With deep regret I inform you that Dr. Jürgen Röttger, DJ3KR passed away on Sunday 31 May 2020 at the age of 83.
Jürgen served as IARU Region 1 Executive Committee Member from 1975 to 1984.
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Author: Hans, PB2T
The Finnish Amateur Radio League (SRAL) cordially invites radio amateurs around the world you to join them in a global special event featuring their STAYHOME campaign and its radio actvity that will be held on 6 – 7 June 2020.
The United Nations Amateur Club 4U1UN, as well as its sister stations 4U1GSC (operated as 4U9STAYHOME) and 4U1A (operated as 4U2STAYHOME) will participate and look forward to making contact with many stations during this special event. Details can be found at https://www.qrz.com/db/OH2STAYHOME
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Back in March 2014, The Algerian and Tunisian Member Societies have signed a cooperation agreement to reinforce relations through joint activities. Part of the agreement was to exchange visits and conduct DXPeditions.
The idea of arranging a DXPedition in Algeria in 2019 was appreciated by both societies. Preparations started end of October 2019. The idea was to activate Algeria on low bands and benefit from the low solar cycle conditions.
We wanted to make this DXPedition a good opportunity to boost youngsters interest in the hobby so we involved 4 youngsters in the event; Sarra 7X2QV (23 years, YL), Lotfi 7X2QC (24 years), Marwa 3V8CB (24 years, YL) and Ahmed 3V1B/KG5OUE (22 years). Three of these youngsters were in YOTA events held by IARU.
The involvement of the youngsters was from the preparation work to the stations dismantle. In addition to being on the air, everyone had something to work on.
Marwa 3V8CB 
Ahmed 3V1B 
7X2RO and 7X2QV 
7X2QC
The rest of the team included Afif 7X2RO (co-Leader), Ash 3V8SF/KF5EYY (co-Leader), Mohamed 7X3TL (27 years), Redha 7X5QB and Abdelghani, 7X2TT/M0NPT. The responsibility of these OMs was to drive the event and prioritize knowledge transfer over being on-the-air.
The Tunisian team flew from Tunis to Algiers. They arrived late on December 28th to Bejaia city joining the Algerian Team. We immediately started putting up antennas.
Abdelghani 7X2TT kicked off operation through Eshail and continuously making demonstrations and providing information to the youngsters on satellite operation and set up.
The rest of the team built a 26m high inv‑L for 160, a full Quarterwave vertical for 80, a 2 element Fritzel yagi for high bands, a 7 elements yagi for VHF, a K9AY receiving loop, a GP for 30m then adding a coil for it to operated on 40 as well.
We did our best to operate 2 stations at a time. We had a quite few technical issues but we overcome them.
Part of the DXPedition objectives was to socialize and build a strong team capable of making bigger plans in the future. Although we ended up with 5800 QSOs in 4 days, the operating schedule was intentionally not made tight.
On December 31st, we had a nice BBQ dinner together insitue that we really enjoyed!
The log inluded QSOs split as follows: 38% CW, 55% SSB, 7% FT8. It was nice to see youngsters favoring SSB operation over FT8.
We had 1121 QSOs on 160m and 798 QSOs on 80m. 356 US stations and 30 JAs worked on 160.
The DXPedition team highly value the support we got from NCDXF, LSDXA and MDXC along with some other individual hams. This support is a solid investment into the future of ham radio hobby. We urge all DXPeditioners to involve youngesters in their future trips and do their best to make it easy and least costly for them.
Written by Ashraf Chaabane, 3V8SF/KF5EYY
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IARU has released a more detailed report on the outcome of Agenda Item 1.1 (50 MHz) at the recent WRC in Egypt. Proposals from administrations and Regional Telecommunications Organisations (RTO) around the world ranged from no allocation at all to the provision of a 4 MHz primary allocation. The IARU position was to seek a 4 MHz primary allocation in Region 1 in common with that in other ITU regions.
Pre WRC situation in Region 1
Prior to WRC 2019, a number of countries in Africa enjoyed a primary allocation in all or part of the band. A number of other countries in Region 1 had secondary allocations on a national non-interference basis.
Post WRC situation in Region 1
A secondary amateur allocation in Region 1 in the band 50 – 52 MHz is included in the Table of Frequency Allocations in the ITU Radio Regulations.
In Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe, 50 — 54 MHz on a primary basis with protection from other services.
In Senegal, 50 — 51 MHz on a primary basis with protection from other services.
In Angola, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Burkina Faso, Burundi, the United Arab Emirates, Gambia, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Mauritius, Mozambique, Oman, Uganda, Qatar, South Sudan and Tanzania, the frequency band 50 — 54 MHz is allocated to the amateur service on a primary basis.
In Djibouti and Lebanon, the frequency band 50 — 52 MHz is allocated to the amateur service on a primary basis.
In Guinea-Bissau, the frequency band 50.0 — 50.5 MHz is allocated to the amateur service on a primary basis.
In Austria, Cyprus, the Vatican, Croatia, Denmark, Spain, Finland, Hungary, Latvia, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, Slovakia and Slovenia, the frequency band 50.0 — 50.5 MHz is allocated to the amateur service on a primary basis.
