International Amateur Radio Union
Region 1
Working for the future of amateur radio
New Regulations for the Amateur
Services
(IARU-R1) 5 July 2003
by Michael Owen, VK3KI
Introduction
|
Banned Countries List
|
What may be transmitted
|
Coded messages
|
Third party messages
|
Morse code
|
Qualifications
|
Power
|
Call signs
|
Emergency communications
|
Visiting amateurs
|
Amateur satellites
|
Definition of Amateur Service
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Other provisions
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Conclusion
Introduction
On 4th July 2003 the World Radiocommunication Conference, Geneva, 2003
ended and on the following day, the 5th July 2003 the new international
regulations governing the amateur and amateur satellite services,
Article 25 of the Radio Regulations, that had been adopted by the
Conference came into effect.
The language of many provisions in Article 25 as it was before 5th July
2003 was the language of many years ago, reflecting the priorities,
structures and attitudes of a time long gone. Provisions such as
requiring amateur stations to use “plain language”, that communications
be limited to messages “relating to experiments”, and remarks “for which
by reason of their lack of importance, the use of the telegraph service
could not enter into consideration”, the prohibition of “international
communications emanating from third parties”, though that provision “may
be modified by special arrangements between the interested countries”,
the requirement for Morse Code, and a number of other provisions are to
be found in Article 8 of the General Radio Regulations annexed to the
International Telecommunication Convention, Madrid, 1932.
The IARU policy was to seek the simplification of the Regulations
affecting the amateur services by removal of regulations that were no
longer necessary, the removal of provisions that were redundant because
the subject matter was covered elsewhere in the Radio Regulations, the
updating of provisions to reflect today’s attitudes and activities, the
identification of some standards for the qualification of amateurs and
the addition of provisions that encouraged amateurs to be given the
ability to provide emergency communications and to encourage the
international recognition of amateur licences.
The Radio Regulations, the international regulations, define the
fundamentals of the amateur services, and regulate international
communications between stations in the amateur and amateur-satellite
services. Administrations may and do make additional regulations, and
regulate in detail the amateur services in their country.
This article compares the previous regulations with the new regulations
and attempts to identify what is new and what is different. It does not
attempt to explain why the particular provision was adopted in a
particular form, which is another story told elsewhere. The numbers used
to identify provisions are the temporary numbers used by the ITU in the
course of the WRC.
Banned countries list
The first provision of Article 25, the so called “banned countries” list
is a provision that is to be found in the 1932 Regulations, and is
almost the same as the previous regulation except that it is now
expressed positively rather negatively. The provision reads:
25.1 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.
That is a provision that has only a limited effect on most amateurs.
The balance of Article 25 is more directly relevant to the day to day
activities of radio amateurs.
What may be transmitted by Amateur Stations
The old international regulation relating to what an amateur station may
transmit was as follows:
“When transmissions between amateur stations of different countries
are permitted, they shall be made in plain language and shall be limited
to messages of a technical nature relating to tests and to remarks of a
personal character for which, by reason of their unimportance, recourse
to the public telecommunications service is not justified.”
This dealt with two distinct matters, the content of messages and the
encryption of messages.
The phrase “messages of a technical nature relating to tests and to
remarks of a personal character” could be construed unnecessarily
narrowly, and did not reflect today’s world, and the qualifying phrase
“which, by reason of their unimportance, recourse to the public
telecommunications service is not justified” was both vague and
uncertain, and certainly reflected a time when in most countries the
common carrier was a government monopoly.
So, the old provision was replaced by a new provision as follows:
25.2 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.
The term “incidental to” is wide, certainly not requiring a narrow
connection with the “purposes of the amateurs service” and as the
“purposes” of the amateur service set out in the definition are
“self-training, intercommunication and technical investigations”, the
subject matter goes much beyond “tests”. The new provision much more
accurately reflects what in fact is the subject matter of amateur
transmissions today.
Coded Messages
It is assumed that the phrase in the old provision requiring
transmissions to be in “plain language” meant something transmitted by
either voice or Morse that anyone could hear and understand. But today
amateurs use many codes, and so what is meant by the phrase “plain
language” could become a question in some countries. The language is no
longer really appropriate. And, in any event a total prohibition is not
appropriate as encryption is required for the control of satellites by
command stations.
The requirement is not for “plain language” but a prohibition of
messages encoded for the purposes of obscuring their meaning.
So, the simple phrase in the old regulation was replaced by a new
provision, as follows:
25.2A 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 the
space station in the amateur satellite service.
