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IARU Calendar
IARU Officers Elected for 2004-2009 TermThe IARU member-societies have ratified the re-election of Larry E. Price, W4RA, as President and the election of Timothy S. Ellam, VE6SH/G4HUA, as Vice President for five-year terms that began on 9 May 2004.
Mr. Price sends the following message to the member-societies:
73 Larry, W4RA Mr. Ellam offers these words of thanks:
The official voting results are as follows:
Proposal No. 238
The International Secretariat, following consultation with the Administrative Council and with the unanimous recommendation of the Council, nominated Larry E. Price, W4RA, for a five-year term of office as President, IARU, commencing on 9 May 2004. This nomination was offered to the member-societies for ratification, in accordance with Article III, paragraph 3(e), of the IARU Constitution.
On Proposal No. 238 there were 82 "AYE" votes and one abstention. There were no "NAY" votes. Proposal No. 238 is ADOPTED.
Proposal No. 239
The International Secretariat, following consultation with the Administrative Council and with the unanimous recommendation of the Council, nominated Timothy S. Ellam, VE6SH/G4HUA, for a five-year term of office as Vice President, IARU, commencing on 9 May 2004. This nomination was offered to the member-societies for ratification, in accordance with Article III, paragraphs 3(e) and 5, of the IARU Constitution.
On Proposal No. 239 there were 81 "AYE" votes and two abstentions. There were no "NAY" votes. Proposal No. 239 is ADOPTED.
The following member-societies voted on Proposal Nos. 238 and 239: Region 1
AARA (Albania), ARA (Algeria), URA (Andorra), OeVSV (Austria), BFRR (Belarus), UBA (Belgium), ARABiH (Bosnia & Herzegovina), BFRA (Bulgaria), HRS (Croatia), CARS (Cyprus), CRC (Czech Republic), ERAU (Estonia), FRA (Faroe Islands), SRAL (Finland), RSM (FYR of Macedonia), REF-Union (France), DARC (Germany), RAAG (Greece), MRASZ (Hungary), IRA (Iceland), IRTS (Ireland), IARC (Israel), ARI (Italy), ARAI (Ivory Coast), ARSK (Kenya), KARS (Kuwait), RAL (Lebanon), AFVL (Liechtenstein), LRMD (Lithuania), RL (Luxembourg), MARS (Mauritius), ARM (Moldova), MRSF (Mongolia), NARL (Namibia), VERON (Netherlands), NARS (Nigeria), NRRL (Norway), ROARS (Oman), PZK (Poland), REP (Portugal), QARS (Qatar), FRR (Romania), SRR (Russian Federation), ARRSM (San Marino), SRSCG (Serbia & Montenegro), SARA (Slovak Republic), URE (Spain), SSA (Sweden), USKA (Switzerland), TIR (Syria), UARL (Ukraine), RSGB (United Kingdom), and ZARS (Zimbabwe). Region 2
RCA (Argentina), LABRE (Brazil), RAC (Canada), RCCR (Costa Rica), FRC (Cuba), RCD (Dominican Republic), CRAS (El Salvador), CRAG (Guatemala), RCH (Honduras), FMRE (Mexico), CREN (Nicaragua), LPRA (Panama), TACARS (Turks and Caicos Islands), ARRL (USA), RCU (Uruguay), and RCV (Venezuela). Region 3
WIA (Australia), CRSA (China), HARTS (Hong Kong), ARSI (India), JARL (Japan), KARL (Rep. of Korea), NZART (New Zealand), PARS (Pakistan), PNGARS (Papua New Guinea), PARA (Philippines), SARTS (Singapore), RSSL (Sri Lanka), ARCOT (Tonga), and VARS (Vanuatu).
All member-societies voted in the affirmative except RSGB, which abstained on both proposals, and DARC, which abstained on Proposal No. 239. Affirmative votes on both proposals were received from TTARS (Trinidad) but arrived after the deadline and could not be counted. Society in Guinea Proposed for IARU Membership
An application for IARU membership has been received via IARU Region 1 from Association des Radioamateurs de Guinée (ARGUI) in the Republic of Guinea. The application has been examined by the Executive Committee of IARU Region 1, which is satisfied that the application meets the requirements of the Bylaws and Constitution of the IARU.
ARGUI was founded on 6 May 2000 and is legally recognized by the appropriate authorities to represent the radio amateurs of Guinea. Its address is 4e Bd de la République, BP 4840, Conakry, République de Guinée. There are 10 licensed amateurs in Guinea, all of whom are members of ARGUI. ARGUI has an additional 10 members who are not yet licensed to transmit. The officers include Mr. Mamadou Diouldé Sow, President; Mr. Bah Ahmadou, Vice President; and Mr. Malan Manet, Secretary.
