The IARU Region 3 Newsletter Issue 4/2003, December 2003 This Newsletter has been published regularly every quarter since December 2000. By sharing news on IARU and amateur radio related matters, hopefully a sense of bonding has been developed amongst amateurs in Region 3. The Conference will be a wonderful opportunity for informal feed back and it will help to assess to what extent the objects and purposes of this Newsletter have fulfilled our aspirations as amateur radio operators. I look forward to meeting all of you in Taipei in February 2004! K C Selvadurai 9V1UV Director IARU Region 3 >>> 12th Region 3 Conference <<< Invitation letters from the IARU Region 3 Secretariat as well as the letter from the President of the host society CTARL would have been received by all societies. All societies are urged to make every effort to send at least one representative as a delegate. There are many benefits when a delegation can comprise a number greater than just one. The Working Groups, where most if not all the business is discussed, run parallel to one another and it is well nigh impossible for a single representative to do justice to the wealth of information that is exchanged on the floor at these Working Groups Also, it paves the way for more members to be exposed to IARU matters and gather what other societies are doing and the people involved. This exposure takes place throughout the Conference. Apart from the formal discussion time, there are many informal discussions and gatherings such as over meals and receptions and so on. When an issue comes up back home, help can be sought on a first name basis because of the contacts made at the Conference. >>> Region 3 Officer Positions <<< The officer positions in Region 3 will be reviewed at the Conference. These positions are as follows: Monitoring System Coordinator, presently held by B.L. Manohar, VU2UR, Beacon Project Coordinator, presently held by Jamie Pye ZL2NN, EMC Coordinator, presently held by Joong-Guen Rhee HL1AQQ. Jamie Pye has asked to be relieved of duties for health reasons. We are very appreciative of the work over these many years that Jamie has undertaken, the more recent years despite having to bear up with a physical disability. There are also Chairmanships: ARDF Committee, presently held by Yoshio Arisaka JA1HQG, Harmonization of License Qualifications Committee, presently held by Brenda Edmonds, VK3KT, and STARS*** Task Force presently held by Masayoshi Ebisawa, JA1DM. There will also be a new officer position for Disaster Communications Committee Chairman which results from recommendations at the last Conference. >>> Workshops at 12th R 3 Conference <<< In addition to the usual business, there will be Workshops on two important topics. The first is a Workshop on WRC 2003. It will include a detailed discussion on the new Article 25. To facilitate the discussion, a paper by Michael Owen VK3KI is being circulated with the Conference papers so that all societies will be able to make an advance study and brief their delegation on issues to raise and matters for seeking clarification. It is important to note that the implementation of Article 25 will vary from country to country. The Workshop discussing WRC 03 therefore gives a wonderful opportunity to gain a fuller understanding of the results of WRC03 so that societies may be better able to appropriate the benefits that accrue from WRC 03. The other Workshop will be on The Society's IARU Liaison Officer. The Workshop will help gain a better appreciation of the duties and responsibilities of the Liaison Officer and hopefully lead to greater satisfaction from the work carried out by Liaison Officers. >>> Preparations for WRC 2007 <<< The 1st Meeting of the APT Conference Preparatory Group for WRC-2007 (APG2007-1) was held in Bangkok Thailand 11th to 12th November 2003. There were 140 delegates from 25 Administration Members, 5 Affiliate members and 5 International and Regional Organizations IARU was represented by David Wardlaw, VK3ADW Vice President IARU. The amateurs present on their national delegations were Jay Oka JA1TRC, Hitosi Yoshino JK1MZT, Eric Lensson VK1XEL and Chaiyong Wongwuticomjon HS1BL The main objective of the meeting was the development of the work plan for APG-2007 There were discussions on the APG structure for the period leading up to WRC 07. In a review of WRC 2003, there was general satisfaction as far as the outcomes were concerned for APT proposals. Presentation