At last there is a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel!

Agenda Item 1.23 – 500kHz

After 11 meetings of the sub working group concerned with the 500kHz proposal, no consensus has yet been reached on whether the amateur service should even have an allocation. The discussions are at a very pivotal point at the moment, with both the Russian regional group and China making positive inputs into the discussions and even Iran suggesting an amendment to a proposed footnote. The main topic of discussion is the amount of protection that can be offered to the aeronautical radionavigation service, specifically the non-directional beacons operating in this frequency band. The 12th and final meeting of this sub working group takes place tomorrow evening.

Agenda Item 1.15 – HF Oceanic Radar

Numerous meetings are taking place on this agenda item on the HF Oceanic Radar proposal. Of particular interest are the discussions centred around 5MHz and it appears the original US proposal for a 200kHz segment at 5250-5450kHz was first reduced to either a 100kHz segment at 5250-5350kHz or 5350-5450kHz, and is now a 50kHz segment between 5200-5250kHz. At least 3 further meetings of this working group are scheduled for tomorrow, with various associated meetings also taking place.

Agenda Item 1.22 – Short Ranges Devices

No changes to the Radio Regulations will take place in connection with SRDs.

Agenda Item 8.2 – Future Agenda Items

The Cuban proposal for a 50kHz segment at 5MHz was presented to the relevant working group considering possible conference future agenda items. The proposal was supported by the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, New Zealand and the African Telecommunications Union group. The US did not oppose but would like to discuss the amount of spectrum asked for before coming to a decision one way or another. Discussion on this item will continue tomorrow. Iran asked that it should be noted that there were administrations present against this proposal.

World Radiocommunication Conference 2012 (WRC-12) started 23 January 2012 in Geneva, Switzerland. This is the "big show" for spectrum allocation matters and a very important meeting if you are an amateur radio operator anywhere in the world. Every 4 or 5 years a WRC takes place. The last one was in 2007. Approximately 3,000 people will attend WRC-12. These are government officials, telecommunication industry people and others, like the IARU, who have an interest in the use of the radio spectrum. The agenda items discussed during WRC-12 were established at the previous WRC in 2007. In the past 4.5 years there have been many committee meetings within the ITU to try to arrive at solutions that will satisfy each of the agenda items. In the case of some of the agenda items, several possible methods to satisfy the agenda item have been identified. It is up to the WRC to select the most appropriate method to satisfy the agenda item, that is, to arrive at an worldwide solution to the issue presented in the agenda item.

There are a number of agenda items for WRC-12 that have some impact on amateur radio, immediately or sometime in the future. Each of the agenda items is assigned to a committee and also sub-working groups. Within each of these sub-working groups the agenda items are discussed in detail, the proposals from regional telecommunication organizations are analyzed, and the discussion proceeds toward developing a consensus on the agenda item. It seems to the casual observer to be a slow, tedious process but it works quite well in developing consensus, assuming the parties are at least a little bit flexible in their views.

On 27 January 2012 the first Amateur Radio Exams took place in the ARAC clubhouse in Kinshasa Democatic Republic of Congo.

Pascal 9Q1PM, with assistance of Mr Henri and remote assistance of Henk ON4AHF, did an excellent job preparing the candidates for the test. All 21 candidates passed! The exam was supervised by Mr Mpatamana of the Ministère des Postes Nouvelles Technologies de Communication and observed by Pascal ON4CFC. The club has great plans to be on the air with their club station 9Q0AR on a regular basis.

The real WRC work on AI 1.23 started with the introduction of regional and national positions. APT (Asia Pacific), ATU (Africa), CEPT (Europe), CITEL (the Americas), East Africa Telecom Communities and SADC (South African Development Community) support an amateur allocation around 500 kHz, although not all suppport the same option. The ASMG (Arab states), RCC (Russian Federation c.s.), China and Iran favour no change. This means that a lot of work needs to be done by Sub Working Group 4C3, that is now on a rhythm of two meetings per day.

Cuba has proposed an Agenda Item for the next WRC: an amateur allocation at 5 MHz.

Station personnel at 4U1ITU -- the Amateur Radio station at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland -- have installed awebcam in the station, allowing anyone with an Internet connection to view live happenings at the station. Click here to watch live feeds.

4U1ITU will be signing as 4U1WRC during the 2012 World Radio Communication Conference (WRC-12), which runs through February 17. The station will revert back to 4U1ITU just in time for the ARRL International DX CW Contest, scheduled for February 18-19.

According to the IARU International Secretariat David Sumner, K1ZZ, who is attending WRC-12 the station is in really good shape, with two operating positions capable of going on any two bands at the same time. “A number of delegates are active amateurs, so the station should be quite active for the next several weeks,” he said.

Amateurs who work 4U1WRC between January 23-February 17, 2012 can receive a special QSL card via the HB9 Bureau or by QSLing direct to IARC, PO Box 6, CH-1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland.

Extract from ARRL Webpage

The opening of WRC-12 took place in Geneva on 23 January 2012. More than 3000 delegates from over 150 countries are represented. Mr Tariq Al-Awadhi from the UAE was elected as the conference chairman.

The work started with the election of the various committee chairmen, working group chairmen and sub working group chairmen. Brennan Price, N4QX, ARRL Chief Technical Officer and a member of the US delegation was elected as chairman of Sub Working Group 4C3, which will be dealing with agenda item 1.23 on a secondary amateur allocation around 500 kHz.

Besides the Region 1 radio amateurs mentioned yesterday we also see Ken Yamamoto, JA1CJP on the Japanese delegation, Bryan Rawlings, VE3QN on the Canadian delegation and Dale Hughes, VK1DSH on the Australian delegation. The IARU, with an observer status at WRC-12, is represented by IARU President Tim Ellam, VE6SH, Vice-President Ole Garpestad, LA2RR, Region 2 President Reinaldo Leandro, YV5AM, IARU Secretary Rod Stafford, W6ROD, Ken Pulfer, VE3PU and Dave Sumner, K1ZZ. ARRL Technical Relations Specialist Jon Siverling, WB3ERA is on the CITEL delegation.