Therefore, in compliance with the Bylaws pertaining to applications for membership the following proposal is presented to member societies for consideration: Proposal No. 240
The Executive Committee of IARU Region 1 has forwarded to the Administrative Council an application for IARU membership submitted by Association des Radioamateurs de Guinée. Region 1 reports that it has examined the application and has found it to be in order, and so it has made a favorable finding with regard to the application. Therefore, in accordance with Bylaw 3, it is proposed that the
Association des Radioamateurs de Guinée
be elected to membership.
A vote sheet for Proposal 240 and a return envelope are enclosed. The closing date for receipt by the International Secretariat of ballots on these proposals is five months from the date of issuance of this Calendar, or 3 May 2005.
Domestic Implementation of Article 25 Changes
The 2003 World Radiocommunication Conference adopted significant changes to Article 25 of the international Radio Regulations governing the amateur and amateur-satellite services. While the amateur community has devoted most of its attention to 25.5 (Morse code), in the long run other changes may have an equal or greater impact on the nature of operation in the amateur services.
The new Article 25 took effect on 5 July 2003, the day after WRC-03 concluded. Administrations should begin to take steps to align their domestic regulations with the international Radio regulations at their earliest convenience.
Here is a recap of the new Article 25 along with comments regarding the specific changes that administrations should consider making in their own domestic amateur regulations as a consequence of the changes to Article 25.
25.1 §1 Radiocommunications between amateur stations of different countries shall be permitted unless the administration of one of the countries concerned has notified that it objects to such radiocommunications.
In some cases, old domestic regulations may quote the old "banned country" provision, which was phrased negatively rather than positively. If so, the domestic regulation either should be aligned with the new text or should be deleted.
25.2 § 2 1) Transmissions between amateur stations of different countries shall be limited to communications incidental to the purposes of the amateur service, as defined in No.1.56 and to remarks of a personal character. Old domestic regulations may include the now-discarded phrase that includes the words "for which, by reason of their unimportance, recourse to the public telecommunications service is not justified." If so, this phrase should be deleted and the regulations should be aligned with the new international regulatory text. 25.2A 1bis) Transmissions between amateur stations of different countries shall not be encoded for the purpose of obscuring their meaning, except for control signals exchanged between earth command stations and space stations in the amateur-satellite service.
Old domestic regulations may call for transmissions to be in "plain language." If so, this now-obsolete phrase should be deleted and the regulations should be aligned with the new international regulatory text.
25.3 2) Amateur stations may be used for transmitting international communications on behalf of third parties only in case of emergencies or disaster relief. An administration may determine the applicability of this provision to amateur stations under its jurisdiction.
It is very important to recognize that this regulation changes the "default" condition for international amateur third-party communication. From 1932 until 2003, communications on behalf of third parties were expressly prohibited in the absence of a special arrangement between the countries concerned. Now, in the absence of a domestic regulation prohibiting it, international third-party communication in case of emergencies or disaster relief is expressly permitted. However, many administrations have regulations based on the old regulations and amateurs will not benefit from this new flexibility until their domestic regulations are amended.
It is also important to note that the old requirement for a bilateral "special arrangement" no longer applies. An administration is now free to decide for itself whether and how to apply this provision to its amateur stations. If an administration wishes to prohibit its amateur stations from communicating on behalf of third parties in case of emergencies or disaster relief, it may do so (although we earnestly hope that no administration will be so short-sighted). On the other hand, if an administration wishes to permit its amateur stations to communicate on behalf of third parties under other circumstances, it may do so without having to enter into any special arrangements with other administrations. Of course, the operator of an amateur station must abide by the regulations of his or her own administration. Thus, it may be legal for an amateur station at one end of a circuit, but not the other end, to communicate on behalf of a third party. In that case the communication would be prohibited.
Domestic regulations should be reviewed to make sure that at the very least, they do not prohibit international communications on behalf of third parties in case of emergencies or disaster relief. Ideally, specific provisions would be included to permit international communications on behalf of third parties. Some administrations may be reluctant to do so in order to protect the amateur services against commercial exploitation. However, 25.2 provides sufficient protection.
25.5 §3 1) Administrations shall determine whether or not a person seeking a licence to operate an amateur station shall demonstrate the ability to send and receive texts in Morse code signals.