of the IARU views to the APT will be rather important in the meetings leading up to WRC2007 as the management of the APT have indicated an increased movement toward consultation between the Regional Organizations. The next meeting will be in October 2004 >>> Region 3 ARDF Championships <<< The 5th. IARU Region 3 ARDF Championships were held at Ballarat, Victoria, Australia from 28 November to 3 December 2003. The event was a great success and there were some 60 or more participants from five Region 3 Member Societies (ARRL, JARL, CRSA, KRRL, WIA) plus a team from Kazakhstan. Competition was fierce but many friendships were made and renewed. All ages and both sexes were represented with competitors ranging from teenagers to super-veterans in the over 60 age group. Medals and Certificates were awarded for individual and team performances in various categories. As usual there is no overall winner but each country achieved success in one category or another. The Championships were very well planned and managed by the Victorian ARDF Group and with support from the WIA. The IARU was represented by Yoshio Arisaka, JA1HQG, Chairman of the Region 3 ARDF Committee, and by IARU Region 3 Director, Peter Naish, VK2BPN. >>> World Wide YL Meeting <<< The Korea Ladies' Amateur Radio Club (KLARC) will host a world wide YL Meeting 2004 in Seoul, Korea from 8 to 11October 2004. This will be the 6th such gathering. The meetings commenced in 1991 in Sweden. As will be observed from the Directors' report to the 12th Conference, your Directors are of the view that women are a possible growth area for amateur radio. More women are getting into technical studies and they form a potential group for the expansion of amateur radio. Hence we hope that KLARC will host a very successful gathering and we commend the event for possible publicity amongst our member societies. Further information from Chae Do Sook HL2KDW hl2kdw@hotmail.com >>> Seanet 2003 <<< The 32nd annual Seanet Convention was held in Johore Bahru, West Malaysia over 4 days 27 to 30 Nov 2003. Over 130 delegates from 15 countries were present at the well organized event. There were two outings, the first on the Friday for which the highlight was the viewing of fireflies. The Saturday morning outing included a visit to the palace of the Sultan of Johore which is now a museum displaying the finery of the times. On Sunday morning, Director Park HL1IFM gave a brief report on WRC 03. Hans DF5UG contributed to the discussion that followed. There was also a talk by Ganesh 9M2PL on 'The fuel cell, a non polluting energy source" The next Seanet Convention to be held from 12th to 14th Nov 2004 will be hosted by RAST. >>> VK radio amateur gets top recognition <<< A high achiever over many decades, Sam Voron VK2BVS has received a certificate of appreciation from the Australian Government for his role in the Solomon Islands. Sam spent six months in the South Pacific country helping to set up a radio school to train radio amateurs and provide some basic but much needed communications infrastructure in that country. The citation on the certificate reads: "The Australian Government expresses its gratitude to Sam Voron for a valued contribution towards assisting developing countries to reduce poverty and achieve sustainable development". It was signed by Australia's Prime Minister John Howard, Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer, and the Education, Science and Training Minister Dr Brendan Nelson. SamVK2BVS has over the years been a leader in showing what amateur radio can do. Among his many activities has been providing a message handling service over amateur radio for distressed relatives and friends after the disastrous Mexico City earthquake in 1985. He is currently involved in a project on Somalia.(WIA News) >-< The Region 3 Web site >-< Go to: http://www.iaru-r3.org/ Newsletter Editor: K C Selvadurai 9V1UV, Director IARU Region 3, 9v1uv@sarts.org.sg Publisher: The International Amateur Radio Union Region 3, P.O. Box 73, Toshima, Tokyo 170-8691, Japan. E-mail: iaru-r3@jarl.or.jp Tel: +81 3 3944 3322 Fax: +81 3 3943 8282 The statements or opinions in this Newsletter do not, unless otherwise stated, necessarily reflect the views of IARU Region 3, the Directors or the Secretariat. Items from this Newsletter may be freely copied for publication by member societies of IARU. MS Word version of this newsletter is available at http://www.iaru-r3.org/news/r3nl-03-12.doc