In the Russian Federation the frequency band 50.080 50.280 MHz is allocated to the amateur service on a secondary basis.
Main Outcome of WRC-19
Final approval of the outcome was delayed until Thursday 21 November as a consequence of sensitive political issues. However following approval:
- Pre WRC-19 countries retain their current status in the 50 — 54 MHz frequency band.
- The Democratic Republic of Congo removed itself from the list of pre WRC-19 countries.
- The amateur service has a secondary table allocation in most of Region 1 in the 50 — 52 MHz band.
- 44 Region 1 countries have a primary allocation in all or part of the 50 — 54 MHz band.
- 14 CEPT countries have a 500 kHz primary allocation in the 50.0 — 50.5 MHz band.
- The Russian Federation has a 200 kHz secondary allocation in the 50.08 — 50.28 MHz band.
- The Final Acts of WRC-19 enters into force on 1 January 2021, however administrations may make provisions to provide 50 MHz spectrum at an earlier or later date.
- Amateur service shall not cause harmful interference to stations of other primary or secondary services, with the exception of the pre-WRC-19 countries.
- Individual amateurs should not use (unless already licensed to do so) the newly allocated spectrum until their national licensing authority has given the go ahead for its use.
- Prior to WRC-19 a number of countries in CEPT had authorised national usage in the 50 — 52 MHz band on a non-interference basis to stations of other primary and secondary services. In practice little is likely to change here, although the amateur service with a secondary table allocation in Article 5 of the ITU Radio Regulations (and hopefully the European Common Allocation Table) will now have a higher status internationally in the 50 — 52 MHz frequency band after the entry into force of the Final Acts. Furthermore, amateurs will benefit from the additional stations likely to be authorised in other countries as a consequence of the WRC-19 decisions.
Next Steps
To address the 50 MHz issue at CEPT’s Working Group Frequency Management meeting when the European Common Allocation table is revised.
Country by Country situation
The table at http://www.iaru-r1.org/wiki/VHF#50 – 54_MHz_.286_m.29 is IARU’s understanding of the before and after WRC19 position on 50 MHz allocations in Region 1. IARU cannot be held responsible for any inaccuracies and the definitive position is the responsibility of individual national administrations.
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Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, 21 November 2019
The World Radiocommunication Conference WRC-19 has approved an allocation in the 50 MHz band for amateurs in Region 1. The decision will now be incorporated in the Final Acts of the conference.
The decision comes after more than three weeks of strenuous negotiations to reconcile widely disparate views of Region 1 administrations. The result is a dramatic improvement in the international Radio Regulations for amateurs in Region 1. Before WRC-19 there were only 11 countries in Africa with a primary allocation in the band. When the Final Acts take effect, on a date that has not yet been determined, there will be 44 countries in Region 1 with a primary allocation of at least 500 kHz including 26 countries with a primary allocation of the entire band 50 – 54 MHz. The entire region will have an amateur secondary allocation of 50 – 52 MHz except in the Russian Federation, whose administration opted for only 50.080−50.280 MHz on a secondary basis. There are provisions to protect the other existing services that use the band in Region 1 and neighboring countries in Region 3. The existing primary allocation of 50 – 54 MHz in Regions 2 and 3 is unaffected. The exact manner in which the allocations will be implemented in Region 1 countries will be determined by each administration and may be either more generous or less, depending on national considerations.
The WRC-19 decision on its agenda item 1.1 is the culmination of years of effort by the IARU and its member-societies, mainly in Region 1 but with support from the other two regions. The ITU Radiocommunication Sector working group in which preparations were conducted was chaired by Dale Hughes, VK1DSH, of Australia who also was chosen to chair the sub working group dealing with the item at the WRC. The sub working group, designated 4C1, held 10 meetings before reaching an agreement that could be forwarded to Working Group 4C where additional discussions and adjustments took place. Committee 4 received the output of 4C on Tuesday, 12 November and performed additional fine-tuning before recommending the results for adoption by the conference Plenary. Consideration by the Plenary was delayed while a narrow issue in one footnote was resolved.
IARU Vice President Ole Garpestad, LA2RR, who is attending the WRC as a member of the Norwegian delegation, observed: “The successful outcome on Agenda Item 1.1 could only have come about through a team effort by the IARU member-societies and regional organizations, and especially by the volunteers who have devoted countless hours to preparing documents and attending meetings over the past three years. Our thanks go to everyone who has contributed to this effort, including the radio amateurs who support the IARU through membership in the IARU member-society in their country.” LA2RR coordinated overall IARU preparations for WRC-19. Dave Court, EI3IO, led the IARU effort on Agenda Item 1.1 which engaged all six regional telecommunications organizations: ASMG for the Arab States, ATU for Africa, CEPT for Europe, RCC for Russia and several countries of the former Soviet Union, CITEL for Region 2, and APT for Region 3. Region 1 Secretary Hans Blondeel Timmerman, PB2T, was coordinator for the item on behalf of CEPT on whose proposal the ultimate compromise was largely based.
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