By deleting the old requirement of "proof" of Morse code skill to operate below 30 MHz, WRC-03 has left it entirely to the discretion of administrations. Administrative Council Resolution 01-1 (Revised 2003) supports the removal of Morse code testing as a requirement for an amateur licence.
25.6 2) Administrations shall verify the operational and technical qualifications of any person wishing to operate an amateur station. Guidance for standards of competence may be found in the most recent version of Recommendation ITU‑RM.1544.
Qualifications for an amateur license should be compared to the standards of competence contained in Recommendation ITU-R M.1544. If a beginner's license class does not already exist, serious consideration should be given to creating one. The depth of knowledge required to meet the standards of the Recommendation are not so great as to rule out a beginner's license, provided that the privileges (including transmitter power) are tailored appropriately.
25.7 §4 The maximum power of amateur stations shall be fixed by the administrations concerned.
25.8 §5 1) All pertinent Articles and provisions of the Constitution, the Convention and of these Regulations shall apply to amateur stations.
25.9 2) During the course of their transmissions, amateur stations shall transmit their call sign at short intervals.
These three provisions are not new and were not significantly changed, so no changes in domestic regulations are likely to be required.
25.9A Administrations are encouraged to take the necessary steps to allow amateur stations to prepare for and meet communication needs in support of disaster relief.
For any administration that does not already encourage its amateur licensees to engage in disaster communications training, this is another important change. Domestic regulations should be reviewed to ensure that there are no provisions that unduly restrict amateurs either from providing communications in support of disaster relief, or from training or equipping themselves to do so more effectively.
25.9B An administration may determine whether or not to permit a person who has been granted a licence to operate an amateur station by another administration, to operate an amateur station while that person is temporarily in its territory, subject to such conditions or restrictions it may impose.
Many administrations already grant operating permission to visiting amateurs. This new provision simply makes it clear that the administration may do so without necessarily having to issue a license itself. Any administration that does not grant operating permission to visiting amateurs should be encouraged to consider doing so, either on the basis of a bilateral or multilateral agreement, or unilaterally.
25.10 §6 The provisions of Section I of this Article shall apply equally, as appropriate, to the amateur-satellite service.
25.11 §7 Administrations authorizing space stations in the amateur-satellite service shall ensure that sufficient earth command stations are established before launch to ensure that any harmful interference caused by emissions from a station in the amateur-satellite service can be terminated immediately (seeNo. 22.1).
Few administrations have specific regulations for space stations in the amateur service. In those few cases where such regulations exist, they should be brought into alignment with the new international regulatory text.
IARU Administrative Council Meets
The 2004 meeting of the IARU Administrative Council was held in Port of Spain, Trinidad, on 2-4 October, immediately after the IARU Region 2 Conference in the same location. A news release giving the highlights of the meeting was distributed on the final day of the meeting and is available at http://www.iaru.org/rel041004.html. The Summary Record of the meeting will be available shortly at http://www.iaru.org/admin-council-summaries.html.
Guinness World Records Recognizes High Speed Telegraphy
On 8 November 2004 Guinness World Records LTD recognized the following achievement by EU7KI: "On 6 May 2003 Andrei Bindasov (Belarus) transmitted 216 marks of mixed text per minute during the 5th International Amateur Radio Union World Championship in High Speed Telegraphy in Belarus." The achievement was witnessed in Minsk by HST International Referee Oscar Verbanck, ON5ME, Region 1 EC member Panayot Danev, LZ1US, and Region 1 HST Coordinator Oliver Tabakovski, Z32TO. Congratulations to Andrei, EU7KI, on obtaining this recognition.
New Book Available in Arabic
A 192-page book, Principles of Radio, has just been published in Arabic by Dar Tlass of Damascus. The book was compiled by Omar Shabsigh, YK1AO, on behalf of the Technical Institute of Radio (TIR), the IARU member-society for Syria, and bears the TIR logo on the cover. Material was obtained from a number of sources, including from ARRL publications, with permission. Copies may be ordered from:
Omar
Shabsigh
The cost is just US$5.00 by registered airmail to the Arab countries and US$6.50 to other countries. Omar advises that the funds may be sent "by registered airmail in cash as if to cover a QSL card."
Society Annual Reports Due It is time for member-societies to submit their annual reports. Please complete the enclosed form and return it to the International Secretariat as soon as possible. It is important that we have up-to-date information on amateur radio in each country so that we will have an accurate picture of progress in amateur radio worldwide. Thank you for your cooperation.
Sincerely,
David Sumner, K1ZZ
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