Introduction
Welcome to the IARU-R1 webpage dedicated to the STARS program.
STARS stands for Support to The Amateur Radio Service and the Working Group (WG) is an integral part of the IARU-R1 organisation. The STARS program is supervised by the IARU-R1 Executive Committee.
Page content
- The STARS Working Group
- Terms of Reference
- STARS Program as defined in 2017
- STARS projects: Five Criteria
- Request for support
- Looking forward
- MoU with the African Telecommunication Union (ATU)
- STARS News Items
The STARS Working Group
The organisation
STARS projects are funded and sponsored by IARU R‑1’s Development Fund and are coordinated by the STARS WG. This Working Group consists of:
- A chairman appointed by the IARU-R1 General Conference. The chairman is responsible for the general coordination and logistics.
- A deputy Chairman
- A STARS support group, comprising of people who are in a position to provide advice, guidance and support to projects.
- Those EC members appointed to liaise with the STARS WG such as:
- The IARU-Region 1 Treasurer
- Representatives of all the interested IARU-Region 1 member societies.
New Chairmen
At the General Conference Remy F.G. Denker PA0AGF was nominated as the new Chairman of STARS. He succeeds Hans Welens ON6WQ in this position. Remy is also President of the Dutch Amateur Radio Society VERON, where he holds this position since 2008. For his jobs at Philips and Fluke, Remy has travelled the world and has visited quite some African countries, be it as a businessmen.
Remy is looking forward to his new challenge and is now active in getting in touch with STARS related societies.
The objective of the STARS Working Group
The objective is to defend, protect, extend, develop and promote the amateur radio service. The work of STARS is specifically directed to those areas of the Region where amateur radio activity is low or non-existent.
| IARU in general is at its most representative for the amateur radio service when it has member societies in all the ITU member countries and when those societies have friendly and regular contacts with their national regulatory authorities. The basis for an active, viable and truly representative society is the recruitment of members with the nationality of the country. |
Terms of Reference
The STARS WG works along the guidelines consolidated in the Terms of Reference. The Terms of Reference can be found via this link
Five Criteria
STARS works on the basis of in-country projects, selected against a set of defined criteria. The five criteria to commence a STARS project are:
Pre-qualification of the in-country program manager.
This is a critically important phase, and without a suitable program manager, a STARS program cannot be commenced.
The governmental dimension.
Here we seek confirmation of:
- The Program Manager having an “open door” to the Regulator.
The Spectrum Regulator should support the development of Amateur Radio (accepting the ITU syllabus for accepting and organizing amateur radio exams) as well as having a governmental protocol for issuing individual licences. - An appropriate licence fee being in place.
- An appropriate (non-penal) Import Duty for radio equipment being in in place.
Creation of a “Radio Club” or “Radio Society”
To set-up associated training facilities. This should form the basis of establishing and growing amateur radio in the country.
Ability to import and use of radio equipment
to be used by the radio society or radio club.
Consolidation of the STARS program
Nurturing, supporting and recognising local success of the program.
Request for support
A STARS project can be requested in several ways:
- By a radio amateur in a country requesting for help to develop amateur radio in his country
- By a radio society, a member of the IARU-R1, where the society has not sufficient resources to start setting up activities due to the lack of knowledge.
- By a non-member radio society wishing to revamp its local radio activities. In this case the local society should apply for IAUR-R1 membership before a next step regarding STARS activities can be deployed.
Looking forward
IARU R‑1 welcomes initiatives from countries wishing to explore the possibility of starting a STARS project.
Please contact stars@iaru-r1.org
MoU with the African Telecommunication Union (ATU)
Early 2023 a Memorandum of Understanding between the ATU and the IARU-R1 has been signed. Use this link to read the details of the MoU.
We are looking forward to working together with the ATU and hope that they will establish a good relation with the African Member Societies and the local government.
STARS News Items
What happened in the STARS group?
News from Bukina Faso
University of Koudougou and installation of club station
Donation to the Seychelles Amateur Radio Society in 2023
SUBJECT: QDX Kit Project — Seychelles
Dear Mr Espling
Last Saturday (6th May 2023) the the QRP Labs QDX kits, tools and accessories were handed over to the SARA Members who are committed to the project. I am on the far right of the picture. Our mascot ‘Goula’ is a land tortoise that are common in Seychelles. The gentleman in the striped T shirt has 3 of the same size at his QTH.
On behalf of SARA I would like to thank the IARU-R1 and the STARS group for this kind donation. It was a pleasure to work with Remy Denker (PA0AGF). We will hopefully be posting an article on our website www.sara.sc which you are always welcome to visit.
We are very much a start up Amateur Radio Association with under 20 members. The average person in SARA is very new to the hobby and it’s this kind of initiative that I hope will encourage greater traction. The majority of project members have very little experience in kit building and are only Foundation level operators so it is important to realise that this project will need to be guided and everyone should have patience.
My ambition is for the project team to progress to completing the kits into a dummy load and then experiment with different antennae which can be analysed on WSPR. They can also play with FT 8, FT4 etc. I would like us to experiment with NVIS which I believe can assist with Em Comms in the future.
The average wage in Seychelles is low and the licences are high. Without the IARU-R1 STARS assistance it would be very difficult to attempt to get amateur radio established in this country. My heartfelt thanks to all involved at the IARU-R1 and STARS for your generosity, it is very much appreciated.
Richard Perks – Chairperson SARA – S79RP