posters and a Thai/English version of a NZART pamphlet. JARL also deputed Jay Oka JA1TRC to assist during the event. So, please recognise that participating in Telecom is important, and also, let us recognise the contribution of so many people to Telecom Asia this year especially Chaiyong Wongvuticomjon HS1QVD President RAST, Phatanadid Kulapaijit HS1WFK, Narissara Shaowanasai N9WMS, and Tony Waltham HS0ZDX. Hans Ehlers DF9UG from Germany, who was on holiday, joined the group and stayed for the whole event. >>> Region 3 Directors meet in Tokyo <<< The Directors of Region 3 of the International Amateur Radio Union met in Tokyo. Japan from 20th to the 22nd August 2008. The gathering was hosted by the Japan Amateur Radio League. First up was the future. The next World Radiocommunications Conference will be held in 2011 and has agenda items that may directly and indirectly affect the amateur services. The IARU Region 3 Directors said that they recognized the importance of ensuring that those involved in the preparation for that Conference at a regional and national level are kept fully informed. In the area of emergency communications, the Region 3 Directors again decided to urge member societies to approach their administrations to remove any national regulations that inhibited amateurs from either meeting emergency communication needs or practicing to meet such needs taking into account RR Article 25.3.?? At the same time the Directors congratulated the Chinese Radio Sports Association on the outstanding contribution of the Chinese radio amateurs in support of the humanitarian response to the tragic earthquake in May 2008. The Directors also carefully considered an interference complaint report from VU2UR. He's the Regional Monitoring System Coordinator and his report dealt with the broadcasts from shortwave station the Sound of Hope in Taiwan on amateur bands. The Directors will urge member societies to approach their administrations requesting that they object to the Taiwanese administration about these breaches of the Radio Regulations. >>> Telecom Asia <<< From 2nd to the 5th September 2008 members of Asia's information and communications technology sector convened at ITU Telecom Asia, at the Impact Challenger Centre Bangkok focusing on core issues relating to ICT expansion across the region. The event featured the latest technologies and innovations including Amateur Radio as well as an extensive forum that explored key technologies, policies and applications. The IARU, in an effort to promote the benefits of the Amateur Radio Service - throughout the region, participated in the event. The IARU booth was organized by IARU Region 3 with assistance from the Radio Amateur Society of Thailand. Literature in English and Thai on IARU, amateur radio in general and how to become a radio amateur, were distributed to almost 1000 visitors. ITU Secretary General Dr Hamadoun Toure, HB9EHT, and Dr Eun-Ju Kim, Head of the ITU Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, visited the IARU booth, staying and talking with hams and visitors for more than half an hour. A full report is available at: http://www.iaru-r3.org/itu/telecomasia2008/TelecomAsia2008.htm >>> Hamvention in China <<< The Chinese Radio Sports Association is to hold the first ever "Hamvention" in Southern Anhui Province at the famous tourist region called Huangshan, which in English means Yellow Mountain. The Hamvention will span a full 5 days and cover subjects like Amateur Radio Today in China, EME and will show Amateur Radio related movies throughout. There will be competitions and a station operating throughout under the all sign BY6HS. Details will follow. >>> 14th World ARDF Championships Sep. 2-7 2008 Hwaseong City, South Korea - Report from Thida HS1ASC <<< The event was held at the La Vie D'Or Resort and Country Club with more than 450 ARDF competitors and staff from 31 countries. Competitors from the following societies took part: ARDM, ARRL, BFRA, BNRRL, CRC, CRSA, DARC, EDR, ERAU, FRR, HRS,J ARL, KARL, KFRR, LRMD, MARS, MRASZ, MRSF, PZK, RAST,REF, RSGB, RSM, SARA, SRR , SSA, UARL, UBA, VERON, WIA, ZRS Competitions were held in the 2M and 80M bands The Championship's Web page is at http://www.2008ardf.org/ >>> Region 3 ARDF 2009 <<< RAST's application to host the 2009 Region 3 ARDF had been granted by Region 3 ARDF Committee. RAST plans to have it in early November, together with the Loy Krathong Day cerebration. Details will follow. >>> Jamboree on the Air (JOTA) and Jamboree on the Internet (JOTI) 2008 <<< The 51st JOTA / 12th JOTI will take place on 18 and 19 October 2008. Amateurs worldwide traditionally assist local scouts and guides by setting up radio stations and making contacts with similar groups elsewhere. Download the latest JOTA-JOTI circular. More details are also available from: JOTI: joti.org for JOTA: jota.sub.cc >>> AT8WFF - Love and Kisses from World Flora and Fauna. <<< News from Lion Ajoy VU2JHM On occasion of 54th Wildlife Week - October 1st to 7th, 2008 special station was setup at Banerghatta National Park near Bangalore as the First such National Park operating station under the guidelines of World Flora and Fauna. See: www.wff.qrz.ru/wff-eng.html for details >>> Global Simulated Emergency Test <<< The next IARU EmComm Party on the Air is scheduled for the 8th of November between 0400 and 0800 hours UTC. The time of each exercise changes to allow more stations to participate from around the world as well as recognizing that emergencies can happen at any time. This is an exercise between stations interested in emergency communications and is not a contest. Activity will be concentrated around the IARU Emergency Centre of Activity frequencies which are now incorporated in band plans around the world. A summary of known groups and stations taking part in the IARU Global Simulated Emergency Test can be found at http://www.raynet-hf.net/tiki-read_article.php?articleId=35 . Please check back frequently to see how the event is growing and for the call signs of the HQ stations. Full details available at: http://www.iarur3.org/dcom/r3dcom.htm >>> 137 kHz L F band for amateurs in Australia <<< Australia is set to join the 30-odd countries whose radio amateurs have been?already given? the new low frequency amateur band of 135.7 to 137.8 kHz. It's been a wait of more than 20 years to officially get the band. A few VK radio amateurs under special Scientific Licences, have been engaged in pioneering experimentation on low frequency spectrum since the mid-1980s. The World Radiocommunication Conference in 2007 decided that there be a world-wide secondary allocation but left it to individual radio administrations around the world to decide on its introduction. The permitted maximum radiated power is one watt effective isotropic radiated power. This achievement followed a lot of hard work by the International Amateur Radio Union. >>> A Reminder -SEANET 2008 <<< The 36th Seanet will be held in Kota Kinabalu and Kudat in Sabah, Malaysia between the 20th and 24th November 2008 As reported earlier, the Seanet Contest 2008 was held between the 7th and 8th June 2008. Details of the conference, is available at www.seanet.cc. Changes have been made from the originally suggested format for the conference and those planning to attend should check their webpage >>> A Reminder <<< 14th IARU R3 Conference Christchurch 12 - 16 October 2009. The hotel venue is confirmed as the "Scenic Circle - Cotswold Hotel" on Papanui Road, Christchurch Details at http://www.christchurch.org.nz/ **************************************************************** The Region 3 Web Site: Go to: http://www.iaru-r3.org Newsletter Editor: Gopal Madhavan VU2GMN, Director IARU Region3. E-mail: vu2gmn@gmail.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-08-10.doc