13th IARU Region 3 Conference in India

The International Amateur Radio Union Region 3 held the 13th Regional Conference from 7 to 11 August 2006 in Bangalore, India.

The Amateur Radio Society of India was the host society, and the WIA was represented by its President, Michael Owen VK3KI and Jim Linton VK3PC.

Because of the way the work of the conference is divided into two areas, with two Working Groups working in parallel, one dealing with policy items, the other with operational and technical items, each representative is fully committed.

Jim Linton was Chairman of the Editorial Committee and a member of the Finance Committee, and Michael was Chairman of a third Working Group dealing with constitutional matters and the future of the IARU

13 IARU national member societies participated in the Conference.

The many challenges facing amateur radio and the opportunities for the future were actively discussed.

Some 70 documents were considered that covered a wide range of topics including the Foundation Licence, BPL, intruders, reciprocal and visiting licensing, new frequency allocations perhaps around 5 MHz and emergency communications.

The overriding concern of the conference was the declining numbers of radio amateurs in most countries and how to address that situation. Another key theme in the wake of series of natural disasters was preparation by radio amateurs for their role in providing emergency communications.

The WIA paper on the Australian Foundation Licence, presented by Michael Owen, attracted strong interest from many, who asked the WIA delegates questions and commented very favourably on the WIA Foundation Licence Manual. Each delegation was given at least one copy.

The Conference formally resolved as follows "That IARU Region 3 member societies take note of the introduction of the WIA Foundation licence building on the success of the RSGB model as a way to encourage newcomers into the Amateur Radio Service."

There is no doubt that the Australian experience attracted real interest, as one of the few societies talking of growing numbers of amateurs and growing membership.

The issue of emergency communications was also discussed at length. At least three radio societies announced that they were setting up their first amateur radio emergency service organisations and were aiming to prepare better for disasters.

Leading the discussion was Chairman of the IARU Region 3 Emergency Communications Committee, Jim Linton, who was confirmed in that position by the Conference.

The Conference resolved to encourage radio societies to have their administrations fully implement the changes to Article 25 of the ITU Radio Regulation in respect of third party traffic and preparation for emergency communications.

It also resolved to encourage the societies to participate in a regional simulated emergency test in the future to explore the potential for inter-country networking in times of emergencies.

The WIA paper on the new proposed Australian 40 metre band attracted interest as a way forward as the availability of 7.1 to 7.2 MHz spreads across the region.

The WIA's approach to the issue of BPL also attracted interested. The JARL reported that it has been working with its administration o n in-house BPL to keep emissions low and requiring filters to stop them radiating from power lines. The ARRL reported a very low number of BPL consumers across the US.

Intruders on the amateur bands were of serious concern to many societies. These included over the horizon radar systems and broadcasters. The Conference resolved to escalate efforts to have them stopped.

An important matter discussed was raised by the IARU Vice President, Tim Ellam VE6SH, concerning the future of the IARU.

The Region 3 Constitution was amended, primarily to make amendment more difficult and requiring notice, as proposed by the WIA.

Four of the five current directors did not seek re-election, namely Park, Young-Soon, HL1IFM, K.C. Selvadurai, 9V1UV, Yoshiji Sekido, JJ1OEY and R. Ramachandra, VU 2RCR.

As there were 5 nominations for the 5 positions, the following were declared elected:

Michael Owen VK3KI, who was also elected Chairman of Directors, Shizuo Endo JE1MUI, Gopal Madhavan VU2GMN, Peter Lake ZL2AZ and Professor Rhee-Joong Guen HL1AQQ.

Keigo Komuro, JA1KAB continues as Secretary of the Region.

Keith Malcolm, VK1ZKM was confirmed by the Conference as the Region 3 EMR Coordinator.

The 14th conference, in 2009, will be hosted by NZART and held in Christchurch.

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