The IARU had suggested that it would be desirable for the exception to
be expressed more widely than limited to satellite control signals, but
a number of countries resisted this for security reasons. Of course the
provision applies only to international communications. Therefore,
repeater control signals, which are almost invariably transmitted within
a single country and so are subject to national rather than
international, regulation, may be encoded unless prohibited by national
regulation.
“Third party” messages
One of the most difficult areas was the old provisions dealing with so
called “third party messages.” The provisions were as follows:
It is absolutely forbidden for amateur stations to be used for
transmitting international communications on behalf of third parties.
The preceding provisions may be modified by special arrangements between
the administrations of the countries concerned.
That prohibition of international communication on behalf of third
parties is very wide. What is a communication on behalf of a third
party? School children speaking to an astronaut is a communication on
behalf of a third party, as is participation in the Jamboree on the Air.
The provision inhibited preparation for disaster communication, and
indeed, international disaster relief communications unless a special
arrangements were in place between the two countries concerned.
The requirement that the prohibition could be modified by “special
arrangements between the administrations of the countries concerned” was
slow and clumsy, in many countries involving the ministry responsible
for foreign relations.
The IARU suggested the suppression of both provisions, taking the view
that each administration was fully empowered to regulate its amateurs,
and in particular to define what communication could and could not be
carried by an amateur station both nationally and internationally.
Of course, the fundamental requirement that the amateur service is non
commercial is to be found in the definition of the amateur service and
Article 25.2 set out above.
The new provision reads as follows:
25.3 Amateur stations may be used for transmitting international
communications on behalf of third parties only in the case of an
emergency or disaster relief. . An administration may determine the
applicability of this provision to amateur stations under its
jurisdiction.
The exception to the blanket prohibition for cases of emergency and
disaster relief is important, and when read with the new provision
intended to encourage emergency communication by amateur stations will
hopefully lead administrations to adopt new regulations to facilitate
such activities.
This second sentence of this provision enables each administration to
define what is a communication on behalf of a third party, and with whom
the stations under its jurisdiction may exchange such communications. If
the other station’s administration permits the same communication, then
the communication may be exchanged internationally.
The removal of the requirement for bilateral agreements between
countries is significant as the new regulation certainly provides the
means by which each administration can permit many activities, such as
disaster relief, practice for emergency communication, and educational
communications to take place internationally.
Morse Code
The old regulation that Morse was a requirement for the operators of
amateur stations below 30 MHz was found in a provision that read as
follows:
Any person seeking a licence to operate the apparatus of an amateur
station shall prove that he is able to send correctly by hand and to
receive correctly by ear texts in Morse code signals. The
administrations concerned may, however, waive this requirement in the
case of stations making use exclusively of frequencies above 30 MHz.
That was replaced with a provision giving each administration the right
to decide whether or not Morse is a required qualification as follows:
25.5 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.
The alternative of simply deleting the old provision was rejected
because a number of administrations thought that the matter was so
important that a positive decision not to require Morse as a
qualification was appropriate. The effect is actually the same: Morse
code is no longer an internationally required qualification for an
amateur licence, though an administration may still require it.
The Qualification of Amateurs
Apart from the Morse code as a qualification, the previous regulation
provided:
Administrations shall take such measures as they judge necessary to
verify the operational and technical qualifications of any person
wishing to operate the apparatus of an amateur station.
This was replaced by a new provision as follows:
25.6 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-R M.1544.
The reference to the Recommendation is a non-mandatory reference. That
is, an administration is not bound to follow it, but it is expected that
all administrations will take the Recommendation into account when
setting the qualification for an amateur licensee.
The Recommendation is very general, for example providing that any
person seeking a license to operate an amateur station should
demonstrate a “theoretical knowledge of: Radio regulations,
international, domestic”, and under the heading “Radio system theory”,
“transmitters, receivers, antennas and propagation and measurements.”
Consistently with the decisions of the Conference, the Recommendation
does not suggest any requirement for a Morse skill.
That accords with the IARU position that the Radio Regulations should
give some guidance as to the qualification appropriate for an amateur
licence, but should not attempt to set a syllabus, as the diversity of
environments for which a standard must be set is very great.
The identification of a standard, the topics on which knowledge is
required, reflects one of the essential elements of the amateur service,
namely that an amateur is a person who has demonstrated an operational
and technical qualification, distinguishing that amateur from many other
users of the spectrum.
Power
The next provision in the new Regulations is:
25.7 The maximum power of amateur stations shall be fixed by the
administrations concerned.
That is almost the same as the old regulation, but with the words after
those words in the old provision being omitted, so the words “having
regard to the technical qualifications of the operators and to the
conditions under which these stations are to operate” are no longer part
of the provision.
