Special The Amateur Radio Service Gains A Band Near 500 kHz

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Category: Spectrum

Published: Wednesday, 15 February 2012 15:54

Written by IARU Secretary Rod Stafford W6ROD

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Special WRC Report Number Three The Amateur Radio Service Gains A Band Near 500 kHz

472-479 kHz. The worldwide amateur radio service has a new frequency band, 472 to 479 kHz. It is a secondary allocation. There are other services in that portion of the spectrum that must not be interfered with by the amateur operation.The aeronautical radionavigation service is a primary service in the band 415-495 kHz in the following areas: Australia, China, the French overseas communities of Region 3, Korea (Rep. of), India, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Japan, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea and Sri Lanka.The aeronautical radionavigation service is a primary service in the band 435-495 kHz in the following areas: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. The amateurs are allowed to use the band so long as it does not cause interference to this primary service or the maritime mobile service operating in the 472-479 kHz band. There are some countries that will not allow amateur radio operation in the 472-479 kHz band. The use of the frequency band 472-479 kHz in Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belarus, China, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, the Russian Federation, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Oman, Uzbekistan, Qatar, Syrian Arab Republic, Kyrgyzstan, Somalia, Sudan, Tunisia and Yemen is limited to the maritime mobile and aeronautical radionavigation services. The amateur service shall not be used in the above-mentioned countries in this frequency band, and this should be taken into account by the countries authorizing such use.

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WRC-12: Future Agenda Items (2)

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Published: Wednesday, 15 February 2012 15:17

Written by Hans Blondeel Timmerman

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Today the WRC-12 plenary meeting went over the list of future Agenda Items (for WRC-15 and WRC-18) in second reading. I am happy to report that the meeting agreed that WRC-15 will consider a possible new secondary amateur allocation within the band 5 250 – 5 450 kHz in accordance with Resolution COM6/12 (WRC-12). Earlier today the WRC-12 Plenary came to an agreement in first reading on the text of the Resolution.

WRC-12: Future Agenda Items

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Published: Tuesday, 14 February 2012 20:14

Written by Hans Blondeel Timmerman

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Today's evening plenary meeting went through the list of future Agenda Items (for WRC-15 and WRC-18) and agreed in first reading to consider a  possible new allocation to the amateur service on a secondary basis at around 5 300 kHz in accordance with Resolution COM6/12 (WRC-12). The second reading will follow later this week.

WRC-12: 472-479 kHz

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Published: Tuesday, 14 February 2012 08:29

Written by Hans Blondeel Timmerman

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The Plenary meeting of WRC-12 agreed on the revised text for Agenda Item 1.23 in its first and second reading. This means that the conference concluded on a global secondary amateur allocation in the band 472-479 kHz with a maximum radiated power of 1W (EIRP). Administrations however, may permit stations located more than 800km from the borders of countries listed in a footnote a maximum radiated power of 5W (EIRP). 

472-479 kHz nearly done

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Published: Tuesday, 07 February 2012 15:43

Written by Hans Blondeel Timmerman

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Committee 4 of WRC-12 approved option 1 to satisfy Agenda Item 1.23, with minor editorial amendments to the text received from Working Group 4C. Option 1 calls for a worldwide secondary allocation to the Amateur Service at 472-479 kHz, with a power limit of 1 W EIRP, with a provision for administrations to permit up to 5 W EIRP for stations located more than 800 km from certain countries that wish to protect their aeronautical radionavigation service (non-directional beacons) from any possible interference. Option 2 was NOC (no change to the current rules). The approval of Committee 4 requires to be read in the WRC plenary session twice. It is expected that several countries will add their names to a footnote, not allocating this spectrum for their country.

Weekend in Geneva.

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Category: Spectrum

Published: Monday, 06 February 2012 13:54

Written by PB2T

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We are halfway the conference now. Several European delegates took the opportunity to go home for the weekend and therefore the number of weekend meetings was low compared to the first weekend. This meant that there was time for some amateur activities. On Friday 3 February Nobel-prize laureate Prof Joseph Taylor addressed WRC-12. After his speech he received ITU's Gold Medal from ITU Secretary General Dr. Hamadoun Touré. Friday evening we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the International Amateur Radio Club IARC. Most of the WRC delegates who hold an amateur license attended the official presentation and the dinner that followed the presentation. Professor Taylor, better known as Joe K1JT used the opportunity to test a beta version of his weak signal software and made 23cm EME contacts from 4U1ITU. With only 20 Watts in 4 x 55 elements Yagi’s a contact was established with PI9CAM. Other EME QSO’s followed. On Saturday and Sunday many HF QSO’s were made using 4U1WRC. The IARU team has slightly changed. IARU President Tim Ellam VE6SH, IARU Secretary Rod Stafford W6ROD, IARU Region 2 President Reinaldo Leandro YV5AM and Tafa Diop 6W1KI have left Geneva, while IARU Region 1 President Hans Blondeel Timmerman PB2T has joined the team. On Monday we went back to business as usual: meetings and more meetings.

Special WRC report #2

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Published: Friday, 03 February 2012 14:50

Written by Rod Stafford W6ROD IARU Secretary

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The procedures used by the Int’l Telecommunication Union (ITU) before and during a World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC) seem complicated. They are somewhat complicated but they are understandable with a bit of background.

Each agenda item that will be decided at a WRC has been studied for at least 3 or 4 years leading up to a WRC. ITU Working Parties discuss the issues involved in the agenda item. Compatibility studies, sharing studies, experiments, etc. take place whenever needed so that discussions and decisions can be made based upon facts rather than opinions. Within a year prior to the start of a WRC an important meeting called the Conference Preparatory Meeting (CPM) occurs. The CPM report pulls together all of the information dealing with each of the agenda items and sets forth the various ways, if there is more than one, that an agenda item can be satisfied or decided. By the time of the CPM, most all of the arguments in favor of the agenda item and opposed to the agenda items have been thoroughly discussed in the many meetings that take place regarding each agenda item. When a national administration arrives at the WRC, decisions have generally been made by that administration whether to be in favor or opposed to any particular agenda items. However, it is usually not that clear cut. Some administrations may be in favor if certain adjustments or modifications are made to one or more of the proposed methods to satisfy the agenda item. In other words, discussions and negotiations really get started during the earlier stages of the WRC. For example, Administration X may withhold support or opposition on a specific proposal until other administrations agree to support Administration X’s position on other agenda items that Administration X is very interested in.

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WRC-12 Day 9 – 31st January 2012 – Movement Forward

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Published: Wednesday, 01 February 2012 15:33

Written by Colin Thomas G3PSM

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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.