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December YOTA Month activity – DYM 2020
· Events, Youth GeneralTagged , , , , · Mario, EA1JAY

The entire month of December, several youngsters under the age of 26 will become active with YOTA as suffix in the callsign. The idea behind this is to show the amateur radio hobby to youth and to encourage youngsters to be active on the ham radio waves.

Usually you hear YOTA stations on air from our summer and subregional camps throughout the year. This season has been an exception. Due to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, nearly all our camps and events had to be cancelled. Therefore, nearly no possibilities were left to hear YOTA stations on the bands.

Hence, we as Team YOTA want to show the world that the youngsters still want and can be active on the bands during this difficult time. Help your local youngsters to get on the air throughout the December YOTA Month following your national health guidelines. Either you are a supporting elmer or under 26 years yourself, contact your society’s youth coordinator to be active with your national YOTA callsign. If your society did not apply for one yet, feel free to encourage them to do so of course. It will be a pleasure to work a lot of new youngsters on the bands!

Every ham radio operator can support the youth worldwide! By making a QSO with them, they can improve their skills on air and learn more about geography and ham radio abbreviations among others. The youngsters will be happy to get some attention and exchange information. Licensed and unlicensed youth will be making QSOs, be aware this could be their first radio contact ever and give them a chance to experience a possible new hobby.

As every year, there is again an award program available. Work as many YOTA stations on as many bands and modes as possible and be eligible for your Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum award for free. This program promotes the radio activity on the air waves and shows that there is and will be activity in the future. Visit our website events​.ham​-yota​.com for more information about the award rules.

Last year we had high hopes with the QSO goal of 100.000 QSOs. With the help of youngsters within amateur radio, we absolutely crushed the goal with nearly 130.000 QSOs achieved by 47 stations. This year we are aiming for the same target. So, participate in December YOTA Month, and help us to achieve this goal again in December 2020!

Feel free to follow the activities on our homepage as well as on our social media channels @hamyota and @hamyota_official and update yourself at www​.events​.ham​-yota​.com.

73 de YOTA PR Team

Picture: Youngster operating during December YOTA Month.

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RSPG Workshop on RSPP
· SpectrumTagged , · Nestor, 5B4AHZ

PRC members attended a workshop organised by the EU RSPG group which is actively engaged in drafting an Opinion on a Radio Spectrum Policy Programme (RSPP) targeting the 2025 to 2030 time horizon.

Five main pillars for this new RSPP are under development: strategic spectrum issues, spectrum supporting EU policies, spectrum governance, external relations and other strategic topics such as Climate Change, EMF, pandemic recovery, media policy.

This workshop was an opportunity for RSPG to collect expectations from stakeholders on issues supporting Union policies and to identify possible concrete strategic actions and policy initiatives to be included in the RSPG Opinion on a Radio Spectrum Policy Programme. After the workshop IARU PRC submitted a contribution which together with inputs from other stakeholders is now available here.

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John Devoldere, ON4UN SK
· News · Hans, PB2T

IARU Region 1 is saddened to receive the news of the death of John Devoldere, ON4UN.

John was a giant in the field of LF DXing and wrote extensively on the subject. He was Chairman of UBA for nearly ten years and with Mark, ON4WW, wrote the much-respected booklet on “Ethics and Operating Procedure for the Radio Amateur”, now hosted on the Region 1 website.
We have all lost a friend and role-model. We send to John’s family our deepest condolences.

Claude, ON7TK, President of UBA writes:
We will remember John as a radio amateur in heart and soul. He was also a special man. It is an incredibly difficult task to put the merits of this man down on paper in a few lines. The various contributions in CQ-QSO on antennas and the various books on Low-band DX-ing will stay with us. It goes without saying that John enjoyed great fame beyond our borders. We are grateful for his contribution to radio amateurism and for his efforts within the UBA. In gratitude for all his work, he was appointed Honorary President of the UBA in 2009.

Within our association John ON4UN was very active. Between 1963 and 1965 he was active as Traffic Manager. John ON4UN was a member of the HF Committee from 1983 to 2016. In 1994 he became Provincial President of East Flanders. Two years later he joined the national board of the UBA. From 1998 to 2007 he became chairman of the UBA. He was at the basis of many reforms within the UBA. After a long career within the UBA, he retired in 2016. However, he was always prepared for good advice. A lot of what we take for granted today would never have been achieved without the help of John ON4UN.

These difficult times do not allow us to attend the funeral service. Marleen Devoldere, John’s daughter, informed us that she is planning a digital farewell ceremony on Saturday 21 November. She will keep us informed about the practical matters. If you would like to send a message, please email ON4UN.​SK@​gmail.​com — John’s old email account is no longer in use. You can also pay John a visit to QRZ​.com where he always kept his CV.

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Wojciech Nietyksza SP5FM Silent Key
· EC · Hans, PB2T

It is with deep sadness and regret to inform that Our Friend Wojciech Nietyksza SP5FM has passed away on 6th November 2020, at the age of 87. We lost a great radio amateur…

Wojciech was a Honorary Member of the Polish Amateur Radio Union (PZK), licensed for the first time in 1954 as SP5UX, and afterwards — as SP5FM. In 1956, He took part in the National Congress reactivating the PZK. Wojciech was also considerably dealing with the VHF field and He was one of the founders of the Polish VHF Club Association (PK UKF) at its Congress in 1963, becoming a Honorary Member of the PK UKF later on.

Wojciech was the originator of the legendary “Klimek” and “Wawa” handy transceivers which were used not only by the lifeguards of the Mountain Voluntary Rescue Service (GOPR). Wojciech SP5FM will be forever an indisputable icon of exceptional dedication to the development of amateur radio in Poland and all over the world, at IARU, WARC and many other levels. Wojciech made an enormous contribution to the work of IARU Region 1 and to the cause of amateur radio in Europe.

For many years, Wojciech SP5FM was Chairman of the IARU Region 1 External Relations Committee, and also Vice-President and a Member of the IARU Region 1 Executive Committee (altogether, ten terms in a row — from 1972 to 2002). 

On 17th May 2014, Wojciech Nietyksza SP5FM was presented with the Michael Owen VK3KI Award (the awarding ceremony took place in Warsaw).

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Wojciech was a teacher of many of us, being notably active within the ITU, CEPT and other bodies in the area of the international amateur and professional radio world. His actions resulted in a significant increase in the importance of the amateur radio service, and the current possibility of operation on the extended 7 MHz band was one of the most remarkable achievements completed by Wojciech.

We will always remember Wojciech SP5FM as a symbol of boundless amicability and outright cooperation for the entire amateur radio community. He will be long-remembered for his kindness, wisdom and quiet determination to achieve the best outcome for the hobby which we all enjoy so much. We will never forget His knowledge, sagacity and friendship. 

Let us convey our sincere condolences and cordial sympathy to the whole Family of Wojciech, we will always miss His presence, we are deeply pained and words are of no help in expressing the sorrow that we feel at this moment…

May He rest in peace.

Tomasz SP5CCC, Paweł SP7TEV

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