RadCom April 2024, Vol. 100, No. 4

Report have made valuable contacts, including Carl, K9LA; Bill, NQ6Z; and Peter, AE7PD, whose help and work has been invaluable for UK radio amateurs.” Steve Nichols, G0KYA psc.chairman@rsgb.org.uk Regional Forum This year has seen the members of the Regional Forum (RF) respond to the request from the RSGB Board to explore ways to expand the RSGB’s outreach and help promote the hobby. The RF has done this in various ways. For example, Regional Representatives took part in British Science week. They also collaborated with other organisations to provide radio experiences, either through talks, presentations, or practical sessions like buildathons, many of which have been featured in RadCom during the year. We have also been present at the RSGB Convention where a presentation was given about outreach. The Regional Team also ran the very busy and successful Buildathon there too. In addition to this work, the Regional Team has attempted to reach out to clubs and visit them during the year, and have provided advice and information for club members and individuals alike regarding the Ofcom consultation. The team encouraged everyone they met to take part in the response. A big success this year was the rollout of the RSGB’s Regional Club Facebook pages. This was implemented by and is moderated by the Regional Team and has become a popular method for clubs and individuals to promote activity and ask questions. This year sees an unprecedented number of changes of Regional Representatives (RR). These posts are now subject to a ‘churn’ in order that the posts are refreshed. An RR is only now permitted to have two consecutive terms in office before they must vacate their role for a minimum of one term before being eligible to stand again. This was initially staggered over three years to even out the number of changes in one year but, due to co-opted RR positions that need to be formally elected, and three of the team not seeking a second term, this year becomes quite a busy year with eight Regional Representatives up for election: Regions 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 11, 12 and 13. We encourage anyone that has a good set of ‘soft skills’, a passion for amateur radio and wants to contribute to the hobby to put themselves forward. Please check out the volunteer pages on the RSGB website at rsgb.org/ volunteer for more information. The Regional Team would like to encourage the amateur radio community to think if their District or Regional Representative might be able to help and to call them first before HQ. You would be surprised how much they can help. This year it was great to get out and about to rallies at which the team supported the RSGB bookstall. It was noticeable that nearly all the rallies noted a substantially greater attendance this year – no doubt driven by the fact the National Hamfest did not take place this year. We look forward to supporting rally organisers in the coming year and have already accepted several bookings. Organisers need to be aware that you must request an RSGB bookstall from your District or Regional Representative. We don’t just automatically turn up, so please book us well in advance! The aim for 2024 is to further pursue opportunities to promote the hobby more widely and to continue with our club and rally visits and provide ad hoc assistance to the amateur radio community both by phone and email. I would like to thank the following Regional Representatives, who are stepping down this year, for their invaluable service: RR5 (and RF Secretary) Neil Yorke, M0NKE and RR6 Liz Cabban, GW0ETU. David De La Haye, M0MBD rr12@rsgb.org.uk Spectrum Forum Report The Spectrum Forum brings together the Spectrum Managers with an extensive range of participants from both inside the Society and external specialist groups. This broad membership brings with it a wide range of experience to the array of matters it comes across. It also facilitates a number of RSGB awards for QRP, VHF/UHF, Propagation, Space and Microwaves. The Forum has a focus on spectrum, licensing and related issues, nationally and internationally. 2023 saw an unprecedented workload with the major Ofcom Licence review, IARU Region-1 General Conference and ITU WRC-23 all occurring in the same year. The first major activity started in the spring when the first signs of Ofcom’s annual plan appeared. The Ofcom consultation launched in the June week that key folk were away attending Ham Radio exhibition in Friedrichshafen. Nonetheless, a series of Microsoft Teams and online/video engagements were run to raise awareness and work through the raft of licence and policy matters that the Ofcom consultation covered. Ultimately, around 1400 amateurs responded. It was also pleasing to see that the RSGB’s detailed reply, developed with Spectrum Forum help, also received careful consideration. Overall, the result offers considerable opportunities for amateur radio development and outreach that can underpin other aspects of RSGB strategy. Whilst the new licence conditions are now clear, several aspects and additional guidance remain to be worked through during 2024. The summer period also saw a response to an Ofcom consultation on eLoran adjacent to our 136kHz allocation and preparation for the IARU Region-1 Conference that was held in Zlatibor in Serbia in early November. The IARU event was the first face-to-face conference to be held since 2017, due to the pandemic. Despite some arduous travel, this was well attended by others. The results saw caution prevail on HF band plan reform, whilst progress was made at V/U/SHF and more general/development matters, including and ARDF and ATV contests, based on RSGB proposals. Over four years, ITU-related work since WRC-19, had seen ongoing effort to prepare for WRC-23. This was notably led at IARU level by Barry Lewis, G4SJH as Agenda Item 9.1b presented a major challenge for any viable amateur and amateur satellite operation in the 23cm band, where we are secondary. In parallel, I (Spectrum Chair Murray Niman, G6JYB) had joined the UK Ofcom-led delegation in CEPT-PTA preparation meetings, and ultimately in WRC-23 in November and December. In conjunction with other IARU areas, and other volunteers, this major effort proved to be successful for both 23cm and numerous other amateur bands in scope from current/ future proposals from LF to beyond 300GHz. Notable amongst new demands (or threats) has been VHF/UHF spectrum demands for climate change ice sounders, space weather sensors and lunar communications – not just mobile broadband. Whilst declines in AM broadcasting are occurring, we have witnessed new demand for eLoran, wireless power and HF-high-speed financial trading. As had been expected, a busy autumn schedule meant that a traditional single Spectrum Forum annual meeting was not practical and a series of Microsoft Teams sessions were organised instead, initially around the licence consultation, and latterly around its results as well as normal business. RSGB Spectrum managers continue to facilitate ‘Innovation bands’ via Ofcom NoVs at 71MHz, 146MHz, 2300MHz and >275GHz. Despite ongoing component availability issues affecting some developments, we were pleased that ongoing technical progress led to Ofcom renewing 146MHz access for a further year. Also of note was the retirement of Richard Lamont for Intruder Watch, with Vaughan Ravenscroft returning to the post. The past year also saw the unusual and welcome event of being invited to Baldock and supporting a new Ofcom propagation research project. Looking ahead, 2024 will see ongoing activity related to licensing and Band Plan changes, 23cm planning and the start of the new ITU WRC-27/31 preparation cycle. Read more about the Spectrum Forum via rsgb.org/spectrum-forum April 2024 45