ARLA/CLUSTER: Noticias da IARU Região 1

[João Costa > CT1FBF]

IARU Region 1 News

The 2011 IARU C5 VHF/UHF/Microwave work group, held in Sun City, South
Africa, was attended by amateur societies from all over Africa, Europe
and Northern Asia, totalling 19 societies with 14 proxies. Delegates
from Region 2 and 3 were also involved as observers since
inter-continental agreements were also considered in the band planning
sessions.

The meeting was chaired by Michael Kastelic, OE1MCU. He is chairman of
the IARU Region 1 VHF/UHF/Microwave committee. Riaan Greeff, ZS4PR,
VHF/UHF/Microwave manager of the SARL acted as the secretary for the
C5 meeting.

It is very clear that the Europeans are very active on the bands. A
number of contests are keeping the amateurs excited. They also have
the advantage of shorter distances between different countries, hence
working stations from across borders are common practice.

Various issues similar to South Africa VHF/UHF and Microwave were
identified. This showed that South Africa is not lagging behind. The
Europeans also have issues pertaining to repeater usage and frequency
allocations. After some detailed discussions the repeater segment was
increased by another two frequency allocations. This ensures the use
of two frequencies specifically for Digital Voice repeater systems.
The proposed frequencies are 145,575 and 145,587 5 MHz.

The SARL (South African Radio League) VHF/UHF/Microwave Band planner
will consider the implications and finalise the band plan at the next
council meeting. With the digital TDMA application of the Digital
voice repeaters, one would then actually create an additional 4
channels plus data messaging services on these two frequencies.

The European repeater congestion issue was also discussed. They will
apply the CTCSS tone systems to allow different repeaters on the same
frequencies to be accessed by different users. In South Africa,
specifically Gauteng, this practice has already been utilised in order
to solve similar problems, but not on repeater systems where no
problem exists. The 50 MHz, 70 MHz, 2 m, 23 cm, and other microwave
band plans were revisited. Minor changes on most of these were
accepted.

The beacon allocation was refined, but not excessively moved in the
band plans. A full report will be published shortly.

The value of direct contact with other international radio societies
has proven very productive.

The seventh GAREC conference that ended at Sun City on Thursday
afternoon is regarded as a resounding success. The contributions from
various delegates were informative, varied and interesting!

The South African contributions came from Eddie Leighton, ZS6BNE, who
discussed the advantages of 'going digital'. This is a subject that
will be looked at in more detail as propagation problems persist!

The other contribution came from Craig Lambinon, who heads up the
National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI). Craig gave a graphic
illustration of their activities and involvement in sea rescue around
the South African coastline!

At the end of his presentation, it was agreed in principal that Hamnet
and the NSRI will be looking at a closer working relationship. Craig
indicated that it would be beneficial for both organisations to work
closer together simply because they both render life saving and
supportive roles during and after emergencies!

The next GAREC will take place in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia in 2012 and
with offers from Switzerland and the U.S.A. venues for 2013 and 2014
already in the pipeline!

HF issues were discussed at the C4 meeting chaired by Region 1 HF
Manager Ulrich Mueller, DK4VW. South Africa was represented by Geoff
Levey, ZS6GRL. The paper that caused the most discussion was the
"Definition of a QSO". After 3 meetings it was decided to use the
definition from the VHF/UHF manual.
A valid contact is one where both operators during the contact have:
1. mutually identified each other
2. received a report, and
3. received a confirmation of the successful identification and the
reception of the report. It is emphasized that the responsibility
always lies with the operator for the integrity of the contact.

On contesting the meeting agreed that the CW contest-preferred segment
from 7 000 – 7 025 kHz is withdrawn from the Region 1 band plan.
Societies should encourage contest organisers to include a rule that
restricts contest activity to a limited frequency range within the CW
allocation. The choice of frequency segment is left to the discretion
of the contest organisers, but should take into account expected
activity levels and show consideration for non-contest operation.

It was also agreed that IARU, at further ITU World Radio Conferences,
should seek to expand the international amateur radio 160 metre band
from its present lower end of 1 810 kHz to 1 800 kHz in ITU Region 1.
IARU should also try to obtain an international secondary allocation
for amateur radio between 1 850 and 2 000 kHz.

Expansion of the 10 MHz band shall be given high priority when talking
with administrations and by IARU when negotiating with authorities.

It was also agreed to modify the 10 m band plan between 29,1 to 29,7
MHz to allow for 8 FM repeater channels.

Voice internet gateways, linking 2 stations should be restricted to
experimentation and emergency communications only below 28 MHz was
approved with 4 votes against and 1 abstention.

The "DX Code of Conduct" was approved and operators were urged to support it:

I will listen, and listen, and then listen again before calling.
I will only call if I can copy the DX station properly.
I will not trust the DX cluster and will be sure of the DX station's
call sign before calling.
I will not interfere with the DX station nor anyone calling and will
never tune up on the DX frequency or in the QSX slot.
I will wait for the DX station to end a contact before I call.
I will always send my full call sign.
I will call and then listen for a reasonable interval. I will not call
continuously.
I will not transmit when the DX operator calls another call sign, not mine.
I will not transmit when the DX operator queries a call sign not like mine.
I will not transmit when the DX station requests geographic areas
other than mine.
When the DX operator calls me, I will not repeat my call sign unless I
think he has copied it incorrectly.
I will be thankful if and when I do make a contact.
I will respect my fellow radio amateurs and conduct myself so as to
earn their respect.

Watch for more IARU Region 1 reports over the next few weeks.


Fonte: The South African Radio League