The application of other provisions of the
Radio Regulations
Again, Article 25.8 is a shortened version of the previous article, and
reads as follows:
25.8 All pertinent Articles and Provisions of the Constitution, the
Convention and of these Regulations shall apply to amateur stations.
That changes the reference to “general rules” to “pertinent” provisions
of the current ITU documents and omits the sentence “In particular, the
emitted frequency shall be as stable and as free from spurious emissions
as the state of technical development for such stations permits.” which
is unnecessary as the requirements apply to amateur stations in any
event.
In reality, there is no change arising from the different wording.
Probably the provision is unnecessary in any event, but it offered some
assurance to administrations that amateurs will abide by all pertinent
rules.
Call signs
Finally, a provision that is the same as the previous provision:
25.9 During the course of their transmissions, amateur stations shall
transmit their call sign at short intervals.
Emergency Communications
Then, a completely new provision is included in Article 25, a provision
that really needs no explanation.
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.
That provision should be read in conjunction with Article 25.3, and it
is hoped that administrations will make regulations that facilitate
amateurs preparing for emergency situations and providing communications
in emergencies and for disaster relief. This was an important IARU
objective.
The international recognition of the licences of
visiting amateurs
A further completely new provision is added to Article 25:
25.9B Administrations 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.
This provision has been interpreted by some to mean that an
administration may, if it wishes, permit a licensee from another country
to operate in its territory without issuing a licence, as would
otherwise be required by Article 18 of the Radio Regulations. There is
some substance in interpretation, as the provision deals with
“permissions” and applies only to a person temporarily in the territory
of the other administration.
The interpretation of the provision is, of course, a matter for
administrations, but hopefully it is a provision that will encourage
administrations to allow amateurs to enjoy their hobby while travelling
by recognising the foreign licence. A global recognition would fill in
the gaps left by the CEPT Recommendation T/R 61-01 and the International
Amateur Radio Permit of the OAS.
The Amateur-satellite service
The final two provisions deal with amateur-satellite service, the first
being unchanged and reading as follows:
25.10 The provisions of Section I of this Article shall apply equally,
as appropriate, to the amateur-satellite service.
The next provision is the only operative provision in Article 25 dealing
with the amateur-satellite service. The previous provision read as
follows:
Space stations in the amateur-satellite service operating in bands
shared with other services shall be fitted with appropriate devices for
controlling emissions in the event that harmful interference is reported
in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 22.
Administrations authorizing such space stations shall inform the IFRB
and shall ensure that sufficient earth command stations are established
before launch to guarantee that any harmful interference which might be
reported can be terminated by the authorizing administration (see No.
2612).
The provision was unnecessarily complex, repeating obligations that are
found elsewhere in the Radio Regulations, particularly Article 22.
In the end, the following simplified provision was adopted:
25.11 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 (see No. 22.1).
The new provision avoids the repetition in different words of
regulations that already apply to the stations, and simply requires that
sufficient earth command stations are established before launch.
The definition of the Amateur Service
When, in 1996, the IARU commenced its examination of the issues raised
by placing Article 25 of the Radio Regulations on the agenda of a future
World Radiocommunication Conference, it very quickly saw that the
definition remained as relevant and appropriate as it had been over the
many years that it been a part of the Radio regulations.
It is worth setting out that definition for the sake of completeness:
1.56 Amateur service: A radiocommunication service for the purpose of
self-training, intercommunication and technical investigations carried
out by amateurs, that is, by duly authorised persons interested in radio
technique solely with a personal aim and without pecuniary interest.
Similarly, the definition of the amateur-satellite service remains
unchanged:
1.57 Amateur-satellite service: A radiocommunication service using space
stations on earth satellites for the same purposes as those of the
amateur service.
The Conference decided that no change was required to those definitions
in Article 1.
Conclusion
The Radio Regulations are the written result of the welding together of
the different views of different people with different languages and
from different cultures. It is no doubt easy to say that some of the
provisions could be expressed more elegantly, and that some of the
provisions are not necessary.
Of course, it is true that the narrower provisions of the old
international regulations have not really inhibited the amateur service
in many countries, with administrations preferring a liberal
interpretation. But in the long run, the amateur service cannot afford
to have countries ignore the international regulations. It is
fundamental that the amateurs have appropriate “operational and
technical qualifications.” A speed limit that is unrealistic and not
enforced is going to be ignored. What was appropriate in 1932 may not be
appropriate in 2003.
In the end it is suggested that the meaning of Article 25 is clear, even
if expressed in language different from the language suggested by the
IARU. What is important is the substance, not the form, and it is
suggested that the changes and additions made to Article 25 by WRC 2003
will meet the needs for the future of the amateur service identified by
the IARU.